21st Century Community Learning Centers Integrated Service Delivery: Study Findings and Resources for Practitioners
The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program was established in 1994 by the federal government to create afterschool and summer enrichment and learning opportunities for millions of youths who reside in communities that experience poverty. Initial grants were issued by the U.S. Department of Education in 1998.
With funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, AIR conducted a three-year study of 21st CCLCs to explore how these programs may be part of more integrated service delivery systems for students and families. The 21st CCLC Integrated Service Delivery System Study included analysis of survey and interview data from 21st CCLC sites in Illinois, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Washington.
Key Themes and Resources
Our study revealed promising, unique strategies that communities and schools took in implementing the 21st CCLC program in four thematic areas that enhanced activity and service coordination—a shared commitment and vision, development of grantee structures and capacity, relationship building and trust, and expansion of resources.
Based on study findings, AIR has developed a series of briefs to help support the effective implementation of 21st CCLC funding as part of a broader service delivery system and to broaden the scope of possibilities related to the potential of this funding to create lasting change in schools and communities.
Explore a summary of key study findings and our four key themes in the section below, where you will find a collection of research briefs, video interviews with stakeholders, and highlights of promising practices:
Study Overview and Summary of Key Findings
Learn more about the 21st CCLC Integrated Service Delivery Study and review our key findings in this summary brief.
In the brief, we highlight some of the key enabling conditions and practices found across the 21st CCLC programs enrolled in this study. We then provide an overview of findings in each key area with links to more detailed briefs that describe each of the key practices in detail.
Shared Vision and Commitment
"We can't do this alone..."
Learn more about how 21st CCLC programs can become a means for collaboration and collective impact
Leveraging Grantee Structures to Develop Capacity
“Coordinating services to dig a little deeper...”
Learn more about serving the needs of the whole child and the entire family
Developing Relationships and Trust
“The goal is the same and we work together to reach it...”
Sustainability and Continuity in Expansion of Resources
“Creating new relationships that can go on in the future...”
Study Details
The focus of the 21st CCLC Integrated Service Delivery System Study was to:
- Identify 21st CCLC programs that are integral parts of broader systems characterized by the coordination of multiple programs, activities, and services;
- Document strategies and approaches that support the coordination and integration of services; and
- Explore how students and families may benefit from integrated and coordinated service delivery.
The goals of the study were to elevate the role a 21st CCLC grantee can play in building integrated service delivery systems and to identify promising approaches that 21st CCLC programs have engaged in—both to be part of and to help create such integrated service delivery systems.
