Send the Message: Afterschool Works for Everyone

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

In our earlier blog posts, we have been tracking efforts to preserve afterschool funding at the state and federal level. Below is an update courtesy of efforts by our colleagues at the Partnership for Children and Youth (PCY), New York State Network for Youth Success, the Afterschool Alliance, and others.



FEDERAL
At the federal level, it is important that we work to preserve support for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) funding. You can get more information from the Afterschool Alliance. 


"Our efforts to educate members of Congress on the 21st CCLC program must not let up, especially with less than 4 months until the FY2018 Federal budget is required to be passed. This postcard campaign is a great opportunity to have your staff, students, and families share why this program is important to them." - New York State Network for Youth Success

Photo Credit: Afterschool Alliance

STATES
You can follow what is happening in your state by clicking here. You can also get more information about individual states by clicking here. 

CALIFORNIA
For our California readers, advocates have been working to increase the amount of resources for programs. This increase is important given the increase in program costs, especially wages.

“The Budget Conference Committee voted Thursday night to provide an additional $50 million in ongoing funding for ASES. This is not a done deal until Governor Brown signs the budget, but the Administration publicly supported the Conference Committee's action last night (which included increased funding for ASES), so we are hopeful. The full Senate and Assembly will vote on the full budget package next week, and then it will head to the Governor for his approval. Read the full press release here.”          - Partnership for Children and Youth

Photo Credit: Partnership for Children and Youth

You can help support this increased call for California afterschool by getting involved. For more information click here. 

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You can read other blogs by the LIAS project by going to: 

• Expanded Learning 360°/365 Project website
• LIAS Blog Written for the California Afterschool Network

A Growing Threat to Quality Expanded Learning Programs

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

In early January, we reached out to expanded learning leaders to ask what they viewed as challenges facing the field in 2017. We posted their responses in our blog on January 9, 2017. Many, especially those from California, responded that program quality and even the existence of programs were threatened by stagnant funding levels. 

The recent calls for increased program quality assumes that programs have resources for staff development and training. We have heard from many program leaders, and they seem to agree with Bill Fennessy from THINK Together, who said: 

“With the increases in minimum wage and the accompanying 'exempt employee' wage minimums there will clearly be only enough money to afford the required student supervision ratios. This means that Site Coordinator hours will probably have to be almost cut to just programming hours, that the next level of support for Site Coordinators and time needed for training and/or professional development will become unaffordable. 

Photo Credit: SaveAfterschool.com

The loss of these critically important supports for Expanded Learning programs and their staff will definitely have a severely negative impact on program quality and therefore effectiveness. This issue could in fact cause a collapse of Expanded Learning in California as we know it today.”

There is currently an effort by California State Senator Connie Leyva and afterschool advocates to increase the funding levels for the California ASES program. To ensure that this effort does not fail, as it did last year, we urge people to visit the Save Afterschool website to learn more about getting involved. 

Photo Credit: patch.com

Save Quality Afterschool

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

There are calls for improving the quality of afterschool programs. The California Department of Education has issued new quality standards and there are numerous toolkits to assist afterschool programs. In response to this call, we have assembled a number of program improvement learning circles. 

The number one barrier to program improvement is financial resources. It takes time on the part of the afterschool staff to seriously work to improve practice and program quality. And between the stagnant funding levels and the rise in labor costs, afterschool budgets are simply too stressed to take on the challenge of program improvement. 

Photo Credit: www.saveafterschool.com

In an article entitled "Some After-School Program Providers Say Flat Funding May Cause Them to Close", written by Susan Frey for EdSource, she wrote:

A survey of after-school program providers found that 29 percent of respondents – including large programs such as LA’s BEST and THINKTogether – say they are likely to close in the next two years without an increase in the daily reimbursement rate from the state.

More than 86 percent of providers said they were having trouble hiring quality staff, and two-thirds said their programs had a waiting list, according to the survey by the Oakland-based advocacy group Partnership for Children & Youth. 

Each year, more than 400,000 students in over 4,000 elementary and middle schools participate in these programs, which are located primarily in high-poverty neighborhoods. The programs offer tutoring, sports and enrichment activities such as arts and science projects. They also provide a safe place for elementary and middle school children while their parents are working.

The daily reimbursement rate of $7.50 per student for three hours of programming has not changed since the After School Education and Safety Act was passed 10 years ago. The law provides $550 million each year for the programs, but does not include a cost-of-living adjustment.

Meanwhile, since 2007 the Consumer Price Index has increased by about 19 percent, the state minimum wage has grown by 33 percent and state law now requires employers to offer three days of annual sick leave.

There are a number of afterschool advocates that are working to raise the funding levels of state ASES programs. You can learn more and choose to get involved by going to http://www.saveafterschool.com/. 

Photo Credit: www.saveafterschool.com