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For immediate release – January 26, 2007

 

Delaware Afterschool Alliance Announces Funding
Mott Support will Jump-Start Statewide Afterschool Policies in Delaware

WILMINGTON, DE – The Delaware Afterschool Alliance (DASA) announced today that Delaware is one of three states to receive grants from the Flint, Michigan-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for the launch of statewide afterschool networks that promote sustainable and effective afterschool programming. The $195,000, three-year grant will fund the Delaware Afterschool Alliance, a formal statewide collaboration designed to improve the quantity and quality of afterschool programs in Delaware. The grant will be administered by The Family & Workplace Connection. Network participants will include policy makers, educators, childcare providers, youth development workers, program developers, advocates, parents and others. Match funding, which brings the total grant amount to $390,000, is being provided by the Delaware Department of Education, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services (Division of Social Services), Delaware Division of the Arts, Delaware First, and the United Way of Delaware.

“The Mott Foundation’s support will jump-start, bring to scale and sustain successful afterschool programs in Delaware,” said Evelyn Keating, Provider Services Director of The Family & Workplace Connection.. “It is going to provide the resources we need to bring together the key decision makers on afterschool in the state. We intend to coordinate our efforts to provide the best afterschool programming we can, and to build robust support for afterschool among parents, the business community, lawmakers, and afterschool program providers.”

With the grant, Delaware joins other statewide afterschool networks that received Mott funding including Utah and West Virginia. Previously funded states include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

“Our hope is that funding for the networks will encourage local and state policymakers to invest additional resources into expanding quality afterschool opportunities and improving their sustainability,” said Mott Foundation Program Officer, An-Me Chung. “The networks will also provide a means for joint planning, sharing of resources and best practices, building bridges to and between federal, state, and local afterschool initiatives, and forging partnerships necessary for comprehensive statewide afterschool policies.”

The Delaware Afterschool Alliance will focus its collaboration on three related goals:

• Create a sustainable structure of statewide, regional, and local partnerships, particularly school-community partnerships, focused on supporting statewide policy development.
• Support the development and growth of statewide policies that will secure the resources that are needed to sustain new and existing afterschool program.
• Supporting statewide systems to ensure that programs are of high quality.

National organizations providing technical support with Mott funding to the existing and emerging statewide networks include: the Afterschool Alliance, Council of Chief State School Officers, National League of Cities, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, The Finance Project, and the University of South Carolina Education Foundation with assistance from Learning Points Associates and Collaborative Communications Group.

The mission of The Family & Workplace Connection is to enhance the supply and quality of care and education for children and elders and to help families effectively manage their work and personal life responsibilities.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926 in Flint, Michigan, by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the United States and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Pathways Out of Poverty. The Foundation, with year-end total assets of $2.48 billion, made 549 grants totaling $123.2 million in 2005. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.mott.org.

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