Out-of-School Time programs significantly enhanced the social and academic outlook for Latino Students. A new UnidosUS brief addresses the challenges of keeping them going.

For years Out-of-School Time programs (OST) have provided students and their families with supplemental academic support, adult supervision and opportunities for social, emotional, cultural and athletic development. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic The impact of OST programs are now being revered as an essential tool that can elevate student recovery efforts, but as pandemic recovery funding dries up, UnidosUS is encouraging policymakers and stakeholders to take a closer look at how to keep these programs going. 

This week, UnidosUS Senior K-12 Education Policy Analyst Brian Ortega discussed UnidosUS’s latest findings by presenting the organization’s new Out-of-School Time Learning: Practice to Policy brief at the 2024 National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) Summit in Washington, D.C.  NSLA is a national non-profit organization which leverages summer learning to close opportunity gaps for underserved students. The summit brought together more than 1,200 senior, cross-sector leaders focused on youth, families and communities. 

“OST programs are key to student recovery,” Ortega told attendees. “They offer spaces for students that provide safety and trust. OST programs are not just spaces for families to drop off their children to be cared for, they are places where students can thrive academically, socially and emotionally.”

One of the biggest obstacles is that, in September, states committed their final round of funds from the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program, which provided $190 million for pandemic recovery out of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Consolidated Appropriations Act and the and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP Act), all of which were passed in 2020 and 2021. 

“Affiliates are deeply concerned about the limited availability and inflexibility of funding, which severely restricts program access to many students in need,” the policy brief explained. The goal of this brief is to recognize the role OST programs play within what it calls the broader ecosystem of education and youth development, especially when it comes to serving the needs of the country’s growing Latino population. 

Relying on input from public charter schools and community-based organizations in UnidosUS’s Affiliate Network in the states of Illinois, Florida, Texas, Arizona and California, UnidosUS hoped to gain a comprehensive understanding of the benefits of OST programs and the challenges they face, as well as ideas for ensuring they can continue to grow and provide holistic services.  

What OST Programs Do

At their best, “OST programs are instrumental in not only supplementing academic learning but also in fostering a holistic approach to youth development,” the policy brief explained. A RAND Corporation study found that students who have participated in these programs have shown greater academic achievement, increased engagement and attendance in choice-based learning activities,  and improvements in subjects they had previously struggled with. The study also found that students felt safer and more self-confident in their social and emotional interactions, better able to self-regulate and build authentic relationships. Additionally, the increased childcare and supervision gave students’ parents a better chance of maintaining their current incomes or pursuing job opportunities while reducing household stress levels. 

“These spaces provide individualized attention and mentorship and can foster a greater sense of belonging and emotional well-being, which is especially important for underserved communities,” the brief noted. 

OST programs are made up of three thematic buckets which include multipurpose, academic and specialty interest programming. Multipurpose programs are often funded through the federally 21st Century Community Centers Learning (21st CCLC) and focus on safety and supervision, homework help, health and wellness and social and emotional learning. While they do offer other wraparound support, academic programs focus more stringently on academic achievement in subject matter that students may find particularly challenging. Finally, specialty interest programming is even more focused on specific skills development, such as technology, arts or sports, but oftentimes these programs are fee-based and cater to middle-and-upper-income families. 

Best OST Program Practices from UnidosUS’s Affiliate Network

Data from UnidosUS’s Accelerating Latino Student Recovery report shows that additional learning opportunities are especially important for Latino students. Since the pandemic, Hispanic students have experienced significant declines in reading and math proficiency, increasing struggles with physical and mental well-being, and a rise in absenteeism. But the UnidosUS’ Affiliates participating in the OST policy brief were keen to share what was working to turn these challenges around. Partnering with other community-based organizations to seek out private and public grants to then build out innovative educational interventions was one of the most common strategies.

