Quality Standards for Expanded Learning in Public and Affordable Housing

Partnership for Children & Youth adapted the Quality Standards for Expanded Learning in California to reflect the unique needs and realities of expanded learning programs in public and affordable housing communities.

The Quality Standards for Expanded Learning in Public and Affordable Housing leverage the unique opportunities providers have to build greater equity in educational (and broader life) outcomes for youth living in housing communities. More than 50 educators, housing representatives, and stakeholders from across the country lent their expertise to refine these standards. Participants included every level of youth work, from direct service providers to senior executives to academic researchers and policy leaders. This diverse group added a unique housing-focused lens to the work of the nearly 500 people who reviewed the initial standards produced by the California Department of Education and the California AfterSchool Network.

This is a groundbreaking step forward. We are already seeing the impact these ideas are having on expanded learning programs in housing communities, and we look forward to hearing how you will use them. Every program is different—these standards are meant to serve as a guide that staff in each program will adapt to meet their unique needs.

We hope you will join us, and make these standards your own. Together, we will change the lives of youth in expanded learning programs across the country. Together, we will build pathways out of poverty.

The Quality Standards offer guidance and best practices in the following 12 areas:

  • Clear vision, mission, purpose, and management

  • Continuous quality improvement

  • Quality staff

  • Collaborative partnerships

  • Family engagement

  • Sustainability

  • Diversity, access, and inclusivity

  • Safe and supportive environment

  • Active and engaged learning

  • Skill building

  • Youth voice and leadership

  • Healthy choices and behaviors

The Quality Standards have been endorsed by the following organizations:

California Department of Education

Council of Large Public Housing Authorities

David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality

Housing Development Consortium

National AfterSchool Association