by Michael Karpman and Bela P. Shah

Mayors, council members and senior municipal staff from more than 30 cities gathered in Denver last week to learn from national experts and share ideas with each other on how to improve afterschool opportunities for young people.

The two overlapping gatherings included a meeting of local teams from eight cities participating in NLC?s City Leaders Engaged in Afterschool Reform (CLEAR) technical assistance project and an Afterschool Leadership Academy for 26 elected and appointed officials from cities and towns across the nation. Both meetings were sponsored by NLC?s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute).

?The city?s greatest role is to be the catalyst, the collaborative force that brings the other parts of the community together,? said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. ?City government has the credibility to bring together nonprofits to help stretch and leverage their resources.?

Participants in both the CLEAR meeting and the leadership academy gained valuable insights on how to expand access to high-quality afterschool programs. Some key topics discussed included assessing afterschool program needs through Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping, seeking sustainable financing, building public will and forming effective city-state partnerships.

Peer Learning
Dr. Maria Guajardo, executive director of the Denver Mayor?s Office for Education and Children (MOEC), began the CLEAR meeting on Sunday, Oct. 15, with an inspirational address highlighting the importance of city leadership to provide access to quality afterschool programs to all children throughout the city.

Since the beginning of the CLEAR project, the eight participating cities ? Alexandria, Va.; Baton Rouge, La.; Boise, Idaho; Bridgeport, Conn.; Denver; Florence, S.C.; Las Cruces, N.M.; and Salt Lake City ? have made steady progress toward creating an infrastructure to expand and improve their available afterschool opportunities.

On Monday, Oct. 16, each city team described a key element of their afterschool system-building efforts, and the group offered suggestions for strengthening their approach.

For instance, the City of Boise has gathered information from more than 60 community organizations to map available afterschool programs through their Public Works Department?s GIS capabilities. Alexandria, Baton Rouge and Bridgeport shared their efforts to create a new structure to support afterschool providers and enhance governance and funding.

Citing the economic development benefits of afterschool to help working families and strengthen the future work force, CLEAR cities are engaging business leaders to support the expansion of programs. For example, Florence will seek support from local businesses to cover transportation costs for their programs.

?The only way to sustain our cities is to sustain our families and our kids,? said Eric Jergensen, councilmember, Salt Lake City. ?We talk more about bricks and mortar than quality of life.?

The City of Denver shared lessons from its strong partnership with the Denver Public School District and other state and community groups working to improve afterschool programs. Together, these agencies collect and share data, visually depicted through a GIS mapping system, to identify gaps, respond to program needs and assess quality.

?Collecting local data is essential,? stated Maxine Quintana, MOEC?s director of student programs. Denver?s GIS Department mapped poverty, crime occurrences and teen pregnancy by neighborhood and overlaid these data with afterschool program locations.

According to Mayor Hickenlooper, ?The key to collaboration is figuring out where we have the clearest common ground and how we can maximize each organization?s self-interest.?

The CLEAR meeting concluded with a discussion with leadership academy participants of the age-old question, ?How do we pay for this?? Cities shared specific strategies for accessing federal, state and local funding streams to support afterschool programs.

In Tulsa, Okla., afterschool programs are funded through federal Community Development Block Grants and 21st Century Community Learning Center grants. Bridgeport?s Lighthouse program has increased its reliance on sliding fee scales. Lexington, Ky., charges a minimal fee, but requires parents to attend monthly meetings in exchange for their children?s participation in afterschool activities.

Leadership Academy
As the CLEAR meeting was wrapping up, the leadership academy was moving into high gear. Representatives from 26 cities received scholarships to attend this networking and training opportunity. Participants were given a unique chance to learn from each other, from national experts and from the CLEAR cities that are in a more advanced stage of progress on building citywide afterschool systems.

An afternoon panel of CLEAR city leaders on Tuesday, Oct. 17, answered questions about their strategies to move a local afterschool agenda forward.

?I?ve learned how important it is for council members to take the lead,? said Dolores Archuleta, councilmember, Las Cruces. ?It takes the mayor and city councilors to give support to city departments.?

Archuleta also noted the importance of engaging school district leaders, businesses and faith-based groups.

Afterward, participants gained new knowledge on how to integrate quality standards into afterschool programs by aligning them with in-school instruction.

One session focused on ways to generate community support for expanding afterschool opportunities and national efforts to increase federal and state funding for afterschool.

The session was followed by a presentation on city-state partnerships that influence policies at the state level in Colorado, California and elsewhere through statewide afterschool networks. For example, in Tennessee, the state recently passed legislation to use all unclaimed lottery funds for afterschool programs and California?s Proposition 49 provides over $500 million for afterschool programs.

Both CLEAR meeting and leadership academy participants left Denver with ideas that will add momentum to their efforts at home.

?I am energized by what I?ve learned at the Leadership Academy and the possibilities it can bring to the children of Oklahoma City,? said Councilmember Willa Johnson. ?I represent an area where it?s important for young people to be in a safe learning environment after the school day. The recreation and social components are valuable quality of life issues that teach good citizenship.?

Ken Weaver, councilmember of Duncanville, Texas, echoed these sentiments: ?Duncanville currently needs all the benefits afterschool brings to a community. When I was exposed to afterschool through NLC, I immediately signed on to champion an afterschool program in our city.?

Details: For more information, visit www.nlc.org/iyef, or contact Bela Shah at (202) 626-3057 or shah@nlc.org.