About CalSAC
The California School-Age Consortium's mission is to support and advance professionals and organizations in providing quality, affordable and accessible afterschool and school-age care programs. We accomplish this mission through our focus on connecting professionals, enhancing competency, and building a community of leaders.
Our vision is that afterschool and school-age care programs will be a public priority throughout California. Through our leadership, out-of-school time professionals and programs will be valued — like teachers and schools — as an essential service supported by government, business and community resources.
CalSAC represents the estimated 137,000 workers around the state who dedicate themselves each day to helping kids reach their potential after the school bell rings.
View our 2012 Annual Highlight
Why afterschool and school-age care?
The after school hours are a vulnerable time for young people. Without quality supervision, studies show that children are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, such as experimenting with drugs and alcohol, and to be victims of crime.
With roughly half of California’s children living in working families, the need for quality supervision is paramount. While some families can rely on friends and relatives for afterschool care, most cannot. Instead, they depend on community organizations — school districts, parks and recreation departments, public and private institutions — to watch over their children during these tenuous hours.
Reaching every child.
Approximately 1.5 million children between the ages of five and thirteen lack access to afterschool programs in California. We work to increase the visibility of and investment in these programs by organizing communities and professionals to advocate for the creation of new facilities and programs throughout the state.
Making programs affordable.
Many families, especially low-income families, have difficulty finding affordable school-age child care. CalSAC helps programs keep their costs low by providing free and reduced-cost training and technical assistance. We also work with federal and state governments to increase funding for issues that affect the cost of afterschool and school-age care.
Advancing quality in programs.
Well-trained workers form the backbone of quality programs. Each year, CalSAC provides hundreds of trainings to thousands of providers statewide through local, regional and statewide trainings and events. All CalSAC trainings are designed to give out-of-school time professionals the skills and resources they need to deliver top-notch programs.
