VISTA Leader - Afterschool Sustainability Project

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The Afterschool Alliance and the Statewide Afterschool networks want all children to have access to affordable high quality afterschool and summer programs. High quality afterschool programs have shown to increase student academic performance, behavioral improvements and have been a factor in supporting regular school attendance. There are three areas of improvement for afterschool programs - program sustainability, expansion of afterschool meal programs and expansion of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs. The 21 st Century Community Learning Centers programs provide competitive funding for school community partnerships in Title 1 schools in need of improvement serving low income children. Initial funding is provided for a limited time period. To keep this resource operating for students and their families in their community, a community engagement and sustainability process is needed. Additionally, Congress expanded resources to include afterschool suppers for low income children. Schools, programs and community providers have an opportunity to end hunger among low income children in their communities, but program knowledge, operational barriers and other obstacles have impeded widespread expansion of these meal programs. Afterschool and summer learning programs are also at the forefront of increasing access to STEM education by establishing partnerships with STEM-focused organizations and businesses. This is an Americorps VISTA volunteer position that provides a modest living allowance and an educational award that can be applied to future educational opportunities or repayment of student loans. For more information about the VISTA program visit: http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/benefits/index.asp. The VISTA Leader, based in Washington, DC, will oversee the work of VISTA volunteers in these two areas in several states. The VISTA Leader must have completed one year of previous service with AmeriCorps VISTA.

Duties include:

• Develop case studies, issue briefs and other materials on addressing policy barriers, operations issues and supporting afterschool programs interested in participating in the At-Risk Afterschool Meals Program or Summer Food Service Program
• Identify national organizations as resource partners for 21 st CCLC afterschool programs and other programs serving low-income communities.
• Monitor policy developments, USDA regulations and opportunities for programs to be eligible for special funding or support to offer meal programs.
• Serve as liaison with the VISTAs assigned to state networks on reporting and monitoring.
• Provide the infrastructure for the VISTA learning community.
• Identify technical assistance needs through an email list or social networking site. Identify promising and successful practices at the local level that could be shared for support of other VISTAS. Work with the national project supervisor, staff, and consultants to develop webinar materials for technical assistance.
• Support the national convening with coordination, content and logistics for the project VISTAs.