The afterschool workforce needs individuals who have a heart for youth, a head for teaching, a body for action, and a spirit for motivating others. Indeed, afterschool is not for wimps! Afterschool programs require dedicated individuals who are serious about developing kids and committed to the cause. That is why Central Valley Afterschool Foundation offers a comprehensive strategy aimed at addressing workforce recruitment and retention issues.

Here are three ways we have supported workforce development in our region:

College Connections
For college students, afterschool jobs provide multiple benefits:  predictable afternoon hours, skills development, career exploration, the rewards and challenges of working with youth, above-minimum wages, social rewards, and excellent job experience.

CVAF has worked with junior colleges and universities across six counties to promote afterschool job opportunities to students. This includes internal job board postings, campus fliers, career fair participation, workshop and class presentations, and working with campus career offices.


Job Board
Our Job Board has engaged hundreds of candidates to a variety of position postings each year from tutors to site coordinators to activity leaders. It is the only afterschool Job Board of its kind in the Central Valley.


Training
The recruitment and retention of highly-qualified staff for afterschool programs remains problematic throughout our region. Recruitment issues include:

• targeted marketing
• program branding
• sourcing
• interviewing techniques
• the selection process

Retaining quality staff involves a variety of factors including:

• effective hiring
• onboarding (orientating)
• transparency
• sound management practices
• communication
• motivating leadership
• clear processes
• performance coaching
• training and development
• rewards and recognition
• allowing staff to fail forward

Central Valley Afterschool Foundation offers workshops designed to assist program directors, human resource managers, project specialists, site coordinators and other administrators in their search for outstanding afterschool staff members.

For more information, please contact Pamela Hutton at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (559) 326-2075.