Author: School's Out Washington

King County Best Starts for Kids quality out-of-school time initiative extended for fourth year

By School's Out Washington

The Out-of-School Time Initiative, a part of King County Best Starts for Kids, began in 2018 and was slated to provide youth program providers with funding and quality improvement support through 2020. The initiative is designed to increase access to high quality and culturally relevant summer and afterschool programming for elementary and middle school youth. In total, $8.3 million was distributed to 12 People-of-Color-Led organizations and 7 Place-Based Partnerships (representing 26 organizations). The cohort represents dynamic, engaging youth development work and has fostered a richer landscape of services across King County In January of last year, the SOWA Best Starts team was gearing up to enter the final assessment season, collecting data on programs’ gains, and planning to close out the inaugural cycle with a bang. When COVID hit, communities across the county (and the world) scrambled to support each … [ ]

Professional development made easy—an interview with Janell Jordan

By Adriana Zazula

A new year often means change and that holds true for SOWA’s training opportunities. Janell Jordan, King County Program Manager, shares their excitement for the new King County Training System and provides insight as its project manager. While virtual, trainings are open to any youth development professional and there is no fee to attend. What is the King County Training System? Why King County?The King County Training System is an option for organizations and their staff to access training and professional development opportunities. Training opportunities range from topics such as Exploring Structure Racism, Mapping Multiracial & Cross-Cultural Identities, Leap Into Science, our suite of … [ ]

Reflections on Bridge

By Janell Jordan

We did it! 394 individuals virtually gathered over four days to grow, strategize, nourish, and ultimately work to create sustainable impact for our field.   Planning this year was tough, not knowing what folks would need or want in the middle of a pandemic, while also navigating the fight for Black lives and the buildup of fear around the upcoming election. There were so many unknowns we were juggling, and our team worked really hard to ground ourselves and the spaces we curated in our Bridge values: equity, belonging, leadership, nourishing, change, innovation, and community. Some aspects of the conference manifested so beautifully and perfectly timed, and other aspects we dropped the ball a bit and have room to grow.   Holistically, though … [ ]

“Your impact, especially in a time like this, is magnified”

Staff at the Birch Creek youth center knew that summer programming during a pandemic would be different, but they didn’t know how different. On the first day of program, out of the 30 youth signed up, only one attended.  As they tried to address the barriers, they kept finding new ones. Kids felt awkward on video calls with their peers. Some families didn’t have the tech they needed, or didn’t know how to navigate the online platforms. It was straightforward when kids could drop in to programming at the youth center in their neighborhood, but now their homes have had to become … [ ]

$9.4 million awarded to 421 youth development organizations across Washington state

By Adriana Zazula

On November 5, $9.4 million was awarded to 421 youth development organizations. Awards were distributed across all areas of the state with a focus on organizations most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and which support priority populations (BIPOC, LGBTQ, migrant/immigrant, youth with disabilities and youth in poverty, among others).  Awards range from $10,000 to $50,000 and will be distributed between mid-November and December 15, 2020.  About the Fund The Washington Youth Development Nonprofit Relief Fund wasmade possible by the CARES Act(Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act)and is being implemented by the Washington State Department of Commerce and School’s Out Washington.  This one-time investment addresses the financial … [ ]

Planting seeds in the shadow of hope

By Sheely Mauck

“This is the shadow of hope. Knowing that we may never see the realization of our dreams, and yet still showing up.” – Austin Channing Brown We often talk about change as moving from one state to another. You are one way. You do something or something happens, and then you’re in a new state. In our quality improvement work, I have referenced different frameworks for change including the “Stages of Change,” which has concrete steps to signify the change process or the matrix for “Managing Complex Change,” which includes flow chart boxes with specific elements of the change process. When looking at the stages, there are gaps between one step to the next step. On the flow chart, there are gaps between … [ ]