Louisiana

Louisiana Center for Afterschool Learning

The Louisiana Center for Afterschool Learning is a growing collaboration of local, regional and statewide organizations working together to improve the quality and access of afterschool, summer and youth programs. The mission of LACAL is to build a statewide coalition of partners and develop policies to expand and sustain high-quality afterschool programs across Louisiana that improve outcomes for young people and help working families. 

Current Projects and Initiatives: 

LAPQUI

  • The Louisiana Program Quality Initiative (LAPQI) Project is designed to improve the quality of afterschool programs across the state of Louisiana through free on-site technical assistance for licensed and certified programs; more information available to all afterschool programs about best practices, program evaluation, and accreditation; and increased community education about the importance of high-quality afterschool programs.

  • The project builds upon the partnership between the Louisiana Center for Afterschool and the Louisiana Department of Education, and fosters the shared goal of delivering these services to every region in the state.

LAPQI Tool Kit

  • The LAPQI  created a tool kit for programs who are just beginning a continuous quality improvement cycle, or those with extensive experience in assessing and coaching to improve quality.

  • The LAPQI tool kit contains research-based best practices for operating a high quality afterschool program. The tool kit's best practices are grouped by these categories:

(1) Environment & Climate

(2) Relationships

(3) Programming & Activities

(4) Youth Participation & Engagement Emergency Preparedness

 

Program Development

  • LACAL offers a variety of professional development trainings behind the belief that quality professional development focuses on the long-term sustainability of the out-of-school time workforce by increasing providers’ marketable skills in order to increase public support for the youth development field.