The mission of the Central Texas Afterschool Network (CTAN) is to expand out-of-school-time opportunities for children, youth, and families that are diverse, accessible, balanced, and of the highest quality. CTAN has been actively engaged in research, public awareness, and collaboration-building since August 2001.

Where We Are Today

The strategic directions from the 2007 CTAN Strategic Plan are:

  1. Fostering Local and Regional Partnerships and Memberships   

  2. Increasing Public and Professional Awareness of Afterschool in Central Texas  

  3. Engaging and Developing Afterschool Professionals to Ensure the Highest Quality Programs in Central Texas  

  4. Increasing Support for Afterschool Programs by Expanding Resources to Ensure Sustainability

Your input is valuable -- help shape the future of afterschool by joining CTAN today. 

Background

At the July 21st, 2000 Community Action Network (CAN) and Community Justice Council Public Safety Planning Retreat, children’s out-of-school time was identified as a critical issue in Travis County. After this retreat, interested individuals came together and the Central Texas Afterschool Network (CTAN) was formed. We organized around four main issues: accessibility, affordability, equity, and quality in out-of-school programs for the youth of Travis County. In order to broaden the base of support and bring more stakeholders to the collaboration, CTAN hosted "2001 Summit: A Meeting of the Minds."

The Summit was extremely successful and brought over 100 people from 52 different organizations together to discuss the issues of out-of-school programs. The energy and excitement generated at the CTAN summit resulted in the commitment of more than 60 volunteers willing to serve on one of four work groups addressing accessibility, affordability, equity, and quality. A steering committee was also formed to guide and monitor the progress of these work groups.

Accomplishments

Since its inception, CTAN has accomplished the following:

  • Created new funding opportunities totaling $370,000 for 1,000 school-age youth in Travis County
  • Raised awareness of the need for more afterschool opportunities in Travis County , including 3 annual Lights On Afterschool! rallies at the capitol, with over 400 participants, and through CTAN’s annual Breakfast of Champions, which honors supporters, business leaders, policymakers, and volunteers in the afterschool arena
  • Completed a mapping study of low-income areas of Travis County , showing gaps in youth service throughout 12 zip codes
  • Developed a statement of Best Practices and created an accompanying quality self-assessment tool, in alignment with the National Afterschool Association’s accreditation program
  • Collaborated with the organization Your Community Web to produce both a  printed and online searchable guide of afterschool opportunities, distributed to parents and schools in Travis County

 

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