In September 2002, a group of non-profit community organizations involved in after-school programs in Oakland came together to form the Oakland Community After-School Alliance (OCASA). The original purpose of the group was to increase public awareness and political support for Oakland 's after-school programs and to recognize the critical role youth development and prevention strategies, such as after-school programs, play in the health and well-being of children, their families, and their neighborhoods. Since that time, OCASA has grown and developed its membership to include all youth development programs while maintaining a particular interest in after-school. This document presents OCASA's accomplishments and current strategies for achieving our vision for Oakland .
OCASA envisions a citywide network of high-quality youth development programs that engage all elementary, middle and high-school aged youth in safe, enriching and challenging learning environments. The youth development programs we envision:
OCASA's mission is to increase political and public support, funding and sustainability for youth development programs and to represent the voice and advocate for the needs of community-based youth development program providers.
OCASA has been operating since September 2002 as an alliance of organizations focused on high quality youth development and after school programs. We currently have 17 formal members, including:
Safe Passages
Prior to OCASA's advocacy efforts, the Safe Passages Board did not have community representatives (including service providers, community residents, parents, and youth). OCASA organized its constituents to persuade the Joint Education Partnership, a joint City Council and Board of Education committee, to influence Safe Passages to create three new Board positions for community representatives, as well as providing input on the selection of both provider and parent representatives on the Safe Passages After-School Coordinating Team. OCASA did important work with Safe Passages on a gap analysis, an effort to create an ongoing process for measuring and determining the effectiveness, quality and quantity of after-school programs in Oakland.
Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY)
OCASA has recently been active in preparing for the Oakland City Council's review of Measure K in September 2003 by meeting with key city council members about their understanding and commitment to the fund and preparing a proposal to make OFCY dollars work more effectively to provide services to Oakland 's young people.
Oakland Unified School District
OCASA has worked tirelessly in the past year to serve as a voice for community-based organizations that provide after-school programs within the Oakland Unified School District. OCASA is committed to holding the District accountable for contracts and payments to organizations that provide after-school programs. OCASA recently met with the newly-appointed State Administrator, Dr. Randy Ward, to share ideas on how to design and develop a system that ensures all contracts and accounting systems are established and effective prior to the beginning of the school year and how to create a streamlined and efficient structure for out-of-school services. OCASA has offered to continue to serve in an advisory role to Dr. Ward.
California After-School Summit
OCASA formed a highly successful collaboration with six other youth development organizations to present the 2003 California After-School Summit. The goals of the Summit were to 1) increase understanding and disseminate knowledge about the ways that quality after-school programming can positively impact students' academic and social success; 2) expand OCASA's peer network of after-school practitioners and advocates; and 3) build attendees' skills in mobilizing parents, youth and community members to become advocates for quality after-school programming. The conference, held on May 9, 2003 was overwhelmingly successful, with over 250 participants, 40 speakers and panelists, and more than 25 organizations providing materials for resource-sharing tables. OCASA is currently partnering with Fresno CORAL to plan and organize the 2004 Summit.
OCASA recently completed a planning process to decide our role and future activities in Oakland. As part of this process, we conducted a survey of youth development practitioners in Oakland to obtain input about our role and activities and to gauge their interest in joining OCASA. From the survey, we learned that a majority of youth development practitioners in Oakland support OCASA filling the following roles:
Provider Representative
OCASA will represent the interests of lead agencies and service providers with grants and contracts from public agencies, such as the Oakland Unified School District and the City of Oakland, to provide youth development and/or after school programs. We will help to ensure that these public agencies are fulfilling their duty to deliver grants and contracts efficiently and effectively and respect the important role that CBOs play with Oakland 's youth, families and communities.
Policy Advocate
OCASA will advocate for policy and practice reforms regarding youth development and after school programs and services. These policies include:
- Increasing focused funding for after-school programs from OFCY, OUSD and other funding sources;
- Developing local sources of sustainable funding for programs that serve youth and families in low-income communities;
- Empowering CBOs as lead agencies for school-based after-school programs;
- Creating an efficient, coordinated infrastructure to ensure the quality and sustainability of after-school programs in Oakland;
- Expanding comprehensive school-based after-school centers; and
- Responding to the violence, incarceration and unemployment of youth and youth adults.
Peer Learning Network Facilitator
OCASA will convene and facilitate peer learning opportunities for service providers and other stakeholders to share concerns, lessons and tools of their work. Topics for this network will include: community engagement, sustainability, high quality programming, funding, program evaluation, collaboration, equity and diversity, program management, staff recruitment and retention, and governance.
Information Clearinghouse
OCASA will collect, store and disseminate news and information on programs, policies, practices and resources for youth development and after school programs. We will include information and updates on:
- Promising practices and innovations in high quality programming,
- Events in government that might affect after-school or youth development;
- After-school and youth development policy and funding
- Research and data related to after-school and youth development