Safe and Smart: Making After-School Hours Work for Kids - June 1998

A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Communities Meeting the Need for
After-School Activities


The MOST Initiative (Making the Most of Out-of-School Time)
Contact: Joyce Shortt, 781-283-2526

The MOST Initiative (Making the Most of Out-of-School Time), an initiative of the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund which is managed by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, has helped to increase the supply and improve the quality of activities, experiences and programs for children ages 5-14 during their non-school hours. Among the national goals of the MOST initiative are raising public awareness of the need for after-school programs; increasing the numbers of children served; assisting in program start-up and improvement and in training opportunities for providers; and sharing information about "what works."

Three cities--Boston, Chicago and Seattle--are now completing the third year of their action plans, which focus on community-based, collaborative strategies designed to improve opportunities for children and youth. Developing a system of school-age care in each community requires bringing different players to the table. In each city, MOST has facilitated discussions among various stakeholders from direct service providers, who contribute their knowledge of the needs in the community and of what constitutes good programming, to representatives of city and state agencies and schools, which contribute both resources and facilities. The Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago is conducting an independent evaluation of MOST's effects on increasing supply, improving quality, and developing systems of school-age child care in the three cities.

Boston, Massachusetts
Contact: Elaine Fersh, 617-426-8288
Parents United for Child Care leads the Boston MOST Initiative with funding support from the Boston Foundation, the City of Boston, and many others. The Boston MOST Initiative provides small start-up grants and intensive technical assistance to a group of public schools that are initiating new school-based before- and after-school programs. Boston has made a concerted effort to link with the arts community and cultural institutions so children have the opportunity to participate in the arts and to take advantage of the cultural resources in their community.

Chicago, Illinois
Contact: Leonette Coates, 773-564-8874
The Chicago MOST Initiative is working with the Chicago Park District to transform drop-in programs into regularly scheduled after-school programs in areas where the need is greatest. Chicago has also focused on training and professional development for after-school staff as well as recruitment and preparation of future staff.

Seattle, Washington
Adrienne Bloom, 206-461-3602
In Seattle, Reading Is Cool, a program planned cooperatively by MOST, the Seattle Public Schools' Director of Academic Achievement, and Washington Literacy, encourages children to enjoy recreational reading and to increase their exposure to reading-based activities during the summer. Seattle has 10 new programs through the MOST efforts, which serve some of the city's most low-income areas, as well as summer programming for 560 children--immigrants, refugees, and children with special needs--most of whom had not previously participated in a program.
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