OUR IMPACT

EARLY EDUCATION &
OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME

OUR CHILDREN DESERVE BETTER

Years of systemic exclusion and insufficient funding have left our children vulnerable, especially those in Black, Latino and Immigrant communities. Access to high-quality and affordable early education and out-of-school-time programs is hard to come by for families in our lowest income neighborhoods. But these programs are critical to our children’s success.

A CLOSER LOOK

HIGHEST

childcare costs in the nation

of a family’s income in Massachusetts is spent on childcare programs

of Massachusetts children enter kindergarten unprepared to learn

IMPACT IN ACTION

Check out the latest initiatives, programs and policies we’re working on to provide all children and youth with opportunities to explore their interests, engage in school, participate in community activities and dream of the future.

ASOST Opportunities

United Way has partnered with 6 organizations and the MA Dept. of Elementary & Secondary Education on ASOST grants. Through ASOST-R, we have distributed more than $4.4 million in grants to over 50 after-school and out-of-school time (ASOST) programs across the region during the past 3 years to support them rebound from the challenges of the pandemic.

ASOST-S INFO

Shared Services of Massachusetts

Shared Services of Massachusetts provides early childhood education professionals in our region with the tools and resources they need to give their students the best education possible.

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Drive

A first-of-its-kind initiative, DRIVE allows families, educators, health providers and community leaders to take a data-driven approach to early childhood learning and development.

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Community Schools

Community Schools is a strategic collaboration with students, families, partners and resources of the school and broader community to produce strong academic and social outcomes for students through a wide range of culturally responsive opportunities.

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United Way Americorps

Through service, you can participate in this innovative education program, which leverages transformative social-emotional learning (SEL) to help multilingual students in grades K-12 thrive.

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ASOST Opportunities

Shared Services of Massachusetts

Drive

Community Schools

United Way Americorps

Stepping Up for Students

For the last 3 years, the Commonwealth has trusted United Way to manage and administer Summer Step Up – an innovative, statewide effort to provide extra support to young learners. We’ve been tasked with administering $24 million in programming to build partnerships between schools and community-based organizations for summer learning.

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“The support from United Way has allowed us to serve more children in the communities that we serve. Without this funding, many children would not be able to access high-quality, financially accessible programming for the summer. Our collaboration with United Way has allowed us to impact children and families while ensuring programming that provides resources to meet the social and emotional needs of the whole child as well as needs of their family. South Shore Stars is beyond grateful for this collaboration!"

DR. JENNIFER CURTIS, EXEC DIR OF SOUTH SHORE STARS

“United Way has been an amazing partner in supporting our youth development work, and because of that support the Summer Step Up Program will directly impact 90 children and families right here in Taunton.”

ROMAN DAVIS, EXEC DIR OF THE TAUNTON YMCA

“We are thrilled that this pilot program (Shared Services) has been so successful in recruiting and licensing new family childcare providers. The addition of these educators to our landscape is a small but important step towards closing the childcare gap in the City of Boston. We are excited to welcome the graduates to our growing list of entrepreneurs offering programs designed to increase access to quality childcare.”

KRISTIN MCSWAIN, SENIOR ADVISOR AND EXEC DIR, OFFICE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD AT THE CITY OF BOSTON

“Participating in the Summer Step Up program was an amazing experience. We were able to nearly quadruple the size of our program. We were able to offer a wide variety of classes, transportation and meals, all of which allowed us to reach under served populations in ways we have never been able to before.”

COMMUNITY LEADER

Moving Forward on Early Education & Out-of-School Time