The Child First Authority (CFA) is a Baltimore (Maryland) community-wide after-school program that seeks to improve the quality of life in low socioeconomic status communities. The CFA, which is funded by local government agencies and coordinated by Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD), established after-school programs in 10 schools during its first year of operation. Each program included an extended school-day component concentrating on academics. The program uses schools as hubs of activity in which parents, staff, administrators, church members, students, and other community members get together. BUILD oversees the program as a whole and specifies the parent/community components of the programs, but the programs have evolved differently at the different sites. This report describes the creation of CFA, the overall components of the program, and the activities in the start-up year. Data from the start-up year and the beginning of the second year indicate that a specific Child First model has been developed in which school sites use common concepts and administrative structures, maintain an academic extended school day component, and vary the types of activities that they offer according to local decisions and preferences. (Contains 19 figures and 8 references.) (Author/SLD)