Organizations Supporting Youth Development Programs

As part of our mission to raise the quality of care in Youth Development (YD) programs, we have compiled a listing of web resources providing support and inspiration which focus on issues concerning YD programs.

If you know of any other web resources that may help to enhance other YD programs please contact us and share your ideas!

These organizations maintain websites with tons of great resources. Here you will find everything from funding opportunities to activities you can use in your programs.

• Action for Healthy Kids
  A nonprofit organization focused on improving nutrition and increasing physical activity in youth. Their website features resources tons of information related to this topic. Check out the video tutorials of fun activities you can use in your program as well as printable tools to engage parents and youth in a discussion about healthy habits.
• Afterschool Alliance
  A nonprofit organization focused on raising awareness about YD programs. Their website contains research and publications about programming including the latest America After 3PM data on use and need for afterschool programs nationwide.
• All Children Together (ACT)
  ACT is funded by The Children’s Trust to provide inclusion training for YD. This website highlights a resource directory for children with special needs and their families.
• Alliance for a Healthier Generation
  Provides resources and training in the area of physical activity and nutrition for YD programming.  It includes the Healthy Out-of-School Time Framework: Standards and Best Practices for Developing Healthy Out-of-School Time Environments
• American Youth Policy Forum
  A nonprofit, nonpartisan professional development organization focused on youth policy in the United States. Their website provides access to informative reports and resources focused on community involvement, education and career development.
• Child Trends
  Offers research-based information on youth development and afterschool programs.
• Council on Accreditation: Child and Youth Development (CYD) Program Accreditation
  Child and Youth Development (CYD) Program Accreditation is the accreditation of services for early childhood education (ECE), after school (ASP, SAC & OST), and youth development (YD) programs, and involves the review of the program’s services and administrative operations.
• Daily Bread Food Bank
   A non-for-profit organization focused on providing food to the South Florida community in an effort to fight hunger and poverty.  The Daily Bread Food Bank partners with the Children’s Trust to provide FREE snacks to programs.
• The Expanded Learning and Afterschool Project
  Offers research, resources and best practices for building affordable and sustainable approaches to expanding learning in your community.
• The Forum for Youth Investment
  The Forum for Youth Investment provides products and services to help leaders improve partnerships, policies and practices for young people.  The Forum’s affiliates include The David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, the developers of the Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA) that is being used with YD programs and SparkAction, a collaborative journalism and advocacy site to mobilize action by and for young people.
• Injury Prevention & Control: Division of Violence Prevention
  Found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, the Division of Violence Prevention offers specific information and resources on youth violence including an online training.
• National 4-H Council
  The Department of Agriculture’s youth education branch which provides resources to help students get involved in volunteer activities outside of school.
• National Afterschool Association
  An organization for professionals working with youth during out-of-school time.
• National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth
  A free informational website featuring an online literature database, newsletters and free publications supporting young people and their families.
• National Institute on Out-of-School Time
  National Institute on Out-of-School Time’s (NIOST) website’s offers information such as funding sources, research and technical papers, assessment and training tools, and publications like Afterschool Matters, one of the few peer-reviewed journals in the out-of-school time field.
• The National Center for Quality Afterschool
  This website offers an afterschool training toolkit, practitioners guide, sample lesson plans, and a curriculum database.
• National Network of Statewide Afterschool NetworksThe National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks’ website offers an opportunity to learn about statewide afterschool networks as well as valuable resources in afterschool and expanded learning.
• National Summer Learning Association
  Founded at Johns Hopkins University, National Summer Learning Association focuses on summer learning opportunities for youth. Their website provides a variety of resources that can be used to enhance YD programs year round including activities, research, policy and events.
• TASC: The Afterschool Corporation
  Based in New York City, this organization maintains an up to date youth funders database and document library and provides a model for excellent Out of School programs.
• youth.gov
  This website provides information for engaging youth such as internships and volunteer opportunities, hotline numbers, and conferences and seminars. Includes a searchable database of federal funding sources.