INITIATIVES
OUT OF SCHOOL TIME COLLABORATIVE
As part of the All In For Youth initiative, REACH acts as the backbone to the OST Collaborative. This is a partnership of:
• Community groups
• Community leaders
• Service delivery agencies
• Local institutions
They have been working together since 2008. The purpose of the OST Collaborative is to improve the resiliency of children and youth through widely accessible and quality out-of-school time programs.
INITIATIVE GOALS
- To create opportunities for children, youth, and their families to:
- Become more actively involved in their communities.
- Experience greater academic success.
- Develop an enhanced sense of belonging and identity.
- To support and offer capacity building opportunities to local and community groups that are offering this out-of-school time programming.
- To create an environment where shared knowledge and best practices enable the delivery of quality programming.
OUTCOMES
- Improve communications, linkages, and engagement among partners and key community stakeholders.
- Provide year-round support to Out of School Time (OST) community groups offering programming for children and youth.
- Build on the 2016 IRCC federal funding opportunity that served the needs of mainly Syrian children and youth. This funding has allowed 13 OST partners to provide year-round programming for newcomer children and youth.