Shaping the Future of After-School The essential role of intermediaries in bringing quality after-school systems to scale Collaborative for Building After-School Systems September 2007 Published by the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS) Lucy N. Friedman, President, The After-School Corporation Rebkha Atnafou, Director, The After School Institute Erin Coleman, After School Strategist, Safe and Sound Stephen Pratt, President, Boston After School & Beyond Greg Roberts, President & CEO, The DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation Hillary Salmons, Executive Director, Providence After School Alliance, Inc. David Sinski, Executive Director, After School Matters The Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS) is a partnership of intermediary organizations dedi- cated to increasing the availability of quality after-school programming by building citywide after-school systems. The mission of CBASS is to make after-school part of the system of essential services that support children and youth, and to promote the development of quality after-school service systems nationwide. CBASS was founded in 2006 with a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies. This paper was prepared by The After-School Corporation. For more information on the system-building and policy work of CBASS, please contact the CBASS staff at
[email protected]. September, 2007 I. The Case in Brief or most of their history, spanning more than a cen- students’ academic achievement, to enrich an often con- tury, out-of-school time programs thrived on their strained school-day curriculum, to extend more attention Fparticularity. Individual, small, independent activities to underserved groups and communities, and to demon- mainly grew not from the top-down initiative of school strably increase young people’s chances of success later systems or governments, but from the energies of local in life.