Welcome to the Afterschool Enrichment Grant program, designed to enhance the quality and impact of afterschool programs through targeted funding opportunities. These grants support various initiatives that can transform your program and create meaningful experiences for students.
The enrichment grants are specifically designed to supplement and enhance existing programs, not supplant or replace current funding. You are allowed to apply for multiple enhancement package types. There will be an option to copy your answers on subsequent applications. Before applying, please be sure to read the 2024-25 ARPA Afterschool Enrichment Grant Guidance found at the blue button below.
Please use the accordian section below to review the specific requirements and documentation needed for each enhancement package. When you are ready to apply, please click on the Apply Now button to create your account and start the application process.
2024/2025 ARPA Afterschool Enrichment Grants
An Afterschool Enrichment Grant can be requested for your site(s) to participate in the Devereau Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA). This includes program staff completing a short screening tool (8 questions) about each student in the program, followed by access to the DESSA curriculum resources. Programs will work with the MASN staff to upload student names into the Aperture platform and complete a Time 1 and Time 2 rating on their students. Time 1 ratings are useful for targeting activities to meet the specific needs of the youth at that site and Time 2 ratings are useful for documenting the progress made by implementing the activities.
An Afterschool Enrichment Grant can be requested for $2000 per field trip to enhance the educational offerings provided to youth in your program. The field trips must be educational in nature and be in addition to the number of field trips offered the previous year. Following the field trips, please provide a brief summary of the educational field trip(s), along with photos if you have photo releases to share.
An Afterschool Enrichment Grant can be requested for $2000 per family educational engagement event to enhance the educational offerings to youth and families of your program. The family engagement events funded through this grant must be educational in nature and not supplant previous family educational events.
Programs wanting to measure and improve their point of service quality can apply for an Assess-Plan-Improve enrichment package. This package includes meeting with a Quality Coach (2x), PQA observation, Planning with Data session, developing a site level Quality Action Plan and access to online Youth Work Methods trainings. The $1500 payment will be made after the Planning with Data session for use to implement activities in the Quality Action Plan.
Note: Applicants for the Assess-Plan-Improve package will have a Zoom conversation with an Associate Director of Quality prior to scoring to ensure readiness, commitment, and fit to the quality improvement process.
Programs may apply for $1500 per additional staff member to be used for MOSAC registration and travel costs. Funds can be requested for staff in excess of the number of staff attending in 2023-24. For example, if your program had 4 staff attend 2023 MOSAC, Afterschool Enrichment Grant funds could be requested for the 5th, 6th, 7th, etc. attendees. (Limit 4 per program.)
Programs using the 220 Youth Leadership curricula and materials are eligible to apply for an enhancement package to bring up to 10 middle and/or high school students and 2 staff to a high-impact student event focused on life-changing skills (Leadership, Professional Communication, Employability Skills, Personal Finance, and Entrepreneurship). The full day event will be hosted at a Chicago Entrepreneurship Incubator and will include workshops, team building activities, prizes and opportunities to work on their most important passion projects and goals. After programming and during breaks, students will explore Chicago architecture, food, and culture throughout the city. Programs will receive a flat reimbursement of $5000 to cover travel costs.
This enhancement package is for middle school and high school staff professional development. 220 Youth Leadership will provide live, virtual staff training to develop staff capabilities in teaching life-changing skills (Leadership, Professional Communication, Employability Skills, Personal Finance, and Entrepreneurship). Payment will be made to program after the training plan has been created with 220 Youth Leadership.
Funding for the ARPA Afterschool Enrichment Grant was made possible through a contract with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to distribute a portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 1% Set-aside for Afterschool to youth serving programs across the state.