Providence After School Alliance

On July 1, 2004, Mayor David N. Cicilline launched the Providence After School Alliance, a public-private venture to develop a citywide system to substantially increase high quality, affordable, out-of-school enrichment opportunities for Providence’s children and youth. Our goals are to support students’ academic successes, improve their physical and emotional health, improve the quality of programming and the number of youth served, and create better partnerships while leveraging funding for more efficient systems.

Developing the Business Plan

As an intermediary organization, PASA serves as a vehicle for collective action, advocacy and integrated planning. PASA grew out of a nine-month strategic planning process led by Rhode Island Kids Count and funded by The Wallace Foundation. The plan outlined a set of key investments that would lead to higher quality after-school programs and better outcomes for Providence youth, with an initial focus on middle school students age 11-14.

More than 100 leaders from after-school organizations and city departments joined teams of youth and parents to create the plan, which was also informed by research from Community Matters and market research. As planning is an ongoing process, we continue to revisit our data, practices and constituents’ needs and update and revise our plans and logic model.

Initial Funders

The Wallace Foundation and Bank of America recognized the initial plan’s merits and awarded PASA five-year $5 million and $1 million dollar grants, respectively, to begin building a quality, citywide after-school system for middle school youth. Since then, more than a dozen other funders and supporters have followed those founding grants and helped PASA grow a coordinated after-school system that includes close to 100 public and private partners and a $2 million system serving nearly one half of PASA's target Providence middle school youth each year.

Launching AfterZones

PASA’s business plan called for the formation of AfterZones - community campuses of after-school activity - across the city, as well as a quality improvement agenda to build the capacity of providers to deliver high-quality after-school experiences in the AfterZones.

Today, PASA and its network of partners have developed three AfterZones covering Providence. Collectively, the AfterZones provide high-quality arts, sports and academic enrichment opportunities to 1,800 middle school students, four days per week, 32 weeks per year.

Expanding to High School

Though PASA’s work to expand and improve quality opportunities for young people began with middle school youth, our full vision for youth development includes extending learning opportunities for all youth. In 2007, Mayor Cicilline funded a team to create an extended learning system for high school youth that would draft a plan, informed by leaders and youth, for PASA to support. This group delivered the Hub Design Plan to the Mayor and PASA in November 2008. 

The Providence Hub is designed to be an efficient system with a central learning center, an online community, public information kiosks, a network of youth-serving spaces with Internet access, and a youth-friendly and -relevant transportation system. At their January 2009 meeting, the PASA board of directors unanimously approved and allocated funding for the first 12 months of the initiative’s transition phase.

Quality Improvement and Nationwide Spread

PASA has also developed a quality improvement agenda that has been replicated across the state and the country. The foundation of the quality improvement system is community-developed standards for after-school excellence paired with a self-assessment tool and aligned professional development.

After just four short years of operation, PASA is becoming a national model. Fourteen cities across the country have contacted PASA for information about replicating the AfterZone model and quality improvement work in their own communities.