Our current system is limiting youth potential. There are four new COVID-19 induced realities that every organization and every adult is dealing with: 1) the inadequacy of current applications of and uses of virtual platforms, even when available, for virtual-only academic instruction, 2) the heightened visibility and exacerbation of many different kinds of inequities such as health, emotional wellness, family resources, food and housing insecurity (within and across families, schools, communities), 3) the certainty of traumatic effects (associated with the virus, compounded by the closings, the separations and losses, the disconnection from important communities in young people’s lives), and 4) the uncertainty of re-openings (schools, child and youth development programs, workplaces, and the economy).

In this Issue: New OST Book Series | SEL Resources | COVID-19 Resources | Public Education Post-Crisis | Adolescent Development

While many youth-serving programs have adapted quickly in response to COVID-19, disruptions to research and evaluation data collection efforts have left practitioners with questions about how to complete current projects and what information to collect to guide future planning. This webinar convenes researchers, evaluators, and funders to discuss practical solutions for interrupted data collection efforts and reporting expectations to promote the continuation of quality improvement conversations and the sharing of program impact stories.

In this Issue: Adolescence | Out-of-School Time | Partnerships | COVID-19 | Whole Child

Summertime provides a unique opportunity for community partners, schools, families, and young people to work together to provide programs and services that promote the social, emotional, and cognitive development of youth.

During this webinar, we focus on a 2019 report released by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine titled "Shaping Summertime Experiences: Opportunities to Promote Healthy Development and Well-Being for Children and Youth." Members of the committee who produced the report discussed their practices that align to the recommendations in the report. These presenters also provide insight on what actions you can take even as we consider the uncertainty of what lies ahead in this summer.

It’s springtime, yet rather than preparing for end-of-year assessments, graduation, prom, and summer school, educators and school personnel, along with community organizations and families, are grappling with the challenges of facilitating learning, keeping young people safe, and supporting their overall well-being when “out-of-school time is all the time.”  As educators try to find stop-gap measures to make learning accessible to every student, what are the most effective ways to engage and empower our adolescents, particularly in high school and beyond, so that they are equipped to manage change and difficulty?

Opportunities to support young people’s learning and development are normally shared and spread across various spaces, places, and delivery modes in schools, community organizations, and families. But a month ago, most of those places were abruptly shut down, thrusting families into the lead coordinating role. Learning and development didn’t stop – these are natural human processes.  But the unevenness of supports became a lot more apparent, even within extended families.

A recent virtual event launched the Readiness Projects and featured a series of short segments and interviews to tee up real-time topics for action and reflection in the days to come. What are we seeing, hearing, leveraging, and doing to respond to one very visible fact: out-of-school time is now all of the time? Together, we are stepping back to think about the inequities that are even more pressing for today's youth.

At least 21 federal agencies support programs and services focused on youth. What does it take to make sure that all of these policies and programs add up to positive, healthy outcomes for young people? For over a decade, the Federal Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs has brought together representatives from these federal agencies to promote achievement of positive results for at-risk youth through coordination and collaboration, evidence-based and innovative strategies, and youth engagement and partnerships.

In this Issue: New Blog from Karen Pittman | AIR Informs Podcast: COVID-19 Response | Afterschool & OST Resource Bank

I spent time this past week listening to nonprofit colleagues across the country who are sharing stories about how they are helping and learning from their national staff, their affiliates, local partners or schools, and the local staff, youth, and families they serve as they all adjust to this new normal.  The stress on this sector is real, but the responses are incredible as many of these organizations scramble to help families and schools figure out what happens when out-of-school time is all the time.