EDC Awarded $9.4 Million to Continue Leadership of the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment

EDC has received a $9.4 million award from the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care (OCC) to continue to lead the National Center on Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE). Since 2015, EDC has led NCASE, advancing OCC’s goal to expand supply and access to afterschool and summer learning and development opportunities for school-age children.

Over the next four years, EDC will work with long-time NCASE partners, the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST), the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), and WRMA, Inc., to ensure that school-age children across the country benefit from high-quality out-of-school time (OST) learning that helps them thrive academically, physically and emotionally. Their work will have a special focus on enhancing OST care for children and youth from working families with low incomes.

“EDC is honored to remain OCC’s partner in this vital national center,” said Tony Streit, NCASE principal investigator. “From our decades of work in the field, we know the powerful, positive, and enduring impacts OST programs have on young people’s lives.”

Katari Coleman, NCASE project director, said, “We are so glad to continue to help OST programs support children who are still grappling with the after effects of the pandemic.”

A few of NCASE’s key areas of focus follow:

• Provide technical assistance (TA) to Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) lead agencies to advance their efforts on behalf of school-age children
• Deliver a wide range of learning events including national trainings, professional learning groups, and conference presentations
• Conduct research and share findings on the current status of the OST workforce and strategies to strengthen the field
• Develop and update new evidence-based, culturally responsive resources for the 400-item NCASE Resource Library
• Consult with a technical working group that includes leading researchers, OST providers, representatives of state, territory, and Tribal agencies, and other key collaborators

EDC will also work closely with OCC’s integrated Child Care Technical Assistance Network, co-leading events, co-developing new resources, and advancing OCC’s policy priorities.

Learn more about EDC’s Early Childhood Development and Learning work.