As part of Denver’s Office of Children’s Affairs (OCA), the Denver Afterschool Alliance (DAA) helps ensure that all Denver youth receive access to high-quality, inclusive afterschool and summer programs, and the enhanced opportunities for learning and future success they offer.

In October 2019, OCA partnered with Cityspan to develop DAAconnect, a robust platform that manages program provider onboarding, standardizes data collection, and drives engagement across 250+ organizations. 

CHALLENGE: Enable effective data management for youth programs across the city

Managing and standardizing data for citywide youth programs is highly complex. Service providers needed a centralized system to submit information, comply with OCA requirements, provide equitable access, and track outcomes. 

One of the biggest needs for the OCA, which oversees grants, was creating a way for parents to find youth programs, simplify and standardize data, engage program providers, and make informed funding decisions. The data was crucial for the OCA to track awards and outcomes, assess the equity and effectiveness of $3.76 million in direct OCA grant funding, and strengthen OST programs.

SOLUTION: A unified, customizable data system that adapts to program needs

Cityspan developed DAAconnect — a centralized system for Denver’s out-of-school-time (OST) providers. The city funds the system’s licensing, providing free access to providers.

Key features include:

  • Youth program locator: Families engage with the public-facing dashboard to find and register for youth programs. Each night, DAAconnect sends updated provider data to the City and County of Denver’s IT team, which publishes it to the program locator — ensuring families view the most up-to-date program information. Depending on their membership level, Denver Afterschool Alliance providers are encouraged or required to use the program locator as a free advertising platform to connect with families. By providing greater visibility and access, more families are able to participate in programs. 
  • Grant award management: The platform streamlines reporting for direct OCA-funded providers, and simplifies the thrice-annual mandatory submission of demographic and attendance data. The data is essential as it helps the City take a more rigorous approach assessing program outcomes, tracking funding impact, and making informed decisions that drive continuous improvement across OST initiatives. 
  • Program evaluation tools: Direct OCA-funded providers use DAAconnect to collect and analyze survey data, including tools like the nationally recognized Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes (SAYO), designed by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) to track student experiences in afterschool programs, and the Content-Specific Provider (CSP) survey, developed by DAA to assess the impact of short-term programs on content skills and social-emotional development.
  • Denver Public Schools (DPS) data integration: Program providers use the online data management system to track outcomes. Collaboration with key partners like Denver Public Schools (DPS) enables provider access to comparative school-day data and survey tools. For programs that have sharing permissions with DPS, the system gives them access to reports from DPS that summarize student data, such as attendance rates, demographics, and state test scores. This data helps the City assess how well afterschool programs are working by comparing the performance of program participants to other students. OCA and DPS can then use the validated data, along with additional surveys and evaluations, to more deeply analyze programs and improve student outcomes.
  • Attendance tracking and reporting: Providers use DAAconnect to collect youth registration and program attendance data.  A customized parent portal simplifies registration for families by allowing easy signup and submission of city-required consents and waivers. Program provider staff can easily and quickly review and approve applications, ensuring an expeditious enrollment process. Integrated attendance upload capabilities enable organizations that are already tracking attendance in a separate, third-party system to have access to DAAconnect features. And, by covering licensing costs, the city removes any financial barriers to the platform and the collection of timely and accurate program and student-level data.

RESULTS: Expanding access and demonstrating quality

Cityspan’s platform supports the Denver Afterschool Alliance’s mission by increasing access to high-quality, inclusive youth programs. With DAAconnect, they have one system that provides families with access to a comprehensive program directory, increases provider engagement, and enhances OCA’s ability to evaluate program impact and allocate resources strategically.

Benefits at a glance:

  • Unified, standardized data collection across 250+ providers
  • Access to daily updated program information via the Youth Program Locator
  • Award and outcome tracking for the 63 providers receiving $3.76M in grant funding
  • Robust evaluation tools linking school-day data to OST programs
  • Increased transparency, accountability, and alignment with academic goals

Want to learn how a custom data management system can unify, manage complex workflows, and optimize impact for all your agency’s program providers? Let’s connect.