Colorado Afterschool Partnership!

Colorado Afterschool Partnership (CAP) strengthens Out of School Time programs in Colorado through advocacy for sustainable funding and by supporting afterschool providers with professional development, resources, and recognition. 

Investing more in afterschool in Colorado will ensure that Colorado’s students have more opportunities for learning and thriving in safe environments with caring adults.

Afterschool programming addresses and mitigates:

• Substance Abuse

• Mental Health 

• Chronic Absenteeism

• Connections to caring adults 

 Colorado 21st Century Learning Centers (afterschool programming) report that 47% of students in afterschool programming showed growth in CMAS scores, 57% improved their GPA, 68% improved their attendance and 83% improved their overall school engagement.  Parents surveyed see firsthand the outcomes of comprehensive, quality Out of School Time programming and 72% agree that these programs are helping their children stay safe and out of trouble, which in turn helps 82% of working parents keep their jobs. 

Investing in CAP provides much-needed support to afterschool providers around the state. 

Since its founding, CAP has championed initiatives that promote learning, social-emotional growth, and community engagement for Colorado’s children and adolescents, particularly in underserved and rural areas. CAP partnered with a small team to create House Bill 1331 for $3.5 million for Quality, Comprehensive Out of School Time (OST) Programs, now the CO-NOST grant at the Colorado Department of Education (CDE).  In October, CAP partnered with CDE to host the Fall OST Conference, with 92+ youth-serving organizations that report serving over 70,000 youth in Colorado. CAP organized 22 presenters offering professional development and resources to the participants, including special visits from Education Commissioner Cordova, and Governor Polis.  

One rural organization, Kids at Their Best in Morgan County said this about the CAP Fall Conference in 2023: “I have been doing afterschool work for years. It is messy, hard to hire staff, and there never seems to be enough time to find new resources, or if you do, there are all kinds of "rabbit holes" and I always wonder about the quality.  After spending 48 hours at the CAP fall conference, I learned about resources I have used every day since!!  We have our kids playing Math Hoops! Our team has done training with The Flourish Lab. We volunteered with Future Cities.  Denver Museum of Nature and Science is sending us totes for summer.  Staff participated in the Rural STEM Community of Practice. We have worked with Children's Hospital for trainings, and so many other resources we found through CAP. And the connections! We connected with another rural partner across the state to share resources. CAP has provided key resources that I had not been able to connect with otherwise. The quality that they have brought to my programs is key to our success. 

And from the Fall Conference, 2024, CAP heard “I really enjoyed the people I met and the information I learned to bring back to my students.” 

CAP is a project of Colorado Nonprofit Development Center (CNDC).  By donating to this page through Colorado Gives, CNDC will ensure that all of your donations make it to CAP and raise up the work we do for afterschool providers in every community. 

Thank you so much for your support.