Core competencies are the abilities of staff to apply specific knowledge and skills to their professional practice. In other words, the core competencies are the key ingredients necessary to make a successful afterschool staff. Afterschool programs whose staff exhibit the core competencies will be best equipped to transform the next generation of youth in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Afterschool for All Advisory Council has adopted two sets of competencies: one for afterschool line staff and one for afterschool supervisors. These core competencies were aligned to the California After School Program Quality Self-Assessment Tool. Developed from national and local research on afterschool practice, these competencies will be a powerful tool for increasing afterschool program quality in San Francisco.