Communities are the heartbeat of our society. More than just a place, a community is an ecosystem of people, history, culture, and local voices. And the people in that community have the ability to influence how young people grow and develop, along with the kinds of opportunities they have.
When the pandemic and national racial reckoning exposed fissures in our social fabric, out-of-school-time intermediaries (OSTIs), the organizations that anchor a city’s afterschool and summer learning systems, saw an opportunity to rethink how those systems operate. The crises highlighted ongoing gaps in access and quality of OST programming, as well as the limitations of a centralized approach to designing and coordinating OST systems that didn't fully include the voices and resources of the communities they served. In response, many OSTIs evolved from serving simply as system “coordinators” to “cultivators,” nurturing a more diverse, equitable, and community-powered network of out-of-school-time opportunities.
Today, communities are facing additional pressures, such as potential federal funding cuts that could limit program capacity, staffing, and long-term planning, alongside rising costs and ongoing workforce challenges. OSTIs will need ongoing input from leaders on the ground, families, and young people to develop innovative, sustainable solutions that keep programming accessible to all and high quality.
Family League of Baltimore (Family League) is one intermediary that is building on the lessons learned during the pandemic to deepen its engagement with its community in service of an important goal: to build a more equitable future where young people will thrive. The organization’s experience can help provide an example of how intermediaries can partner with communities to strengthen out-of-school-time systems and expand opportunities for young people.
Case Study: Family League of Baltimore
Family League serves as Baltimore’s OSTI and also functions as the city’s Local Management Board, coordinating services for children and families across areas such as perinatal health, school readiness, youth development, food justice, and youth justice. Its work covers three core functions: programming and grantmaking, coalitions and collaborations, and policy and systems change.
Family League distributes funding from the City of Baltimore to OST programs, collects data on OST programs, convenes programs, and provides professional development and other support. The organization operates in a complex ecosystem that includes other OST funders and capacity builders, working alongside the Mayor's Office and several city agencies, such as the Governor's Office for Children, Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools), and its community to inform OST system decisions and initiatives.
Evolving Support for Grassroots Organizations
The pandemic illuminated that trusted and effective support for young people often came from grassroots organizations that were underfunded and excluded from system-level decision making. Prior to the pandemic, Family League had begun to reach out to grassroots OST provider organizations in the city, and it later intensified those efforts—deepening investment in grassroots organizations and bringing their voices into goal-setting and strategy development. For example, Family League’s Expanded Youth Program (EYP) launched a few years before the pandemic and provided $1 million annually through 2024 to dozens of community-based organizations serving youth up to age 24.
Family League is intentional about creating a grantmaking process designed for the success of its grantees. Not only do they deliberately consider grassroots organizations as they design grant applications, but Family League proactively offers proposal support and guidance with some of the more complex proposal processes in the city.
In the fall of 2020, Family League launched the Adaptive Village initiative to support grassroots leaders. Through this funding opportunity, organizations submitted three-minute video applications requesting grants of $2,500 to $25,000 for innovative projects that created healthy, supportive spaces for children and their communities. Community members then voted on the proposals to determine which projects would receive funding. Family League also provided hands-on support to help participating organizations strengthen administrative capacity and access public funding, including professional development tailored to key operational practices.
One OST provider recognized their efforts by saying, “Family League’s support is great especially because grassroots organizations often get overlooked…Family League helps grassroots organizations learn the process.” Another small OST provider noted that Family League’s support “helps set you up to have access and to reach your goals.”
With the Family League’s support, several grassroots organizations have strengthened their capacity to lead comprehensive OST programs in community schools and beyond. For example, The RICH (Restoring Inner City Hope) program, which supports mostly male students in South Baltimore, started a juice bar run by young people in an area identified as a food desert.
Family League’s strategy of supporting grassroots organizations aligns with other funders in the city, which in turn has spurred new financial support. The Expanded Youth Program, for instance, had been funded entirely by Family League and now has backing from other entities in Baltimore that have stepped up as partners.
Seeking Community Input
Family League has been putting systems in place to regularly hear from community members and use their input to guide decisions. The goal was to ensure community input was not just heard, but could meaningfully inform high-level visioning and priority-setting.
One way the organization seeks community input on its funding decisions is through its Community Advisory Board (CAB), composed of stakeholders representing communities across Baltimore. The CAB ensures a steady feedback loop on the grantmaking efforts that it supports. Family League provides training for the community advisory board so that they look at funding with equity in mind. For example, the Family League worked with the Black Butterfly Academy to train members on the history of racial segregation in Baltimore and its current impact. They use this equity lens as they view data about neighborhood assets and needs and review grantmaking documents to ensure they are accessible to all organizations, including grassroots organizations.
Authentic community engagement requires more than just creating opportunities for feedback. It requires an investment in building the skills, confidence, and knowledge of everyone in the community. Family League’s model of seeking community input on decisions demonstrates this principle in action. Through free skill-building trainings accessible to individuals both within and beyond their OST network, Family League helps provide opportunities for leadership development, particularly for smaller organizations.
Elevating Youth Voice
Like many OSTIs around the country, Family League seeks input from young people to inform its work and help partners improve their programming.
The organization administers a survey in both English and Spanish annually of young people in youth development programs asking how they might improve the program and the positive impact it's had on them. Program grantees can use this data to support program quality, while Family League uses it to unpack the areas where additional capacity building, including professional development, may be needed. Family League also uses the data to inform the organization’s strategic plan, help partners with continuous program improvement, and reveal systemic gaps that lead to new programmatic investments–ensuring young people have a say in shaping the systems that affect their lives.
A recent report highlights what is possible when young people are trained and supported to conduct research to solicit opinions of peers in their own communities. The young researchers found that most youth who were involved in OST programs feel respected and safe and are eager to be involved in designing and leading these programs.
Key Takeaways for Out-of-School-Time Intermediaries
Family League’s ongoing efforts reveal important strategies for other out-of-school-time intermediaries to consider.
- How can intermediaries design grantmaking with grassroots organizations in mind? By providing support for smaller grassroots organizations to overcome barriers—like fiscal sponsorship, skill-building and simplified grant applications—OSTIs could directly invest in an individual community’s programs and leadership.
- How can intermediaries invest in a community’s capacity to lead and partner? Authentic community engagement means equipping residents, youth, and grassroots leaders with the skills, confidence, and resources to participate as decision makers and collaborators in shaping systems and solutions.
- How can intermediaries use data to strengthen trust and continuous improvement? OSTIs can help build trust and foster a culture of continuous improvement by using data to spark dialogue, collectively identifying challenges, and co-creating solutions that are truly responsive to community needs.
