C HARTING N EW T ERRITORY :
B UILDING S UCCESSFUL , M ODEL C OMMUNITY WIDE
A FTERSCHOOL S YSTEMS THROUGH S TRATEGIC P ARTNERSHIP
Shanna Francisco-King
MHC After 3 Program Coordinator
Patrick Henry Community College
Sfrancisco-king@ph.vccs.edu
276-656-5493

W HO WILL WE BE RECRUITING ?
 http://www.weeklyinnovations.org/video/video/sh ow?id=1115708%3AVideo%3A15188

Why on earth would a community college become so heavily involved in helping to build a regional afterschool system for teens in rural
Virginia?
Simple.

A CCORDING TO N ATIONAL I NSTITUTE ON O UT -
OF -S CHOOL T IME , STUDENTS INVOLVED IN
AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS
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Are more likely to pursue post-secondary education
Are two times less likely to use drugs
Are 63% less likely to become a teen parent
Improve school and achievement test scores
Attend school more often
Have stronger relationships with family and peers
Exhibit better behavior and reduce aggression
Have higher self esteem
Develop positive, meaningful relationships with mentors and peers
National Institute on Out-of-School Time. Wellesley Centers for Women,
Wellesley College. www.NIOST.org
. 2007.

T HE NEED :
In 2006, The United Way of Henry County and Martinsville published “Voices, Choices: Community Priority Assessment.” Of the top 10 priorities identified by respondents, four were concerned exclusively with youth:
• Lack of afterschool activities for youth,
• youth violence,
• youth leaving the community,
• substance abuse among youth.
In the city of Martinsville, 47 of 1000 live births are to teen mothers as opposed to 16 of 1000 in the State of Virginia. Only 68% of 18-24
year olds are high school graduates and almost half of respondents graded our K-12 systems as “Fair” or “Poor” while the other half graded the systems are “Excellent” or “Good.”
Furthermore, according to Virginia Department of Education, approximately 46% of school aged children in our community are living at or below the poverty level.

B ACKGROUND OF MHC A FTER 3
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Mission: MHC After 3 (MHCA3) provides high quality, universally accessible, and highly utilized best practices afterschool and out of school time programming throughout Martinsville and Henry County, Virginia.
Stakeholders convened:
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School administrators and teachers
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Law Enforcement
Local, state, national leaders
Youth development professionals
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Youth serving agencies
Higher Education institutions
Churches
Arts organizations
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Museums
Health & Wellness organizations
Social Services
Parents
Students
Community members

O NCE U PON A T IME A TEAM IS BORN :
Community stakeholders concerned with youth success and achievement set out to investigate avenues for positive change. The group was comprised of area public and private school administrators and teachers, afterschool providers, arts and science organizations, health and wellness organizations, social services, higher education institutions, law enforcement and public safety officers, parents, children and other stakeholders. The group held meetings, developed a work plan and visited cities that were successfully addressing similar issues
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A P ARTNERSHIP IS F ORGED
Bassett Community Center
Boys & Girls Clubs
Martinsville Henry County Coalition for Health & Wellness
Patrick Henry Community College
Virginia Museum of Natural History
YMCA of Martinsville Henry County
A ND EXPANDED
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Blue Ridge Regional Library
Fieldale Community Center
Focus on Youth
New College Institute
PHCC School of Craft & Design
Piedmont Arts Association
Spencer Penn Center

A ND F UNDED …
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July 2006, The Harvest Foundation of the
Piedmont awards $506,895 to Patrick
Henry Community College to build a model afterschool system for teens in Martinsville
Henry County.
The initial grant funded one year of building public will, planning, and implementation of the system and one year of programming at no cost to participants, citizens, or municipalities.
In January of 2007, Academy for
Educational Development recognized
MHCA3 as national replication site for
ASM+. Awarded $10,000 to implement the program.
In Dec. 2007, Harvest Foundation funded
$504,560 to MHCA3 partners to continue building and expanding programs
In August 2008, 21 st CCLC awarded
MHCA3 $425,000 over next 3 years to continue programming.

P ATRICK H ENRY C OMMUNITY C OLLEGE
(PHCC) B ECAME H EAVILY I NVESTED
As a leader in the region for education and workforce development ,
PHCC embraced its mission to reach out to the community by lending leadership and oversight to the collaboration, convening meetings of stakeholders, and agreeing to serve as the fiscal agent for the system.

