The Afterschool Inclusion Project

To provide children with special needs more access to afterschool programs, RCSN launched its Afterschool Inclusion Project this year. Through a grant from the New York Community Trust, RCSN is helping five NYC afterschool programs develop and try new strategies to successfully include young people with a variety disabilities and special needs. 

Afterschool programs are essential for children of all ages and abilities, but especially for children with special needs and their families. These programs provide a safe environment and offer supervised, structured activities to help children learn new skills. The programs provide a unique opportunity for children to make new friends and build relationships with caring adults, as well as homework help or tutoring services.  And afterschool programs benefit whole families, reducing the worries of working parents who often cannot care for their children after school or during the summer.

The five afterschool programs participating in RCSN’s Afterschool Inclusion Project are:

• The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation,
• The Cross Island YMCA and the Parkside Community Center,
• Parkside Community Center of the New York City Housing Authority,
• The YM & YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood, Inc, and
• The Queens Community House

 The strategies the programs will use include:

• capacity building by developing new approaches to staff training,
• the introduction of new learning tools such as visual aids and physical equipment,
• partnering with parents on consistent approaches to manage challenging behavior, and
• accessing community resources to better meet the needs of families

We are excited to be involved in this important project to learn best practices for including children with special needs in NYC’s afterschool programs.  As the Afterschool Inclusion Project continues through the next school year, we’ll be sure to share with you stories and information about the progress of the programs and the children and families whose lives they are touching.