Staffing an after school program with qualified personnel providing services in their specific areas of expertise is a critical component of successful programs. There must be a program-wide commitment to continuous quality improvement and continuous process improvement. Program staff members should work hard to develop cultures of critical inquiry and ensure that quality processes and outcomes are central to the vision, goals, and priorities of all staff and program sites (Marshall, 1998). The purpose of this study was to examine the staffing characteristics among 114 after school education program sites in a southern state. Following a combination of qualitative and quantitative research schemes, the program components were analyzed from three information sources: (a) submitted application documents by the program site, (b) on-site observations and interviews by the program evaluators, and (c) written surveys of related individuals. Staff development was measured by a self-report survey developed by Fletcher and Piha (2002), that included a 20 item, 5-point, Likert scale with a rubric explanation. Descriptive statistics revealed that 65% of the staff were school-day teachers and the staff to student ratio ranged between 1:10 to 1:15. Although a majority of the program sites indicated that the employment and supervision of qualified staff were central to the quality operation of out-of-school educational programs, z-tests examining proportion differences revealed that significantly (p < .05) less numbers of programs adequately used their credentials and accomplished intended activities. Although qualified school-day teachers were the primary staff resources for the program, an inadequate number of specialists were employed for specific objective areas (e.g., reading 56%, mathematics 44.4, and sport/competitive games 27.4%). Descriptive statistics and one-sample t-test further revealed that the mean scores for 18 staff development items (out of 20) were significantly (p < .05)greater than the item midpoint scores, indicating that the program sites reported adequate activities toward staff development for the programs. These findings suggest that after school programs should continue to recruit, develop, and retain qualified schoolteachers and non-school personnel, and maximize the utilization of their specialties.Keyword(s): administration/mgmt, alternative programming, professional development