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Author: Jennifer Dietrich

Are We There Yet?

This is the question I get from the backseat on nearly every drive with my five and seven-year-old daughters. This is also the question I’ve found myself asking over and over for the last 19+ months, as I’ve tried to hold it all together. My kids have needed me more than ever, to comfort and care for them through the added challenges of the pandemic. We are privileged to be able to shield them fro...

Let’s amplify the voice of the expanded learning workforce

When the majority of schools in 2020-21 were closed for in-person learning, who has answered the call? The expanded learning workforce. Some staff at afterschool, summer, and out-of-school-time programs provided supervision and support to children of essential workers and other vulnerable children. Others stepped up to meet families’ basic needs, including meals, technology for distance learning, ...

Looking forward to the end of 2020, preparing for what comes next

Personally, I feel drained by this year’s unpredictability and chaos. I have struggled to balance being present, preparing for what happens next, and not getting lost in too many “what ifs.” Professionally, it’s not much different. With so many urgent daily needs to take care of, it can be hard to make space to think about what will be needed in 2021 and beyond. So recently I did an experiment: I ...

In this Time of Crisis, Afterschool Gives Me Hope

California, and the nation as a whole, are in the midst of multiple and intersecting crises—the public health crisis of COVID-19, the resulting economic crisis, and a long-standing crisis of injustice and systemic oppression of Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). When I think of the children and communities who are suffering the most as a result of these crises, I get consumed with que...

The Homestretch: 2019 Campaign to Save California’s Afterschool Programs

Editor’s Note: Welcome our newest Breakfast Club Blogger Jen Dietrich. Jen is the Director of Policy for Partnership for Children & Youth and the coordinator of the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance (CA3) and the Save Afterschool Campaign. This month, we will learn if state-funded afterschool programs will be given the funding they need to survive. After School Education and Safet...