Publication: Service as a Stratery in Out-of-School Time: A How-To Manual

• Corporation for National Service

Out-of-school time (OST) programs are being developed to
provide safe places and constructive after school
activities for children and youth from families in which a
single parent or both parents work and neither parent would
be home after school. This manual is intended to help
program directors, child care providers, service members,
school administrators, and leaders of community-based
organizations to effectively integrate service in the
development and implementation of OST programs. The manual
discusses quality OST programs, highlights effective
practices, discusses service and service-learning
activities for children and youth in OST, and lists
resources and contacts. Discussions among practitioners and
researchers in the emerging fields of service and OST have
developed a body of knowledge about what makes a high
quality program, and some of these efforts to define
quality standards are summarized. Existing service programs
are presented as examples of effective practices that
incorporate service and out-of-school time activities.