After School Opportunities in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

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The California Afterschool Network Policy Committee offers the after school field a strong connection to California after school policy and funding information. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Fiscal Year 2010 (FY 2010) Federal Budget present many increased opportunities for out of school time programs. The California Afterschool Network is committed to keep Network participants connected to current information as new State and Federal opportunities for out of school time programs rapidly arise. A summary of some current opportunities in the ARRA and the FY 2010 budget can be found below.

1. Title 1 Funding Opportunities
An additional $13 billion is being distributed to local education agencies (LEAs) for programs under Title I. Support for extended learning, including afterschool, summer and year-long programs, is encouraged in the guidance on this funding. As Callifornia already supports after school programs through the ASES program, accessing Title 1 funding for summer learning may be an effective strategy.

Resources for Accessing Title 1 Opportunities for Summer Programs

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Summer Programming: An Opportunity for School Districts and Summer Program Providers – BAP The Bay Area Partnership Recently Released this paper which outlines facts and resources (including multiple links) to access Title 1 resources for summer programs.

The National Center for Summer Learning
Provides resources and strategies for how summer learning programs can work with districts to access Title 1 funding. For more information, click here.

Big Money for School Improvement: Title I School Improvement Funds Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriations:
This report from the Center on Education Policy (CEP) outlines how the Title I school improvement funds are distributed to school districts and what types of activities those funds can support. To access this report, click here

2. Child Care Development Block Grant Funding Opportunities
An additional $2 billion has been provided in Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funds. Using the funds to contract for slots in programs for school-age youth is a stated allowable use of recovery dollars. Also, since $255 million is set aside for quality improvement activities, you could talk to the agency about professional development for staff.

Overview of opportunities
The Center for Law and Social Policy website contains an overview of Child Care Development Block Grant and recovery resources http://childcareandearlyed.clasp.org/reinvestinginchildcare.html

Making the most of chlld care funding for the states
March 2009 report from the Center for Law and Social Policy outlining how states can utilize ARRA Child Care funding for child care funding http://www.clasp.org/publications/ccdbg_arra_policies.pdf

Child Care Division of the California Department of Education Website http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/

3. Workforce Investment Act Opportunities
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides $1.2 billion for youth services, and the Department of Labor strongly recommends using these funds to create jobs for low-income youth. Partnering with Workforce investment boards can be a successful to recruit youth to staff after school and summer programs at little cost. Partnership with local workforce investment boards can also be a long-term sustainability strategy for after school and summer programs.

Partnering with Local Workforce Investment Boards to Grow Your Programs Telephone Workshop
On April 14, 2009 The California Afterschool Network hosted a telephone workshop providing strategies for after school program partnership with local workforce investment boards (WIBs) to supplement after school and summer program staffing at no cost through the ARRA and Workforce Investment Act. To access audio of this call, a summary of potential WIB partnership strategies, and additional resources go to http://www.afterschoolnetwork.org/node/7327

4. Americorps, *VISTA, and Service Funding Opportunities
A new grant application for Americorps will be available to submit in the fall of 2009. These opportunities will be available as part of the recently passed Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act puts AmeriCorps on the path to grow from its current level of 75,000 to 250,000 members per year. These funding levels are subject to the approval of funding levels set forth in the Obama budget. Programs should position themselves to apply for Americorps grants as early as September or October 2009.

Corporation for National Service – Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
The Corporation for National Service will be distributing information regarding upcoming funding opportunities through their website, a series of telephone workshops, and the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in San Francisco.

Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act Information
Stay tuned to this website for upcoming telephone workshops containing information regarding funding opportunities outlined in the Kennedy Serve America Act. http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/serveamerica

National Conference on Volunteering and Service: San Francisco - June 22-24

California Volunteers
The office that manages service and volunteerism in California

Americorps *VISTA Opportunities
AmeriCorps *VISTA members serve as resources to help community organizations build capacity. An additional 3,000 positions are available for new and existing sponsors. *VISTA members are committed to a one year term of service. Apply directly to be a *VISTA sponsor, or partner with local sponsors in your community to place a *VISTA volunteer in your programs. Applications for *VISTA grants are accepted throughout the year.

What is an Americorps *VISTA (National)

National Application Guidelines for *VISTA

California *VISTA information
To learn about Americorps and the Americorps *VISTA program in California, learn about future grant opportunities, and opportunities http://www.californiavolunteers.org/index.php/AmeriCorps/detail1/

Accessing AmeriCorps*VISTA 

To apply for an AmeriCorps*VISTA grant, please contact the Corporation for National and Community Service California State Office at (310) 235-7421. 

Additional Resources

The Afterschool Alliance has an entire page on its website devoted to Title I as part of the Recovery Act, including a quick primer and links to additional resources. http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/PolicyEconRecovTitle1.cfm The joint CCSSO/Finance

Project Brief can be accessed online at http://www.ccsso.org/publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=272 or http://www.financeproject.org/publications/usingnclbfunds.pdf.

“Using Title I to Support Out-of-School Time and Community School Initiatives” – can be found at: http://www.financeproject.org/publications/Brief10.pdf

For an overview of Title I, visit the US Department of Education’s website, the Title I information can be accessed at http://www.ed.gov/programs/titleiparta/index.html.

State-Level Recovery Act Funding Reports Now Available:
A report detailing how much money has been made available, in each state and how much money has been outlaid, or drawn down, is now available. To access this report, click here.

I’m a local program – what can I do to tap Recovery resources? 


I’m working at the state level – what can I do to tap Recovery resources?

The Afterschool Alliance Recovery Website

The California Recovery Website
Publication Date:
April 8, 2009
Attachment Size
ARRA_Timeline_from_CCSSO.pdf 89.77 KB
ARRA-Summer-Final.pdf 44.59 KB