This article originally appeared in the March-April 2001 issue of the Children's Advocate newsmagazine, published by Action Alliance for Children.
This article is part of a special section on quality in after-school programs. Use the links to jump to one of the sections below or to read other related articles.
| Push for after-school programs | Quality after-school programs: what to look for | The research: after-school programs work | Resources for quality school-age programs | Escondido YMCA Child Development Program: "Kids rule" | San Diego's 6 to 6: "This program's real cool" | Call for more and better after-school programs
In hearings around the state last fall, parents, educators, police, and youth workers agreed on one key message: There's a huge unmet need for more free or low-cost before- and after-school programs. Subsidized after-school programs in California include only about 300,000 of the estimated 1.5 million children who need them, according to Children Now.
In the last few years both the state and federal governments have stepped up to the plate with new after-school funds. The federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers budget will almost double this year, and Gov. Davis has proposed a hefty addition to the state's main after-school program, the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnership Program (ASLSNPP). But even with these increases, funding falls far short of meeting the need.
Speakers at the hearings, sponsored by the After School Coalition that includes Children Now, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, the PTA, the Council of Churches, the Boys & Girls Clubs, the California Department of Education, the Foundation Consortium, and others, emphasized the need for more after-school activities and called for some changes in the ASLSNPP program (see p. 12).
But while there's consensus on the need to expand the quantity of after-school programs, providers struggle with some tough challenges to after-school program quality.
"We're having a horrible time now hiring anybody" to work in after-school programs, says Barbara Kraybill, youth services superintendent for the Livermore Area Recreation Department. "Why? I pay $9 an hour. In-and-Out Burger pays $9 plus benefits."
Low pay and part-time hours mean a staggering turnover rate in after-school programs—around 40 percent nationally, but up to 108 percent in San Jose, says San Jose Recreation Superintendent Art Rosales.
Unlike earlier after-school programs licensed by the California Department of Education (CDE), the ASLSNPP does not require staff to have college credits in child development. Some say it should. It takes skill, they point out, to do a good job of designing fun, active learning programs and managing large groups of kids.
But for low-paying, part-time, after-school jobs, "if you can find someone 18 and without a criminal record, you're thrilled," says Karen Haas-Foletta, director of Cipriani After School Care in Belmont.
So rather than insisting on previous training, "We do inservice training like crazy," says Deb Ferrin, director of San Diego's citywide 6 to 6 Extended Day Program. The CDE's main strategy for improving quality has been to create two public-private partnerships that provide training and technical assistance to after-school programs (See "Resources").
Most authorities say school-age programs should have one adult for every 14 or 15 kids. The ASLSNPP allows a ratio of one to 20. But "the more kids per adult, the less time each kid has with a caring adult role model," says Haas-Foletta. And the more adults, the more activity choices the program can offer.
ASLSNPP programs try to make up the difference by "leveraging everything out there," says Rosales—forming partnerships with dozens of community organizations, from Girl Scouts to art museums to sports organizations to science fairs, and with city recreation departments and school districts. But in communities with fewer resources, kids are shortchanged, says Pat Dorman, public policy chair of the California Association for the Education of Young Children.
That's the rate the ASLSNPP pays its local contractors, and many say it's not enough to provide a quality program. Others, like Ferrin, say $5 a day works if you combine it with the required $2.50 match from local organizations and also bring in funds from city, school-district, and federal sources.
In the end, the After School Coalition recommended only adjusting the amount for inflation. "It's a trade-off," says Brian Lee of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. More money per student means fewer students served, of the estimated 1.2 million in low-income families still waiting for someplace to go after school.
There are two statewide systems for after-school programs:
Children's Advocate has compiled a list of after-school program funding sources: www.4children.org/news/998supp.htm
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