The After-School Corporation

Description

The After-School Corporation (TASC) is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the quality and availability of after-school programming. By engaging public- and private-sector partners, funding programs, coordinating public and private funds, and providing technical assistance, TASC has significantly increased the supply of quality after-school programming in New York City.

From its inception, partnership between the public and private sectors has been an integral part of TASC's vision and activities. TASC was created through a seed grant from the philanthropist George Soros's Open Society Institute. The grant provides $25 million each year for up to 5 years, contingent upon a 3:1 match from the public and private sectors. TASC's leaders have met this challenge by successfully engaging a number of partners to create a network of high-quality, school-based, after-school opportunities.

• State and Local Government. The City of New York and the New York City Board of Education are key partners in establishing after-school programs in New York City Schools. In addition, TASC cultivated a close partnership with the State of New York and its Department of Education to support their effort to expand after-school programming throughout the state.
  
  
• Private Sector. TASC engaged a number of private partners from business and philanthropy. Partners include Bell Atlantic; Carnegie Corporation of New York; Charles Hayden Foundation; Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; Chase Manhattan Bank; Golden Family Foundation; The New York Times Company Foundation; Morgan Stanley Dean Witter; New York Community Trust; Lilo and Gerard Leeds; Rudin Foundation; Starr Foundation; Tiger Foundation; United Way of New York City; and Madison Square Garden Corporation.
  
  
• Communities. TASC promotes partnership at the local level by providing grants to community-based and other not-for profit organizations to operate school-based after-school programs. A high level of collaboration between community-based organizations, school principals, teachers, and other personnel, parents, and cultural and educational institutions must be demonstrated in order to receive TASC funding.
  
  
• Education Institutions. Harvard University, Columbia University, Policy Studies Associates, Inc., and Bank Street College of Education provide programmatic expertise and evaluation, and the Partnership for After-School Education provides training and professional development.
  

History and Development

The After-School Corporation was created in 1998. Leaders of the Open Society Institute wanted to make a significant investment in New York City, and saw the need for after-school programming. They also recognized that forces such as welfare reform, research on the prevalence of juvenile crime and delinquency during the after-school hours, and education reform were increasing awareness of the importance of after-school programs among parents and policymakers. They hoped that their investment could act as a catalyst to expand and coordinate the list of stakeholders interested in after-school care, and lead to increased state funding.

Rather than funding after-school programs directly, The Open Society Institute established The After-School Corporation (TASC), an intermediary organization charged with leveraging new public and private funding, engaging stakeholders, and providing the support and technical assistance necessary to build a network of high-quality, school-based, after-school programs.

After it was established in April 1998, TASC moved quickly to engage strategic partners in the public and private sectors, develop a program model, and issue a request for proposals. The first round of 25 after-school programs funded by TASC began operating in September 1998. By the end of the 1998-99 school year, TASC had funded 50 after-school programs, serving more than 13,000 students. By the Fall of 2000, 137 programs serving 35,000 students were operating with TASC support in New York City.

TASC engages in activities at the policy and program levels that are aimed at expanding quality after-school opportunities for children in grades K-12.

At the policy level, TASC is working to create and strengthen an alliance among the many stakeholders needed to establish an accessible network of after-school programs. They have established strong partnerships with city and state governments; city and state school boards; local school districts and schools; community-based organizations; other service providers; cultural and educational organizations; businesses; and foundations. These partnerships have leveraged resources and have helped to facilitate effective, coordinated programming at the local level.

At the program level, TASC funds community-based organizations to operate school-based after-school programs for children in grades K-12. The programs operate from 3 to 6 p.m. every day that school is in session, and open enrollment to all children in the school. While TASC does not prescribe specific activities that grantees have to offer, they do require that grantees adhere to a basic program model with the following core characteristics:

• Programming that is connected to but different from that of the school day and combines educational enrichment, technological skills development, and homework help with participation in recreational and artistic activities and community service. For older students, the programs also include peer counseling, internships, college preparation and job training.
  
  
• A full-time, year-round paid after-school coordinator.
  
  
• A ratio of approximately one adult to every ten students that includes a diverse mix of teachers, volunteers, artists, parents, etc.

TASC provides training and technical assistance to sites on administrative and programmatic issues. They contract with the Partnership for After-School Education and other national institutions to provide professional development and training delivered through week-long training institutes, monthly meetings for site coordinators, and "core knowledge" training provided to after-school project staff.

In order to increase public support for after-school programs, TASC works to build a broad-based coalition to establish long-term and sufficient funding for quality after-school programs. They established the After-School Action Partners (ASAP), which is a group of parents, educators, providers, and other interested parties who receive alerts on after-school issues and guidance on how to advocate with policymakers effectively.

The Open Society Institute committed up to $25 million each year, for five years, contingent upon a 3:1 match. The size of the seed grant, and its matching requirement, has attracted significant public and private support. Resources include:

• $10.5 million appropriated from the City of New York, and $8.5 million in in-kind support from the New York City Board of Education for the 2000-2001 academic year;
  
  
• $30 million allocated by the New York State Education Department and the Office for Children and Family Services in the fiscal 2001 budget to support the development of statewide after-school programs in partnership with TASC; and
  
  
• $11 million raised from a wide range of corporations and foundations.
  

In the first two years of operation, TASC succeeded in meeting their ambitious implementation goals of establishing a program and policy framework, and selecting and funding over 100 sites. Over the next three years, evaluation data gathered will be used to determine whether the program is contributing to improved outcomes for participating children and parents.

The After-School Corporation hired Policy Studies Associates, Inc. to conduct a comprehensive five-year evaluation of the initiative, which will document the program's characteristics and measure parent and child outcomes. Evaluation activities include surveys of site coordinators, principals, after-school project staff, students, and parents, and site visits to a small sample of projects selected for in-depth study over the five years of the evaluation.

In order to sustain the initiative after the Open Society grant term, TASC's leaders hope to garner increasing support from the public and private sectors. The ultimate goal is to make after-school programming a public responsibility in New York and eventually, throughout the country. To this end, TASC is building a broad-based coalition to advocate for secure, long-term public funding.

Focus on quality. Select sites that have the capacity and experience to deliver quality programming and to support it with training, professional development, and evaluation activities.

Develop a clear vision. The ambitiousness and clarity of TASC's vision to establish after-school programming as a public responsibility has helped to garner the support and involvement of multiple partners.

Engage partners early. Stakeholders must be involved early in the process if they are to become invested in the outcomes. For TASC, it was particularly important to engage school principals and the Board of Education early.

Lucy N. Friedman
The After-School Corporation
925 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 547-6950
Fax: (212) 547-6983
http://www.tascorp.org