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Meyer Memorial Trust Grant for Community Conversations is a Wrap

Our Meyer Memorial Trust Grant has ended but the results have been a large boost for the needs of kids in Washington County.  The grant enabled WCK to conduct focus groups throughout the county to assess the needs of parents and guardians for out of school time (early childhood, after school, and summer--OST) programs and their experiences in accessing them.  The grant also made it possible for WCK to disseminate the results of those conversations through multiple methods and to engage in conversations with many additional community members.  

The first phase of the project involved conducting 21 focus groups in conjunction with 11 provider partners.  We also offered an online survey for people who could not attend a focus group. Both projects were provided in English and Spanish.  Through these efforts we were able to obtain input from a total of 211 members of the county. A report on the results, The Imperative to Act, demonstrated that although families are happy with their OST programs, barriers hinder access and need to be addressed.  Cost, transportation, hours of operation, and lack of programming for segments of the population, particularly older kids make participation difficult, if not impossible, for many.  The report and the executive summary were presented at a summit in March that was attended by approximately 50 partners and elected officials. Both documents are available on our website.  In addition, an interactive page on the website provides the location and contact information for providers.  

But, our work did not end there.  We received a no-cost extension to work on further dissemination of our results with the following outcomes:

• A 5-minute video and 10 short public service video announcements that illustrate the importance of OST programs and the need to support them.  
• Two OST publicity campaigns in local newspapers and in the eNewsletter (summer slide and back to school)
• Information materials on WCK in English and Spanish
• Parenting tips in English and Spanish
• WCK bookmarks
• Information about OST for social media posts
• A farmer’s market booth where contacts were made with over 90 community members
• A listing of key contact people in the county

We also started a quarterly OST Providers meeting for providers to get to know each other better and have an opportunity to share ideas and work together for common goals.

While the grant was happening, we also were working on our other activities—keeping you informed with our newsletter, interacting with providers and community members, conducting our annual fundraiser, and providing workshops for provider staff to improve OST quality.  We are indebted to the Meyer Memorial Trust for helping WCK convey your experiences to others.  

Your experiences illustrate the need for OST programs.  We will be sending our PSA videos out and distributing the materials that were developed to organizations throughout the county.  Contact washcokidsoregon@gmail.org to schedule a presentation.  Keep tuned in for future activities to get your OST message out throughout the county!  

In 1972 Donna J. Stone, founder of Prevent Child Abuse America envisioned a future in which no child would ever experience abuse or neglect. It was her commitment and passion to help children in need that helped her create her well-known organization. Now, nearly 50 years later, Martha Brooks was celebrated for demonstrating those same commendable traits. Not unlike Donna Stone all those years ago, Brooks recognized the importance of a child’s well-being. Currently, serving as Western Regional Director for Oregon, Montana, and Wyoming, she is also a respected leader in the political community. All this work happened while she developed a successful real estate practice, for which she’s received awards. While she may be humble about her achievements, countless others, including the State Director of Healthy Families Oregon, strongly felt that her selflessness was worthy of recognition. This came in the form of the prestigious 2019 Donna J. Stone award at the national Prevent Child Abuse America conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And while this award is certainly a great professional achievement, for Martha it’s simply just another day at work. In her own words, “The family that days or months or years later remembers you and says, “thank you” without you even knowing it, is worth more than any riches in the world.” A round of applause is certainly in order for Martha Brooks’ unyielding commitment to improving the lives of children and their families in the Western States. 

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After School Conference Challenges IQ
By Katie Riley

Oregon ASK provided a challenging start to their 2019 after school conference.  Conference keynote speaker, Kendra Coates, Ph.D., spoke about the power of a growth mindset by first outlining the history of intelligence testing. The original IQ test designed by Alfred Binet has been misused to label intelligence as a fixed property that people receive at birth. He did not intend it to be used that way. Recent neuroscience research has shown that brains keep developing based on new experiences and ideas and habits can change based on those exposures. Coates proposed that people explore new ideas and experiences, including play. Further resources on this topic can be found in Carol Dweck’s original and updated book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

As I walked the halls to attend conference sessions, I was pleased to see attendees from Washington County exposing themselves to new ideas.  Two sessions added to my own new exposures

The first session I attended, “Partnering to Create and Sustain Programs for Student Success,” focused on developing financial resources for programs including setting up opportunities for federal and state programs. Federal programs include ESSA, the replacement for No Child Left Behind, which provides more flexibility to school districts to use funds. Oregon’s new Student Success Act provides an opportunity for community input on how funds are spent to improve student outcomes and after school programs can provide an opportunity to braid funds to increase student success. TANF and SNAP are federal programs to provide temporary cash, employment, and nutrition resources. ERDC is another federal program that allows parents to work while their child receives childcare. The option of having the possibility of a state program to allow citizens to form children’s special districts to raise local funding for OST programs was also mentioned. Please excuse the alphabet soup shorthand references – contact me if you wish further details.

The second session I attended had the intriguing title of “Tough Nut to Crack: Strategies for Serving High School Youth.” Since we do not have many OST programs in Washington County that serve this population, but there is a big need for them, I decided to attend.  Although many high school students have many activities that compete with after school programs such as sports and different lessons, other students do not have access to those opportunities. For high school students, there needs to be a variety of programming options including service learning, partnering with WorkSource programs for funding, and surveying students and their parents on possible topics. In addition, panelists emphasized the need to consult with kids by establishing student advisory groups as well as offering student-led, planned, and implemented programs.

We would love to hear about other workshops and learning opportunities partners attended. 

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OST Providers Talk Challenges and Training Needs

The OST Providers meeting on November 6th focused on the challenge of providers and their volunteers often coming from different backgrounds. It is difficult to recruit employees and volunteers who come from the same or similar experiences and backgrounds as the kids they serve. It is particularly difficult to recruit men. Various ideas to address these challenges were discussed including offering training for staff and volunteers. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training will be investigated for next year’s WCK training opportunities. In addition, the possibility of partnering for grant funding will be pursued. Mark your calendars for the next quarterly OST Providers meetings: Wednesday, February 5th and Wednesday, May 6th. Both meetings will take place at 1 pm in the Vose Room of the Beaverton Community Center.

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Afterschool and Summer Learning Day at the Capitol

Join Oregon ASK and partners from around Oregon on January 15th to share the power and promise of afterschool and summer learning programs. You can sign up to share the importance of building employability skills and providing continuous care for working families by registering at OregonASK.org/day-at-the-capitol  More information is available on the Oregon ASK website or contact Bethany Thramer.

WCK Newsletter editor: Shari Getz