A View from the Field

Lucy N. Friedman is the founder and former president of The After-School Corporation (TASC), now known as ExpandEd Schools. She writes this paper based on her experiences at TASC working with hundreds of community-based organizations who are running afterschool programs and argues for increased public funding of programs. 

The paper identifies some challenges organizations across the board have encountered, including the need for better staff training, stronger ways to help educate school leaders on the benefits of afterschool, how to improve program content and financial management in general. To that end, the paper recommends such strategies as: 

• Investing in staff development by providing intentional training and development opportunities 
• Developing effective curricula that balances academics with project-based learning
• Shifting the funding model to allow for increased coverage of overhead expenses
• Working with networks and intermediaries to ensure a more equal distribution of resources among organizations