Grant to help improve after-school programs

A recently awarded grant will aid state leaders and children’s advocates in their attempts to bolster after school-programs throughout Rhode Island.
Awarded by the National Governors Association, the $50,000 grant was given to the state through the “Supporting Student Success” initiative. With the funding, the state intends to analyze current funding streams for after-school programs.
A panel composed of state leaders, education officials and other advocates will also examine the feasibility of incorporating funding for after-school programs into the school funding formula the state is currently looking to create.
The initiative, announced on Oct. 18 at Johnson & Wales University, will look to improve student performance in high-poverty urban areas by providing youth with extra time and support to help with coursework, with an ultimate goal of increasing graduation rates by keeping at-risk students engaged in school.
A leadership team – which includes House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Paiva-Weed, state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters and Rhode Island Kids Count Executive Director Elizabeth Burke Bryant, among others – will examine a host of issues related to after-school programs, including the possible creation of an office of “expanded learning opportunities.”
Jeff Gale, director of policy and communications for the Rhode Island After School Plus Alliance, said that while there are presently after-school opportunities throughout the state, there are barriers to getting the kids to them.
Gale cited a recent survey conducted by the alliance, which found that while 96 percent of parents agree that children should have organized after-school opportunities available to them, only 39 percent of kids participate in any type of adult-supervised program. Only 10 percent of students participate in one five days a week.
The leadership team is going to look at ways to break down those barriers and promote the programs so that all can approach the level of success of those offered by YMCAs and Boys & Girls Clubs.
“There are resources out there,” Gale said. “There may not be enough, or if there are, there may be other barriers.”
Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, who will have a delegate from her office serve on an advisory team aiding the state leadership team, said that the biggest issues keeping children from after-school programs are a lack of availability and a lack of transportation. Tackling those problems could create a significant boost in attendance for the programs.
“Many parents continue to report that children are going without the key support that an after-school program can offer them due to barriers to accessing these programs,” Roberts said in remarks prepared for the kickoff ceremony.
Catherine Walsh, deputy director of Kids Count, stressed the need for after-school programming for students at all grade levels. Youngsters left alone during the after-school hours find themselves at risk for many problems, she said, including drug use and teen pregnancy.
The key to attracting children to programs is offering subjects that are of interest to the students. And that means not just duplicating the school day, but offering “fun and skill-building” opportunities in sports, music, theater and art, she said.
Older youth – those in middle and high school – are particularly engaged when they are offered programs that allow them to develop leadership schools and contribute to their neighborhoods, Walsh said.
“There’s the opportunity to really build meaningful relationships with caring adults and peers” at after-school programs, she said. •