The urban, non-profit Acero Charter Schools in Chicago, which serves 6,400 mostly bilingual K-12 and high school students, has increased and enhanced its programming by partnering with legacy community outreach programs such as the YMCA and the Union League Boys and Girls Club to seek out private and public grants that would lead to free summer school and after-school tutoring programs. 

Prior to joining UnidosUS, Ortega served as Acero Schools’ director of community affairs and advocacy, working closely with the YMCA and the Union League Boys & Girls Club (ULBGC) to showcase how OST programs positively served students and families,

“Acero partnered with the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs (ULBGC) and the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago to offer afterschool and summer programs to K-12 students across six campuses,” he explained. “These programs provided extracurricular activities, STEM education, homework help, experiential learning, and afterschool meals, while also creating a safe space for students. OST providers, like ULBGC and the YMCA, are essential to students and families, especially in low-income and disadvantaged areas. By extending learning beyond the classroom, they play a crucial role in supporting student recovery and development.”

In Tucson, Arizona, the UnidosUS Affiliate Amistades Inc.’s Renacimiento Program centers on helping boys and young men of color process and redirect trauma by cultivating positive cultural identity for greater confidence and enhanced decision making. This curriculum includes sessions on family separation and cultural adaptation for newcomer students. 

In addition to its long history of OST programs, the San Francisco-based Jamestown Community Center (JCC)’s new Youth Apprenticeship Program provides older students with part-time work at the center, combined with professional development and financial planning workshops.

“This real-world, hands-on work experience and training help Jamestown youth envision a plan for their lives while also helping them manage expenses in San Francisco, a city known for its higher costs of living,” said Jamestown Executive Director Nelly Sapinski.

Founded in 1965, the Redlands Christians Migrant Association is well-rooted in serving children of migrant farmworkers who come to work in the state of Florida. During the pandemic, their charter schools decided to use ESSR funds to buy supplies and hire and train extra staff for an interactive Saturday Academy program. 

Collectively, these affiliates and others strive to foster enrichment and engagement by building students’ confidence in tackling real-world experiences, providing a safe and supportive environment for improving students’ mental health, and  offering culturally and linguistically responsive instructors, resources and activities that welcome students who may feel alienated because of their identities as Latinos, immigrants, or children of color. They also encourage community partnerships with everyone from parents to business leaders, recruit and train diverse and culturally aware staff members, and tackle the root causes of social, economic, and academic alienation by taking a wraparound approach that helps students and their families address basic needs such as food, shelter, and healthcare.  

As funding for the pandemic era draws to a close, Affiliates are worried how they will continue to provide the resources as well as recruit and retain staff. They also say the decline in funding could lead to patchy transportation to the program sites, an inability to provide adequate mental health services, and more generally, inhibit their ability to cover operational costs that include everything from meals and appropriate technology in a time of inflation. 

Policy Recommendations 

The brief closed with a call for federal and state policymakers to consider strengthening its various funding sources for OST programs. At the federal level, these include Title I and Title IV funding and 21st CCLC funding, all of which is accounted for under the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, the latest federal civil rights legislation guaranteeing a right to equal access to education. The brief also noted that Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) which would be instrumental and complement OST programming. Money from sources like this could help to increase OST workforce diversity and incentivize partnerships, collaboration, and innovation. 

Affiliates also encouraged tax credits for businesses supporting OST programs, research grants, and waivers that provide greater flexibility in accessing needs-based programs while respecting civil rights and equity provisions. Affiliates said states could follow this example by supporting policies to expand OST programs, cater to the growing population of Latino and multilingual learners, identify specific financial and logistical barriers to programmatic success, and facilitate direct funding to community-based non-profit organizations.

“In essence this Practice to Policy brief serves as a clarion call for transformative action. By leveraging the successes of community-informed OST programs, policymakers have an unprecedented opportunity to usher in a new era of education equity and youth development,” the brief stated. 

–Author Julienne Gage is a former UnidosUS Senior Web Content Manager now working on a PhD in sociocultural anthropology at Florida International University.