H OW DOES IT WORK ?
Public Will &
Readiness
Partnerships
& collaborations
Goals &
Values
Funding
Governance
Standards
Access to programs
Capacity

P UBLIC W ILL & R EADINESS
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Advocacy for youth development and youth services.
Leadership on local, regional, state, & national level.
Secure support of K-12 school systems.
Establish need.
Define workforce.
Reach out to potential providers.
Find champions.
Know your community!

G OALS & V ALUES —”W HAT & H OW ”
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Share, share, share. Shared goals are essential.
Establish your outcomes.
What do you want to see in the short and long terms?
Visit successful programs.
Find a mentor.
Work together with interest of client first.

P ARTNERSHIPS & C OLLABORATIONS
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A community is not comprised of organizations and individuals who refuse to share responsibility for creating solutions and opportunities for its citizens.
A system is built through strategic partnership of stakeholders who are invested in the development of youth, workforce, and community.
MHC After 3 partners include: higher ed. institutions, school systems, arts & cultural organizations, businesses, funders, youth serving organizations, local leaders.
Collaborations tap all areas of the region to present diverse and useful programming to students & families .

F UNDING
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Establish funding for new programs.
Local, state, & federal resources for starting and sustaining afterschool
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Education—Public & Private
Crime prevention
Community Development (Block Grants)
Americorps.
Arts, recreation, sports
Tobacco settlement
Health & wellness
Sharing resources/funds
Opportunities to serve the community
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Serve as fiscal agent
Provide space to leadership
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Outreach to future students and community families

G OVERNANCE
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Establish leadership and vision for system oversight.
Collaboration not Competition
Patrick Henry Community College serves as the fiscal agent for all MHCA3 funds, provides leadership and supervision to MHCA3 staff, and provides incredible amounts of resources—office and classroom space, financial management, IT support, public relations resources, staff supervision, etc.—to the collaboration.
It also assists in the promotion of and public education concerning MHCA3 programs and services.
MHCA3 shares
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Program Coordinator
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Education Specialist
Fund Development Professional
Strategic Planner & Evaluator

Q UALITY S TANDARDS M EAN Q UALITY
P ROGRAMS
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MHCA3 adopted standards that meet the National Afterschool
Association standards as well as state licensing standards.
Ensure staff meet skill standards
PHCC hosts training for all staff as a group. New Human Services certificate through Workforce
Development. Investigating Youth
Development Series
Adopt proven program models and best practices curriculum
Professional Mentors and
Instructors

C APACITY B UILDING
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Assistance to sites and staff to meet standards and grow.
Professional development opportunities.
Paid planning for staff.
Shared cost for snack, supplies, materials, etc.
Shared staff/resources.

W HAT ’ S IN IT FOR ME ?
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For PHCC
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Meet immediate needs of our community
Increased awareness of PHCC among potential college students (participants, staff, and parents)
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Impact on economic development– 6 full time positions created. 22 part-time positions created as direct result of MHCA3.
Building culture of education in the community
Impact of workforce development
Grant administration costs
Support of PHCC non-credit programs

W HAT ’ S IN IT FOR P ARTNERS
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Funding for facilities, staff, equipment, etc.
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New services to offer students
Coordinator
Education Specialist
Fund Developer
Evaluator
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Funding for programs & special events

B UILDING AFTERSCHOOL SYSTEMS AND
P ARTNERSHIPS ALLOW P ARTNERS TO :
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 broker relationships with key funders and stakeholders convene local organizations to share resources and expertise rationalize and expand services such as enlisting support from public/private donors is more efficient for community partnership than individual organizations increase program quality through effective resource management and accountability mechanisms strengthen and support after-school workforce through shared training and professional development opportunities research and evaluate programs and progress efficiently to ensure program sustainability and development promote sustainability for all programs provided by MHC After 3 through developing shared policies and systems to ensure steady stream of resources
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R ESOURCES TO BEGIN
 www.afterschoolalliance.org
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 www.niost.org
www.tasc.org
www.naaweb.org
www.doe.gov
www.boostup.org
 www.theafterschoolproject.org