NCJ Number
189779
Date Published
April 2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This report describes issues policymakers need to think through when shaping their after-school initiatives.
Abstract
Many newly emerging youth development programs are arising in schools, especially in poorer neighborhoods. School-based, after-school programs are increasingly becoming the solution policymakers suggest for all sorts of youth problems, such as poor academic achievement, gang participation, violence, and drug use. Federal spending alone for school-based, after-school programs has gone from $40 million in 1997 to a proposed $850 million in 2001. Approximately 60 after-school programs in 17 cities across the United States were evaluated in the Extended-Service Schools (ESS) Adaptation Initiative. The findings indicated that the current notion that school buildings are under-used resources is too simplistic. Limited resources for maintaining the school’s physical facilities and equipment lead administrators to limit the building’s use. Targeted efforts are needed to attract the most disadvantaged students. Older children are less attracted to after-school programs than are elementary school children. Programs’ inability to provide transportation home is a major barrier to participation for a large proportion of students. The cost of transportation significantly increases programs’ need for resources. Since the fall of 1999, when data collection for this report ended, it has been observed that programs have all grown stronger and many are now serving more children. Over the next few years, the costs of implementing and sustaining the programs will be explored as well as the ways in which they affect the lives of the children and youth that participate. 5 notes and appendix.