The OSNAP Model

Begin with the Practice Self-Assessment, available through the My OSNAP portal. Assign someone (site director, staff member, or independent consultant) to make observations each day for one week (five days total) at each of your out-of-school-time programs. This will give your team the most complete picture of how your programs align with OSNAP’s nutrition and physical activity goals.

If it is not possible to complete the five-day self-assessment given time or staff constraints, have someone at each program fill out the brief evaluation with their best guesses of the physical activity and nutrition offered to get a sense of whether your programs are meeting the goals.

Complete the Policy Self-Assessment through the My OSNAP portal to evaluate which policies that support the goals are in place at your program.

The OSNAP Initiative follows a collaborative learning model, bringing staff from different afterschool sites together to share with and learn from each other changes that support physical activity and healthy eating.

OSNAP is designed to have three Learning Communities over the course of one year. Participants learn background information and skills to promote physical activity and healthy foods and beverages; have opportunities to share barriers, strategies, and successes; and develop and refine action plans in program teams. Training resources are available, such as presentation slide decks for content covered in the three learning community sessions, along with recruitment, facilitation, and evaluation materials that you can tailor and make suitable for your meetings.

Using your assessment results, identify areas your organization can improve to meet the OSNAP goals. Then using the Tip Sheets and Fast Maps, complete the Action Plan Builder through the My OSNAP portal to specify goals, action steps for change, responsibilities, and timelines. In your action plan, make sure your team sets practice, policy, and communication action steps for each goal they are working toward. There is also space to specify barriers that might need to be addressed or additional resources that staff may need to reach their goals.

Once you and your staff have decided upon an action plan, it’s time to turn those goals into reality! OSNAP provides a variety of resources to assist you in making changes and communicating practices, policies, and information with parents, children, and partners.

Make sure to communicate your program’s practice and policy changes regarding nutrition and physical activity to parents, children, staff, program administrators, and community partners. This is an important step to inform them about how these changes can support healthy behaviors.

Parent education materials are available through Food & Fun After School and templates for communicating practice and policy change, including guides that can help you create written statements, activities, and lessons, can be found on the OSNAP Resources page.

Use the OSNAP Action Plan Builder to track progress on your program’s goals, action steps, and timelines. Tracking your progress is an essential step because it can help you identify areas and goals that require further action steps and adjustments to achieve in a timely manner.

Refer to the OSNAP Tip Sheets, Fast Maps, and general Resources for setting new goals and ideas for action steps.

Re-evaluate to see how your program has improved healthy eating and physical activity practices and policies. Many programs choose to initially evaluate at the beginning of their program cycle (e.g., the start of the school year) and then re-evaluate toward the end of their cycle (e.g., six to nine months later toward the end of the school year).

To re-evaluate, fill out a Practice Reassessment through the My OSNAP Portal, assigning someone to make observations each day for one week (five days total) during out-of-school programming. You may reassess with the printable version of the Daily Practice Assessment, available here: OSNAP Daily Practice Assessment.

Comparing the results from each assessment will give the most complete picture of the progress you’ve made toward achieving the goals. Some action steps will take longer to complete than others, so re-evaluate as often as needed. Once you reach your  goals, think about ways to make the program changes from OSNAP stick over the long term. The worksheet “5 Step Approach to Implementing and Sustaining Nutrition and Physical Activity Change” can you help you sustain these changes.

After continuous tracking and re-evaluation, identify the action steps and goals your program has accomplished. Communicate these successes with staff, program administrators, parents, and children via newsletters, meetings, and/or celebrations (refer to the Resources page for healthy celebration ideas).