Afterschool Policy Advisors Network (APAN)

Are you concerned about:

• The safety of your community and the youth in your city?
• The stress working parents feel when their kids leave school at 3:00 p.m.?
• The lack of enrichment and recreational opportunities for young people in your city after school?
• The achievement gap and the supports and services required for your youth to become productive contributing members of society?
• Are you interested in being part of a national group that provides support for afterschool programming and local policy development to cities across America?

The YEF Institute's Afterschool Policy Advisors Network (APAN) helps municipal officials and their senior staff promote afterschool opportunities in their cities and nationally by sharing resources, research, tools and strategies, policies, and best practices.

How can I join?

Download the registration form and return it to Bela Shah by fax to 202-626-3043 or by mail (see the form for mailing address).  If you have questions, please call 202-626-3057.  Cities of all sizes may join this peer learning network. There is no cost to be a member of APAN.

Member benefits

APAN already includes city officials and other community leaders from more than 250 cities. APAN members have the opportunity to participate in a highly visible National City Afterschool Summit in Washington, D.C., in May 2008.  In addition, APAN members will:

• Have a forum to discuss city strategies to help local school districts and community-based organizations improve the quality and accessibility of afterschool programs;
• Gain access to a wide range of resources and promising practices in afterschool to support the work in which city staff and mayors are engaged;
• Receive targeted dissemination of publications and background materials;
• Hear from national experts in the field;
• Receive regular communications from the YEF Institute through periodic conference calls, e-mail listservs, audioconferences, and mailings to facilitate the exchange of ideas and lessons learned;
• Learn from other cities about how afterschool positively impacts youth development, civic engagement, safety, community and economic development, and student achievement;
• Connect with cities that are further along in developing citywide afterschool programs and policies;
• Form a national group of municipal leaders advocating for afterschool on the local, state, and federal levels; and
• Obtain opportunities to showcase their city's afterschool efforts through articles in NLC's Nation's Cities Weekly newspaper, periodic audioconferences, and sessions at national conferences.

This network is part of a broader effort to engage municipal leaders in afterschool reform. It is made possible by the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.