An Edmonton-wide collaborative circle of community partners is working to boost resiliency among vulnerable children and youth through quality, accessible programming during the critical hours that children are out of school. 

The Out of School Time (OST) Collaborative is a partnership of community groups, community leaders, service delivery agencies, and local institutions that have been working together since 2008. The OST Collaborative began in response to concerns raised by immigrant and refugee families and community groups regarding the increased need for specific supports and programs for their children and youth when they are not in school. The OST has evolved and expanded its focus to include out of school time programs and supports for immigrant and refugee children and youth as well as all children and youth experiencing social vulnerability.

One way that the Collaborative supports community groups is through the 14th annual OST Conference, which was held on June 26 this year. 

“It’s a collection of learnings and teachings that we have brought together here that we hope will help support folks who are delivering programming to vulnerable children and youth,” says Sofia Alani, Program Manager for OST Collaborative. “It’s a one-day opportunity to gain skills, gain knowledge, and hopefully take that back to their programs for the summer and have a really incredible, successful summer program.”

While many community groups run programs during the summer, OST partners are serving vulnerable Edmonton children and youth all year round. 

“I think what’s so important about OST is that it’s addressing that critical time after kids are out of school, whether summer or during the school year when their parents are at work or looking for employment. Our community partners are providing a positive and safe environment for these kids to connect with peers, positive role models, and academic support,” says Brandy Basisty, Project Coordinator for OST Collaborative.

The academic support can be especially valuable to newcomer kids that have had gaps in schooling, or are unfamiliar with expectations in a Canadian classroom. 

“A lot of our partners serve newcomer families,” says Basisty. “Because of funding cuts that came this year, many of these organizations have had drastic cuts to their staffing and it hasn’t stemmed the number of referrals they’re getting. They get all kinds of referrals from schools–even ones that they cannot claim under federal funding.”

“We support our partners with capacity-building, such as service coordination, resource provision and navigation. For example, we provide free or very low cost training for staff,” says Brandy. “We’re able to be very intentional about how we support the groups, and it's based on the feedback they’re giving us.”

Sometimes even small supports can make a big difference, because the close relationships mean OST is able to target specific gaps that systems can miss or are unable to address on an individual agency level. For example, providing resource support to cover food and transportation costs. “Food, transportation, insurance– those kinds of things can be really tricky to get help with. A lot of funding streams won’t let them expense those things,” explains Basisty. 

For example, OST Collaborative’s targeted support of summer program microgrants for its members. These grants are funded by the City of Edmonton and Butler Family Foundation, in partnership with United Way Alberta Capital Region. REACH OST is the steward, coordinating distribution, reporting and budget coaching to grant applicants–helping to increase capacities in those areas. 

For more information about the OST Collaborative, click here.