Creating Infrastructure to Support the Professional Development of School-Age Care Professionals

Washington State has a great opportunity to develop and sustain a skilled work force for out-of-school time programs because research-based skill standards have been developed and implemented statewide. Over the past few years Washington has been working on closing the qualification gap between the levels of preparation and skills held by professionals in the school-age care sector, and the higher levels of skills and competence that are desired in order to support high quality afterschool programs.