In a significant move to increase its investment in Boston neighborhoods, the University sent out letters last month to afterschool programs it will be funding under the terms of the Boston Afterschool For All Partnership announced last March.

Over the next five years, Harvard will be committing $5 million to the partnership, adding to a total $23 million promised by both public and private institutions to afterschool programs in the Boston area.

Now, nine months after the partnership was announced, Phillips Brooks House Association’s Mission Hill Afterschool Program (MHASP) will be one of several grant recipients to be announced at a ceremony planned for Jan. 9. The ceremony will feature University President Lawrence H. Summers and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Through a committee of faculty members, administrators and students, Harvard selected 20 established afterschool providers last month to receive grants of up to $20,000 each, with recipients coming from Harvard’s three Boston host communities of Allston/Brighton, Fenway and Mission Hill.

Members of the MHASP say their program has already been informed that it will receive a majority of $20,000 requested.

“This will have a huge impact on our program,” says Brad Cenko, an administrative director for the MHASP in charge of grants. “The amount of resources Harvard is devoting is more than we’ve ever seen.”

Cenko says the group plans to use some of the funds to “implement a curriculum on civic engagement in the political process,” with hopes of taking Mission Hill students on a trip to Washington, D.C. over spring break.

“The purpose of the program will be two-fold—to create active political and social awareness, and to inspire them to take on roles of leadership to implement changes in their community,” Cenko says.

Kevin A. McCluskey ’76, Harvard’s director of community relations for Boston, has helped organize the grants selection process for the University, which began with a request for proposals after Labor Day, and culminated in a thorough application review process completed last month.

“It’s been a good process,” McCluskey says. “We’ve had the capacity to move quickly, efficiently and thoughtfully…to get helpful dollars in to the hands of the service providers doing the work on the ground.”

According to McCluskey, the majority of grants will focus on improving afterschool program quality, increasing access to programs and strengthening the connection between afterschool programs and the learning process.

“They all are meant to be program support grants,” McCluskey says. “That’s the focus.”

Studying Education

Beyond its monetary investment, Harvard has also been investing its teaching and research efforts into the afterschool initiative, working on several fronts to improve afterschool teacher training, curricula and recruitment.

Led by Professor Gil G. Noam, the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Program in Afterschool Education and Research (PAER) has been heavily involved in faculty and research efforts related to the afterschool initiative.