The Austin Independent School District

Providing after-school academic and enrichment supports for children in out-of-school time. The after-school program is offered at FC's on-site community learning centers every day school is in session. Students participate in fitness, academic assistance such as homework help and enrichment activities that support their learning. The program is offered Monday through Friday from 3-6pm.

Primary Service Category: Academic Enrichment & Support

Secondary Service Category: Physical Health

Serving: Elementary (Ages: 5-10), Middle School (Ages: 11-13), High School (Ages: 14-18)

Offered: After School, Summer

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Summer Camp provides opportunities to prevent summer learning loss.

Primary Service Category: General & Other Youth Development

Secondary Service Category: Environmental Education & Stewardship

Offered: Daytime(during school hours), Summer

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This is a 1-2 day per week program intended to reconnect kids to nature through environmental education curriculum. Camp Fire Central Texas partners with school districts to provide after-school programming to children who might not have access to the Camp Fire USA experience.

Partner school districts include Austin, Del Valle, Pflugerville, Hays, Leander, Eanes and Round Rock Independent School Districts.

Primary Service Category: General & Other Youth Development

Secondary Service Category: Environmental Education & Stewardship

Offered: Afterschool, Summer, Spring Semester, Fall Semester

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A weekly leadership development and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) program which serves 150+ youth in Austin-area elementary, middle and high schools. The Amala Foundation's Circle Up program brings social emotional learning (SEL) and wellness practices to entire school communities (teachers, parents, administrators) that want to build a culture of wellness, belonging, and inclusion on their campus. Through mindfulness, sharing circles and engaging interactive processes, Circle Up builds connections and community in schools, develops resilience and healthy coping skills, and helps youth find their leadership voice.

Primary Service Category: General & Other Youth Development

Secondary Service Category: Social-Emotional & Behavioral Health

Offered: In school - pull out, In school - other, After school, Daytime(during school hours), Spring Semester, Fall Semester

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Clean Creek Campus is a partnership between Keep Austin Beautiful and the City of Austin Watershed Protection Department to promote environmental stewardship. The program fosters student stewardship of our natural resources by engaging students in at least two hands-on activities that meet state education standards followed by completion of a service-learning project. Participating schools receive: free hands-on activities led by KAB and WPDR, a tailored service project in a community greenspace - including transportation if necessary, and a Clean Creek Campus banner.

Primary Service Category: Environmental Education & Stewardship

Serving: Schools, Citizens, Community Groups, and Businesses

Offered: Daytime(during school hours)

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Discovery Girls engages K – 5 aged girls who would not normally have access to Girl Scouts in out-of-school experiences encouraging them to try new things, build new skills, and reach their fullest potential. Leveraging the Common Core State Standards and Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)-aligned Girl Scouts curriculum, Discovery Girls guides girls to build healthy relationships, cope with stress, manage relational aggression, develop digital literacy, gain financial literacy, and embrace their leadership potential. In addition to regular meetings led by positive role models, girls served by the program have the opportunity to participate in other Girl Scouts of Central Texas Council-facilitated events.

Primary Service Category: General & Other Youth Development

Secondary Service Category: Environmental Education & Stewardship

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Each professional mentor (Friend) will work with 8-12 youth, providing 16 hours per month 4 hours per week - of service to each youth. Utilization of salaried, professional mentors ensure mentors have the experience, length of stay, training, support, and structure to work with a population that faces tremendous challenges in order to ensure that youth succeed in school, gain essential life skills, and graduate high school on time with a plan for their future. The professional mentors will communicate regularly with teachers to discuss student needs and to help facilitate school-family communication. Depending on the students' needs and teacher interest/permission, Friends (particularly those serving youth in grades K-5) may spend up to 2 hours/week in the classroom providing 1:1 support to the student.

The Company will enroll kindergarten students into its program annually in partnership with specific AISD elementary schools (selection schools). Key components to this enrollment process are as follows:

Company staff conducts observation in kindergarten classrooms for a six-week period beginning in January. In preparation for observation, the District office will work with the Company to mail passive permission forms to families of all kindergarten students at the selection schools, notifying them of the observation and voluntary enrollment process.
Company staff meets with school personnel at the close of the observation period to complete data gathering related to children's strengths, needs, and risk factors. Personnel participating from the elementary schools include the school principal, mental health and behavioral specialists/school counselors, and others who may be familiar with students' specific barriers to success.
Company staff uses a research-based risk assessment tool to identify the highest risk students among the selection school partners for enrollment into the Friends of the Children program.
School staff reaches out to families of identified students to introduce the program and inform them that Company staff will be contacting them to share more about the opportunity their student has to participate in the program.

This partnership has the following measurable goals:
Indicator 1: Student attends school regularly (95% of school days)
Indicator 2: Student follows school rules and avoids behavior resulting in suspension
Indicator 3: Student makes progress and performs at grade level in core subjects

The Company will employ the following strategies to meet these goals:

Serve as a bridge between schools and families, facilitating communication and understanding.
Promote the development of the social and emotional skills children need in order to be ready and willing to learn in school.
Work with youth in the classroom setting in order to help manage behavior and to promote their engagement with learning. K-5 mentors may spend up to 2 hours per week per student in the classroom.
Work with the school, students, and families to remove barriers to attendance.
Utilize the Friends' close relationships with youth to provide insight to teachers and school personnel on individual youth strategies to which youth respond well.
Support academic work by building study skills, connecting students with tutors, and helping with homework.
Friends serve as advocates within the school, and often attend teacher conferences and IEP meetings either in lieu of or with parents.


