Of the 91 million children living in the United States, approximately 25 million children are not able to access after school programs (ASPs). ASPs are becoming an increasingly ubiquitous feature in the U.S. public school system; however, demand outweighs the system’s ability to serve all children who want and could benefit from participation. ASPs and the promotion of youth development are considered a promising solution to closing the documented inequities and educational gaps among at-risk children. Guided by a strengths-based, developmental-ecological framework, this mixed methods study examined the influence of one after school program on positive youth development (PYD) outcomes during the coronavirus (herein referred to as COVID) pandemic.

This pilot evaluation of The ACE Project, an ASP which was designed and developed by the author of this study, was implemented in Fall 2020 during the height of COVID restrictions. This forced several changes to implementation (e.g., shifting from a school- to a community-based setting, social distancing, mask wearing, increased sanitization) and evaluation (e.g., fewer measures administered, delayed timeline, and smaller sample size). These modifications were substantial and affected the study’s methods, findings, and implications. In the quantitative phase of this study, 8 youth from Chicago completed surveys that assessed individual and youth development characteristics (i.e., Competence, Character, Connection, and Caring). In the qualitative phase, 15 program staff completed semi-structured interviews addressing issues related to implementation and observable behavioral changes among youth.

Results from paired samples t-tests suggest that there were no statistically significant changes between pre- and post- test; meaning, there were no PYD changes from the beginning to the end of the program. Interviews with program staff revealed anecdotal evidence of PYD changes within program participants; though, these positive effects were mitigated by aspects of the running a youth program during COVID. Furthermore, more sports-based (i.e., tennis) or physical activity components, formalized human resource policies and procedures, and supplementary staff training to address preparedness and professional development was implicated as necessary improvements to the program. Additional research must be conducted to fully understand the influence of individual-level factors and program context and its impact on PYD outcomes.