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| POLICY
To support the implementation of effective, responsive and equitable after school services for all youth and communities, California Tomorrow works with intermediaries, policy coalitions, researchers, practitioners, funders and other advocates to incorporate equity and diversity concerns into after school policy and technical assistance agendas throughout California and around the nation.
California Policy
It is a very active and exciting time in California after school policy, as the state gears up for a quadrupling of its after school expenditures with the implementation of Proposition 49 in 2006-07. California Tomorrow is working with other training and TA providers to identify the types of training and TA most needed by programs to enable them to effectively apply for and use these new funds. We are also engaged in helping to evaluate and shape state policies: requirements for staff training, criteria for allocating funds to regions, outcome measures, and other elements that will – for the foreseeable future – determine the quality of the state’s wide array of programs and how much access California’s neediest groups have to them.
Our focus in all of this work is to provide the information, tools and perspectives to infuse Proposition 49 planning with a focus on equity and diversity. Our policy priorities include:- targeting funding to areas of greatest need;
- ensuring program quality related to serving diverse populations;
- developing mixed delivery systems that enable community based organizations to play a key role in providing after school services;
- broadening evaluation measures;
- creating culturally competent services; and
- being sure that program staff have training on working with diverse children and youth.
We are excited to be working with others to strengthen the voice of equity and diversity in the statewide after school infrastructure, so that California might become a national model for fostering high-quality after school programs that are accessible to and meet the needs of diverse youth.
Current and past coalitions and initiatives with which we have worked:
California After School Policy Forum
Committee on Afterschool Accountability
California School Age Consortium Public Policy Committee
Proposition 49 Workforce Development Committee
California After School Network – Planning/Development Workgroup
Oakland Fund for Children and Youth 2005 Strategic Planning Task Force
California After School Partnership Advisory Committee
National Policy
Our project team is also in dialogue nationally, raising equity and diversity issues in national policy conversations on program quality, workforce development, outcomes and accountability, and community responsiveness. |
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