Resources

Curriculum, Activities and Frameworks

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Licensing and Regulations

Afterschool facilities in which out-of-home care is provided at any one time, for part of a 24-hour day to seven or more children, 15 years of age or younger – including care provided in private, public, profit or nonprofit facilities, before or after the hours of instruction in nonpublic schools, and in private nursery schools or kindergartens, must be licensed through the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS).

In Pennsylvania, there are four regulations regarding licensing.

• 55 Pa. Code Chapter 20 Licensure or Approval of Facilities and Agencies
• 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3270 Child Care Centers
• 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3280 Group Child Care Homes
• 55 Pa. Code Chapter 3290 Family Child Care Homes

Licensing requirements are not application to certain programs.

DHS requires all individuals who are interested in opening a child care facility to attend both an online and in-person orientation training.

Opening a Child Care Facility in Pennsylvania gives instructions on how to open a licensed school age child care program.

Nutrition, Wellness and Safety

OST Advocacy Efforts

OST Programs

Pennsylvania Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers

As described by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grant is a competitive grant that provides federal funding to establish community learning centers that provide academic, artistic and cultural enrichment opportunities for students and their families. These opportunities must occur in OST to help students attending high-poverty and low-performing schools to meet state and local standards in core academic subjects. Centers must also offer students a broad array of activities that can complement their regular academic programs, to offer literacy and other educational services to their families.

The only federal funding dedicated to out-of-school time in Pennsylvania, the 21st CCLC grant is authorized under Title IV, Part B of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (P.L. 107-110), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and reauthorized by Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015. The 21st CCLC grant is administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)

To learn more about 21^st CCLC, including information about grant monitoring, reporting procedures, and how you can apply for a grant, please visit the Pennsylvania Department of Education website and Pennsylvania Nita M Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers’ website.

Starting a Program, Staffing and Sustainability Planning

Afterschool Training Toolkit – Useful information and resources on best practices in different areas of OST, from family engagement to classroom procedures to STEAM.

Beyond the Bell Toolkit: A Toolkit for Creating Effective Afterschool and Expanded Learning Programs – Helpful Information and resources for program leaders looking to start an out-of-school time program or expand/improve and existing program.

Engaging Businesses in Out-of-School Time – This resource contains tips and best practices to help OST program leaders and other stakeholders navigate the business world to forge important partnerships with businesses and other community members to benefit programs and students.

How to Create a High Quality Out-of-School Time Program – From funding logistics to community involvement and research/evaluation, this document contains a comprehensive description of everything that someone looking to start a new program needs to know in order to design, implement and maintain high-quality programming.

Know Your Funders: A Guide to STEM Funding for Afterschool – This document outlines potential sources of different public/private funding for OST programs providing STEM instruction, with specific tips related to grant research and writing.

Resource Guide for Planning and Operating Afterschool Programs – This document is another guide for new OST program leaders and covers curriculum, youth development, behavior management, mentoring, developmental milestones, accreditation and more.

The Wallace Foundation Knowledge Center – Find hundreds of free reports, videos, tools, infographics and other useful material about school leadership, the arts, learning and enrichment, and other issues. Many of these materials are specific to extended learning and OST.

Summer Enrichment

Summer learning loss, the phenomenon where young people lose academic skills over the summer, is one of the most significant causes of the achievement gap between lower and higher income youth and one of the strongest contributors to the high school dropout rate. NSLA (2023) shares, “…by the fifth grade, summer learning loss can leave low-income students two-and-a-half to three years behind their peers.”

PSAYDN is dedicated to expanding summer learning opportunities for children and youth throughout Pennsylvania. Please visit the National Summer Learning Association website for summer learning resources, toolkits and statistics and Discover Summer, their interactive online search tool for finding a virtual or in-person summer program in your area.