Cambridge OST Coalition news & updates
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August 2023 | Summer Issue |
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Photo Credit: Mercedes Soto |
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Highlights from the June 2023 OST Coalition Meeting |
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Engaging with system-wide data and reviewing our collective purpose |
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Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride & 50 years of Hip-Hop. |
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The OST community leaders who attended the Coalition Meeting in June were able to: connect with peers, learn about and take a tour of The Foundry, view and discuss youth-level participation data across the system, and engage in some collective thinking about the potential and purpose of our Cambridge OST Coalition going forward. To review the slides, click here.
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Save the Date
Cambridge OST Coalition Meeting
September 27, 2023
In-person, Location TBD
9am Coffee & Networking
9:30am-12noon
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Purpose of OST Coalition & Member Engagement
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In 2023 we spent time at both the February and June meeting discussing the Purpose of the OST Coalition. This discussion will continue in September. Getting clearer as a coalition about our purpose, role, shared goals and expectations will give us direction about priorities for us collectively. The sample notes from members of the OST Coalition in response to the following questions in linked here.
What are your goals & vision for a healthy, equitable OST Coalition?
Do we have a clear purpose statement?
Do we have a shared understanding of our role as a Coalition?
What structures and processes do we want to establish ownership of the Coalition and its purpose?
What expectations do we have for each other as members of the OST Coalition?
Are you interested in getting involved in defining the purpose and goals of the OST Coalition? Would you like to participate in OST Coalition meeting planning?
We are offering two zoom planning sessions: 9/12/23, 10-11am and 2-3pm.
Come to whichever works best for you. We will be sending a zoom link in advance.
Please contact Susan or Khari if you have questions.
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OST Expansion Project Update |
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In Spring 2023, the City announced its plan to add 170 seats in some of its existing DHSP programs for the Fall 2023. At that time, the City also expressed interest in adding seats for low income families in the non-profit programs. On August 1st, the City announced its plan to fund 65 additional seats in the non-profit programs (Agassiz Baldwin Community, Cambridge Community Center, Community Art Center, East End House and the YMCA). Overall, non-profit programs aim to expand by close to 90 seats (of which 65 will be reserved for low income families).
This summer, the Agenda for Children OST, with support from Louis Costa de Beauregard, a summer intern from the Kennedy School of Government started mapping out the current state of the OST ecosystem, gathering data and doing some preliminary analysis. Initial discussions with key stakeholders in the OST community focused on identifying the main causes contributing to the lack of access today and generating ideas to equitably solve these problems going forward.
The OST Expansion Project starts with a question: How can we ensure that every child and family in Cambridge that needs afterschool has access? Agenda for Children OST is managing the expansion project with support from partners and consultants and funding from the City. We will be publishing a Request for Proposals at the end of the summer. Please let us know if you have consultants or consulting groups you would recommend for this project.
The work ahead will lead us to engage broadly with the community in order to surface unmet needs and agree on common goals and is meant to focus our collective attention on the issues that are most important, to generate practical and effective solutions, and to strengthen the OST mixed-system for the benefit of children and families.
If you want to take an active role in this process, please contact susan@agendaforchildrenost.org. We will keep you informed as opportunities for engagement become available.
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Making Sense of System-wide OST Data |
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Opportunity to Engage with Us to Learn from Community Partners Portal and OST Demographic Dashboards and other Data Sources |
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This school year, AFCOST will be launching and convening an OST Data Working Group that will come together periodically (first mtg date is below, others will follow). Some folks have already expressed interest in joining us to dive into data (e.g., system, program, staff and student levels, etc.) and to consider what we can learn and leverage from it, in a number of dynamic ways.
We will likely start by exploring more deeply some of the system wide OST data that we briefly discussed at our most recent OST Coalition Meeting. Here are a few slides that we have shared and been looking at, and that we want to dig into more deeply with the OST Data Working Group.
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A SHOUT OUT! To all the Organizations that have uploaded participant data into the Community Partners Portal (CPP), contributing to the rich repository of OST data that we are able to pull and learn from. Also, to make it possible to research important questions, and to generate all types of Dashboards, Table and Charts. |
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Save the Date
Cambridge OST Coalition Meeting
September 27, 2023
In-person, Location TBD
9am Coffee & Networking
9:30am-12noon
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Engagement in AFCOST Professional Development |
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Professional Development Transcripts
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Each year, in the Fall, the Agenda for Children OST sends out transcripts and organizational reports to OST leaders, and individuals which summarize the hours of staff participation in professional development activities.
In 2022-23, more than 330 individuals from 62 OST programs participated in more than 2600 hours of professional development offered by the Agenda for Children OST (AFCOST), in the OST Learning Institute (Trainings, Communities of Practice), the Networks (ESON, MSN, RAY) the Quality Improvement System (QIS), the OST Coalition and School Partnerships.
Please use these organizational reports and transcripts as tools to reflect with your staff on last year, as you decide on your professional development goals for this year. Check the AFCOST website 2023-24 event calendar. Please reach out to ashley@agendaforchildrenost.org to share how we can support your professional development plans for this year.
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To learn more about the impact of a new Agenda for Children OST Learning Institute professional development opportunity, Mercedes Soto, Impact and Evaluation Advisor, conducted interviews with 18 OST Leaders who participated in Cohorts 1 and 2 of the Liberation of Leadership advanced series.
Evaluation Report coming soon!!
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Agenda for Children OST
Co-Directors
Susan Richards (Susan@agendaforchildrenost.org) Khari Milner (Khari@agendaforchildrenost.org)
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