After-School Initiative

Research shows that students who participate in quality after-school activities are safer, attend school more consistently, and make healthier choices.

Safe Passages has conducted an extensive review of after-school program evaluations, and one outcome is consistently found: After-school programs can promote increased school attendance.

In fact, over 90% of the studies reviewed by Safe Passages that examined attendance reported that participating in after-school programs resulted in students attending school more frequently. Students stated that after-school programs motivated them to attend school as a result of having relationships with caring adults, access to interesting activities, opportunities to interact with friends, and increased interest and feeling of mastery regarding academics. In addition, other research shows that:

  • Nearly 4.5 million children 14 and younger are injured in their homes every year, and most unintentional, injury-related deaths occur when children are out of school and unsupervised.
  • Children who are unsupervised and lack structure during after-school hours are more likely to be injured, be-come pregnant, or become involved in criminal activities.
  • Being supervised after school cuts in half the risk that middle school students will smoke, drink, or abuse drugs.

This information led Safe Passages to develop the After-School Strategy, which includes the collaboration of major public and private after-school entities through-out the city. This team, known as the Oakland After-School Coordinating Team (OASCT), a unique partnership of public agencies, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders, is a policy and planning body that coordinates and promotes a comprehensive, city-wide network of all after-school programs and providers.

In the past five years, Safe Passages has convened a collaborative to improve quality and quantity of after school programming in Oakland. Under this strategy, Safe Passages has:

  • Convened Oakland's citywide After-School Coordinating Team (OASCT), which includes city and school district representatives and providers to promote data sharing and the sustainability of quality after-school programs.
  • Improved coordination between the City of Oakland and the school district to transform the after-school arena and bring an additional $23 million of funding to after-school programs
  • Developed a web-based database to collect and coordinate information from after-school providers
  • Produced best-practice research on quality after-school programs, sustainability plans and evaluation methods

After-School Landscape, Analysis, & Recommendations for Sustainability in Oakland, California.

In 2006, the public and private after school providers contributed data to Safe Passages which was integrated and analyzed to answer critical policy questions regarding after school programming and scope of services through the City of Oakland. Safe Passages produced the report titled: After-School Landscape, Analysis, & Recommendations for Sustainability in Oakland, California. The report seeks to answer the following critical policy questions:

  1. What is the after-school context in Oakland?
  2. What are the existing resources?
  3. Who is being served?
  4. Who is not being served?
  5. What should be the priorities?
  6. What are new resources and how to target them?

Overall, the study found that:

  • In the 2006-07 school year, $17.89 Million public dollars are being spent in comprehensive, free, after-school programs in Oakland.
  • Approximately 25% of the public school student population is being served in Oakland through public resources in comprehensive after-school programs.
  • City Council Districts 6th and 7th each have 19% of the public school students in the City, a combined total of almost 40% of the city enrollment; however, they have 29% of after-school resources. Resulting in a lower per capita expenditure in these districts.
  • Furthermore, high need students, defined in the report as students with suspension incidences, unexcused absences, and low test scores, constitute less than 25% of students served in after-school programs.

Policy Recommendations

The policy paper also provides a series of policy recommendations for a wide audience including: policy makers, public administrators, and philanthropy and private investors. These recommendations are categorized as follows:

  1. Infrastructure- Investment in Oakland's Infrastructure is Mandatory to Support the Expansion and Long Term Sustainability of Comprehensive After-School Programs.
  2. Leverage Existing Partnerships with Growth Potential
  3. Maximize and Improve the Integration of Existing Funding Sources
  4. Secure New Funding Sources to Expand the Resource Base
  5. Expand After-School enrollment with a special emphasis on involving students that need to be re-engaged in school.

During the 2007 year, Safe Passages will continue to work closely with public systems in the development of these policy recommendations and continue to advocate for improved quality standards and coordinated service delivery to vulnerable youth throughout the city.

Click here for a complete copy of the report: After-School Landscape, Analysis, & Recommendations for Sustainability in Oakland, California.