DASN Introduces Membership Tiering

Dallas AfterSchool Network is working hard to ensure every child has access to quality afterschool experiences. In order to serve as many children as possible, community resources - financial, human and in-kind - must be invested wisely. Likewise, the resources and efforts of Dallas AfterSchool Network are best spent with those agencies that continually pursue quality improvement for the benefit of the children they serve.

Starting January 1, DASN will direct the resources it provides to local afterschool programs based on the level of membership each agency has attained. Multiple levels of memberships are available, with the criteria for each level revolving around the afterschool provider committing to the implementation of DASN's Afterschool Quality Advancement program and being willing to submit specific stewardship documents for DASN's review.

DASN members have been given 90 days to achieve these membership levels prior to the public announcement on January 1. The criteria for achieving higher membership status was designed specifically to ensure that every agency, no matter their size or financial resources, could attain it with reasonable effort. These membership levels will be reviewed and updated annually based on each agency's commitment to quality and efforts throughout the year to achieve higher quality.

We believe this is a critical step in helping funders and parents to research local afterschool programs. Over time, our membership levels will continue to expand with more rigorous criteria and more rewarding benefits for those agencies at the highest tiers. Ultimately, we hope to use in-kind and financial resources from the community to serve as incentives for afterschool programs to invest the time and effort to achieve higher levels of quality.

All of these changes are designed to ultimately give all children across our community equal access to high quality afterschool programs.