Report to the Community
Fall 2022 - spring 2023
A Note from our Co-CEOs
We are honored and inspired to have been co-leading PCY for nearly nine months. Leadership transitions (especially from a founder) can be challenging, but we have found a synergistic energy and strength in our new roles. We are excited about what the rest of our first year holds and are proud to share highlights of recent wins below, especially expanding our rockstar team with three new staff and five new board members.
Key elements of our success to date:
The staff team has stepped into navigating change whole-heartedly and courageously—from embracing a co-leadership structure to supporting one another in new ways and taking on expanded roles and opportunities.
Unwavering and forward-thinking support from our mentor Jennifer Peck to secure organizational development resources for over 12 months (thank you Heising-Simons Foundation and The Sobrato Family Foundation) that have allowed us to spend time and attention on the heart and engine of the work: the PCY team and mission.
Laser focus on PCY’s highest priority: to make the promise of the historic expansion of expanded learning real, equitable, and sustainable for decades to come—by building on the roadmap of PCY’s unique intermediary role to integrate and build coherence between policy and practice systems and implementation.
Funders that believe in our team and impact by providing flexible and multi-year funding (The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, The Eli and Edyth Broad Foundation, Hellman Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and Stuart Foundation) that allows us to innovate and adapt to meet the moment and needs of the field, as well as to sleep better during this first demanding year.
Advice, patience, and compassion from our partners, system leaders, advocates, and direct service providers without whom none of this work is possible.
—Aleah Rosario & Jessica Gunderson, Co-CEOs
New PCY staff members. Learn more about them.
New PCY Board members. Learn more about them.
PCY staff, June 2022.
PCY team members at staff retreat, March 2023.
PCY team members at staff retreat, March 2023.
PCY team members at staff retreat, March 2023.
Our Policy Work
Partnership for Children & Youth serves as a bridge between decision-makers and on-the-ground program providers to ensure local and state policies meet the needs of children and families. We advocate for the success of students in school and life.
2023-24 State Budget
When the Governor released his budget proposal in January for the 2023-24 fiscal year, he named expanded learning as a central strategy to close opportunity gaps.
PCY Sponsors Legislation
PCY and the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance (CA3) have worked closely with Assemblymember McCarty (the Education Budget Chair in the Assembly) to introduce legislation that helps fill key gaps in the state’s commitment to provide universal access to expanded learning opportunities.
AB 1113 would:
Increase quality and access to expanded learning programs for middle and high school youth by increasing the resources available for these students.
Help raise staff wages and retain quality staff by adding annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) to the After School Education and Safety (ASES) and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programs, and
Collect statewide data on students to better integrate expanded learning into the cohesive cradle-to-career education system and demonstrate the impact of these programs in the future.
Building Capacity in the Field
Partnership for Children & Youth builds the capacity of people and the quality of programs to best support children’s success in school and life.
Educating the Field
We’ve presented to over 900 people across the state and nation between September and April, bringing research, resources, and new ideas to physical and virtual rooms filled with education leaders, policymakers, expanded learning staff, school district administrators, and more.
Pictured: Expanded Learning staff discuss the effects of community involvement on mental health and emotional well-being at the Site Coordinator Symposium, February 17, 2023.
Summer Planning
Our Summer Game Plan returned for a third year with a four-part series to help district administrators and community-based organization leaders navigate the biggest challenges in planning their summer learning programs, from consistent participation to staffing solutions. Between January and March, the series engaged nearly 300 registrants from 129 unique counties, school districts, and charters, covering the new expanded learning policy and funding landscape, and strategies to improve staff retention, create robust partnerships, and design high-quality enrichment programs.
Apprenticeship Program Kicks Off
In spring 2022, PCY began to design an apprenticeship model for early-career expanded learning workers by convening Girls Inc. of Alameda County, Berkeley City College, and the California AfterSchool Network. With technical assistance support from ECEPTS, the partners developed the apprenticeship processes, recruited new and incumbent Girls Inc. of Alameda County workers to enroll, successfully secured $1.5 million in California Apprenticeship Initiative funding to implement and expand the program, registered the standards with the federal and state labor departments, and launched the program in February 2023.
Pictured: Participants at the Expanded Learning Apprenticeship kickoff event, February 16, 2023.
Building Advocacy Capacity
With nearly one-third of state lawmakers new to the California State Legislature, we’ve been working to get legislators and their staff up to speed on the importance of expanded learning, as well as the needs that remain. A key strategy in this effort is helping expanded learning providers, youth, and families tell their stories.
Legislators and Capitol Staff Learn about Expanded Learning
In February, expanded learning providers and participants brought their programs to life for legislators and capitol staff. Bay Area Community Resources (BACR), a member organization of the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance, brought a staff member, LEA partner, and former student to share their stories. Read more about the legislative hearing held by PCY, CA3, and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).
Afterschool & Summer Challenge
Nearly 300 students, parents, and expanded learning program staff and supporters attended the 19th annual California Afterschool & Summer Challenge on March 14. PCY is a proud sponsor and collaborator in this annual event with the California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC). This year, over 100 youth, over 20 parent leaders, and many other advocates met with nearly every legislative office to tell their stories and raise their voices for all of the students and families who count on expanded learning programs throughout the state.
Pictured: Staff and students from Higher Ground’s Peer Leadership Workforce Development Program discuss the importance of expanded learning with Adriana Gomez, Legislative Aid to Senator McGuire.
Group photo of students, staff, parents, and other advocates at the
2023 California Afterschool & Summer Challenge
Girls Inc and Oakland International High School Students ready for their meetings with legislators at the 2023 California Afterschool & Summer Challenge
Michael Funk, Director of the Expanded Learning Division at the California Department of Education addresses youth at the 2023 California Afterschool & Summer Challenge
Youth Day
As part of our commitment to include more youth voices in our advocacy, PCY, in partnership with CalSAC, sponsored over 45 young people and staff from around the state to learn critical advocacy skills and how to share their own powerful stories to influence state decision makers.
Watch this video to hear directly from youth about why expanded learning programs are important for high school students.
Expanding CA3
The California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance (CA3) is a coalition of expanded learning providers and child advocacy groups across California coordinated by PCY, and serves as a collective voice for afterschool and summer programs.
As the expanded learning field and state funding have grown, the role of CA3 and our membership have evolved too. The number of member organizations, the regions they represent, and the types of organizations have expanded: CA3 now boasts members in small rural areas as well as large urban ones; parent-influenced groups have joined our coalition; and 18 local educational agencies and county offices of education now participate in our advisory group. We are dedicated to bringing more voices and perspectives to our table.
Recent Publications
The Long Game:
This report from the Wallace Foundation documents how PCY and our partners shaped practice, policy, and perception about expanded learning in California.
October 2022
An Unprecedented Partnership
PCY collaborated with GPSN in this unprecedented partnership, which includes Los Angeles Unified, the City of Los Angeles, and several dozen local nonprofits to enhance and expand summer experiences for students through their Summer of Joy initiative. The 2022 Summer of Joy report documents the vision, outcomes, and lessons learned from the second year of this work, with a page written by our Co-CEO Jessica Gunderson.
January 2023
How California Schools Are Making the Most of New Increased State Investments
This report provides an analysis of summer trends in the first full year of ELO-P implementation. The findings and recommendations apply to districts and state leaders focused on both summer and year-round programming.
January 2023
About CA3
This document gives an overview of the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance and the students and families we serve.
February 2023