Primary Service Category: Mentoring

Secondary Service Category: Social-Emotional & Behavioral Health

Offered: Daytime(during school hours), Evening, Weekends, Summer, Spring Semester, Fall Semester

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Generation Zero engages youth in fun hands-on activities and service projects that raise awareness about recycling, composting, and conservation while giving students simple solutions for reducing their waste. Schools are more actively recycling and composting, and we want to build on this momentum and educate students about waste. Get involved!

Primary Service Category: Environmental Education & Stewardship

Secondary Service Category: Community & Civic Engagement

Serving: Schools, Citizens, Community Groups, and Businesses (K-12)

Offered: During School, Fall Semester, Spring Semester, Summer

We offer hope after the death of a loved one by providing support networks, community education and therapeutic activities that are free, peer-based, and ongoing.

Our services are for any child, teen or adult who is grieving the loss of a loved one, regardless of circumstances. We partner with schools, criminal justice agencies, civic and service organizations, businesses, churches and other community groups. Our services are open and available to Austin and all of Central Texas, with group locations across the Austin area and in Williamson County.

Our doors are open to all those who are grieving, regardless of circumstances, relationship or length of time since the death of a loved one has occurred. All of our services are offered free of charge to those who are grieving, so cost is not a barrier to anyone. Please explore our website and contact us at 512-467-2600 for more information on our support groups, information/referral to other providers and remembrance opportunities.

Posts informational resources on website that cover the topic of grief, such as:
- Children and grief List of recommended reading
- Coping with Grief downloadable booklet
- Grief at Home Kits - Includes 8 family activities to help family's through the grieving process.
- Kit may be downloaded from website, or hard copies are available.

Offers the following loss-specific groups:
- Monday Night Austin (breaks in small discussion groups for Loss of a Child/Grandchild, Loss of a Spouse/Partner, and Loss of a Parent, Sibling, or other Significant Loved One)
- Monday Night Georgetown group (breaks into smaller discussion groups based on attendance)
- Tuesday Night Loss to Suicide group
- Wednesday Mixed Loss group (all losses welcome)
- Loss to Overdose (1st and 3rd Tuesdays)
- Crime Victims Loss group (2nd and 4th Tuesdays)
- Pregnancy and Infant Loss group (1st and 4th Tuesdays)
- Grupo en Español, Perdida General (2do y 4to Viernes) / General Loss group in Spanish (2nd and 4th Fridays)

Offers the following loss-specific groups for Children and Teens:
- Kids Who Care (ages 5 - 12) - Brings together children and families with similar death loss. Supports children with art, activity, and story-telling. Dinner is served during the group. Offered in English and Spanish.
- Teen group (ages 13 - 18) - Brings together peers that can relate to the experience of loss.
- Camp Zebra - a five day camp available for children and teens. July 14 - July 18, 2025 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. Campers are accepted on a first come first serve basis. A registration fee of $30 for the first camper and $5 per each additional camper applies. A limited number of scholarships is available for families who need assistance with Camp Zebra registration fees. Please contact Rachel Saffer, LCSW-S at rachel@christicenter.org for more information on how to apply for a scholarship
- May offer school-based grief support services in participating Austin ISD schools. Students are identified by school personnel to participate.

All groups are led by trained peer volunteers and co-facilitated by clinical interns pursuing a master's degree in social work or professional counseling.

Does not offer childcare during groups; however, the Kids Who Care program offers grief support for children, ages 5 - 12 years old, and has a concurrent group for the child's parent/guardian.

For a calendar listing of our groups, please go to our website.

School peer support groups provide a safe place for kids and teens to share their thoughts and feelings with other youth who are also grieving after the death of a family member or close friend.

This program provides:

- Peer support group

Primary Service Category: Social-Emotional & Behavioral Health

Students are identified by school personnel and are invited to participate.

Takes place once a week for 8-10 weeks during the school day, usually rotates so that students don’t miss the same class.

Due to Covid-19, they are currently offering the program in a virtual format.

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Low-cost youth baseball & softball league of Major League Baseball's RBI program.

Primary Service Category: Sports & Recreation

Secondary Service Category: Mentoring

Serving: Inner-city youth ages 4 - 18

Offered: Evening, Weekends, Summer, Spring Semester

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"Free instructional baseball & softball clinics for boys & girls ages 4 - 10. May be led by volunteers, NCAA, and/or professional players.

Primary Service Category: Sports & Recreation

Secondary Service Category: Mentoring

Serving: Inner-city youth ages 4 - 18

Time of Day: After School

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Long-term group mentorship in the context of outdoor adventure activities with facilitation of leadership framework.

Primary Service Category: Mentoring

Secondary Service Category: General & Other Youth Development

Offered: , Summer, Spring Semester, Fall Semester

Eligibility: Special Needs: Low income or socioeconomic status (receive free or reduced lunch)

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Leaps & Bounds is a creative dance program for Austin youth taught by Forklift Danceworks' Teaching Artists. Students and children of all ages can participate in developmentally appropriate exercises where they solve problems and make personal choices about how to move. This encourages students to draw on inner resources, which improves their self-esteem and engages their imaginations in a positive, creative outlet. Children can practice following directions, making individual choices, expressing themselves and their understanding of curriculum concepts all while collaborating within a group. Moving is learning!

Primary Service Category: Arts & Creative Expression

Secondary Service Category: General & Other Youth Development

Serving: Infants, Preschoolers, Elementary aged children, Parents, Teachers, Schools

Offered: Daytime (during school hours), Summer, Spring Semester, Fall Semester

Eligibility: Non-Geographical - Students at schools in which we are working

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Education Connection offers their Literacy Support Program that aims to ensure every child is reading by the end of 3rd grade.

This program provides:

- Academic Enrichment & Support

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