Responding to the Afterschool Worker Shortage

Recruiting, hiring, and retaining afterschool workers have been longstanding issues. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit—and these issues were greatly exacerbated. They had resulted in programs closing, drastically reducing capacity, and adding stress to afterschool workers. Many of these challenges are not unique to the afterschool field- they are being experienced by those in education and a wide range of fields. However, we felt it is important to summarize what we know in the time of COVID-19.

“The most pressing problem facing afterschool is the nationwide shortage of workers.” – Michael Funk, Director of CDE Expanded Learning Division

The purpose of this Speaker's Forum Webinar is to examine the nature of the current worker shortage, the challenges to afterschool programs and how best to respond to this as a field.