PCY has been an active and influential leader in social and emotional learning (SEL), affordable housing-based youth programs, and community schools. While we currently are not actively working in these areas, we continue to collaborate with allies who do, and share our knowledge and resources where they add value.

Social-Emotional Learning

PCY was an early champion of social and emotional learning in California’s education system. We raised the profile of SEL in California through the following actions:

• Led a statewide professional learning community for school districts implementing SEL practices

• Launched and co-chaired the California Department of Education’s first SEL State Task Force

• Shaped the development of California’s SEL Guiding Principles

• Developed widely used tools articulating the critical role of expanded learning programs in building SEL competencies and aligning with school-day SEL practices

Education in Affordable Housing

PCY built a community of practice and tools to help staff in public and affordable housing improve the quality of and access to on-site afterschool and summer programs. The Housing and Education (HousED) initiative:

• Improved educational supports for 47,000 youth living in public and affordable housing through training over 500 staff members

• Improved access to free meals for youth during COVID-19 school closures by helping housing agencies set up meal distribution sites

• Created a strong and connected community for housing staff, providing critical resources to create better learning outcomes for young people

• Raised the quality of youth programs by developing field-wide quality standards and an assessment tool unique to housing communities

Community Schools

PCY founded the California Community Schools Network, which connected practitioners to one another, and developed numerous tools to help implement effective community schools.