American Savings Foundation offers a number of resources to help you with your after school program. If you're looking to get funded, please reference these self-assessment tools in addition to the Foundation's city-wide networks and funding information.
After school programs have been part of American Savings Foundation’s funding throughout our history, including our 7-year (2005-2012) After School Initiative for Middle School Youth which was designed to expand and improve quality after school programs in New Britain.
Research shows the significant value of quality after school programs. As Dr. Beth N. Miller wrote in the executive summary of her work Critical Hours: Afterschool Programs and Educational Success (commissioned by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation):
The accumulation of research findings presented . . . makes an extremely compelling case that many young people derive great benefit from after school programs and extracurricular activities.
Dr. Miller demonstrates the link between participation in high-quality programs and academic success, including graduation rates. After school programs provide youth with skills and interests that can stay with them throughout their lives. She also shows how programs provide significant added value:
Positive effects extend to families, employers and communities as well. Working parents who know their children are in a safe, secure place supervised by adults during out-of- school time are able to be more productive, work more hours, and move into better jobs.
The American Savings Foundation believes that all youth deserve the opportunity to attend high-quality after school programs. After school programs should incorporate best practice standards including the 8 standards identified by Dr. Miller in Critical Hours that provide children with experiences that are challenging, nurturing, and fun.
A Program Quality Self-assessment Tool is a programmatic self-assessment that provide examples of program competencies. Supervisors assess the level to which their staff has developed the competencies needed to work effectively with youth. It can also be used as a training outline for front-line staff in describing an organization’s expectations for youth worker behavior and attitudes. Assessment tools are designed to be coaching tools, not performance reviews, so that individual staff member’s competencies can be gauged and plans made to ensure progress toward skills development.
These are just three of many resources to find information about self-assessment tools and instruments you can use.
Connecticut After School Network is the state’s premier after school advocacy organization that promotes healthy development and learning outside the traditional classroom. They provide training and technical assistance to improve program quality. Their website has a variety of resources addressing best practices and self-assessments tools.
The Afterschool Program Assessment System (APAS) developed by The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) helps after school programs improve their program quality and reach their desired outcomes for children and youth. APAS is one of the only assessment systems available that helps after school programs link quality and youth outcomes together in a comprehensive, flexible and integrated fashion.
See NIOST Measurement Tools
40 Developmental Assets Framework is an assessment of over 40 commonsense, positive experiences and qualities that help influence choices young people make and help them become caring, responsible, successful adults. Because of its basis in youth development, resiliency, and prevention research and its proven effectiveness, the Developmental Assets framework has become one of the most widely used approach to positive youth development in the United States.
See the Developmental Assets Framework
The American Savings Foundation supports the work of local collaborations, coalitions and networks that are coming together to address the needs of youth on a city-wide scale. We strongly encourage youth programs that we fund to participate in and benefit from the collective impact work of these networks.
Like many funders - private as well as public - the American Savings Foundation wants to invest its funds in programs that make a real, demonstrable change in the community and in the lives of the people served. While we understand that nonprofit program results can be difficult to measure, we expect grant seekers to focus on outcomes, not on process. Your application must define your outcomes, and what indicators you will use to measure whether you have been successful in achieving them. These outcomes should be realistic given your program implementation and action plans and the scope and timeframe of your application to us. If your application is funded, these outcomes will form the basis for reports and site visits.
We do not dictate exactly what approach you must take, because we understand that it may be different for every agency. Some examples include logic models (see Logic Model Development Guide) and Results Based Accountability (see Overview of Results-Based Accountability – State of Connecticut).
Another way to help explain what will occur during the school year is to create a programmatic outline and/or a syllabus. Examples of each are below. Each of these documents can be uploaded and submitted with your after school application.
Contact Maria Sanchez, Director of Grantmaking and Community Investment at msanchez@asfdn.org or (860) 612-3375 if you have any questions about demonstrating measurable outcomes for programs.
Outline Example Syllabus Example Logic Model Example Outline Example #2
American Savings Foundation strives to be accessible to anyone seeking information about grants, scholarships, or with general questions. Contact us today to get the assistance you need.