The purpose of the Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education's (DESE) 21st CCLC Program is to:
- Provide opportunities for academic enrichment, including providing tutorial services to help students (particularly students in high-poverty areas and those who attend low-performing schools), to meet state and local student performance standards in core academic subjects of at least, but not limited to, reading/language arts, mathematics, and Missouri has added science;
- Offer students a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities; such as youth development activities, drug and violence prevention programs, counseling programs, art, music, recreation programs, technology education programs, and character education programs that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; and
- Offer families of students served by centers, opportunities for literacy, and related educational development.
Applicants are encouraged to consider a wide range of school and community-based programs, people, and resources that can be effectively incorporated into the 21st CCLC to help enhance student achievement and youth development. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: student peer tutors, mentors and educators, retired teachers, and other senior citizens qualified to provide educational services, licensed teachers, pupil services, and library services personnel; service-learning and other experiential forms of education; family action teams; and increased use of library facilities.
Competitive Priorities: The DESE will give competitive priority points to applications that:
- Propose to serve students at a site in a county that does not currently have an afterschool program funded by 21st CCLC funds to ensure equitable distribution of funds throughout the State. In order to receive the additional points, the applicant's agency must also have an established domicile within the same county. Please refer to the following link for the list of counties that do not currently receive 21st CCLC funding: https://dese.mo.gov/quality-schools/extended-learning/afterschoolprograms/grants (maximum 5 points). You must complete APPENDIX E in order to be eligible for these competitive priority points.
- Propose to target services to
- students who attend schools that
- are listed as a targeted school (https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/exl-targeted-schools-v3-02-04-19_0.pdf) OR
- other schools determined by the local educational agency to be in need of intervention and support to improve student academic achievement and other outcomes; AND
- enroll students who may be at risk for academic failure, dropping out of school, involvement in criminal or delinquent activities, or who lack strong positive role models; AND
- the families of these students (maximum 3 points).
- Demonstrate that the activities proposed in the application are, as of the date of the submission of the application, not accessible to students who would be served; or would expand accessibility to high-quality services that may be available in the community (maximum 2 points).
- Application is submitted jointly by eligible entities consisting of at least one local educational agency receiving funds under Title I, Part A and another eligible entity. (maximum 2 points).
- Applicants must complete APPENDIX E in order to be eligible for these competitive priority points. To be considered as a co-applicant (jointly submitted), you must write to the following:
- The LEA and at least one other organization collaborated extensively in the sharing, planning, and designing of the program;
- Each co-applicant organization has substantial roles to play in the delivery of services;
- All co-applicant organizations share grant resources to carry out their roles;
- All co-applicants have significant and ongoing involvement in the management and oversight of the program; An organization contracted to provide services is not considered to be a joint or coapplicant.
- In addition, the assurance labeled as APPENDIX C must be signed by an authorized person for both, the non-LEA and LEA, which states the proposed program was developed and will be carried out:
- In active collaboration with the schools that participating students attend (including through the sharing of relevant data among the schools), all participants of the eligible entity, and any partnership entities, in compliance with applicable laws relating to privacy and confidentiality; and
- In alignment with the challenging State academic standards and any local academic standards.