Afterschool Alliance Launches Drive to Convince Congress To Fully Fund Federal Afterschool Program 5/16/2002
From: Gretchen Wright, 202-371-1999 for Afterschool Alliance WASHINGTON, May 16 -- As part of a drive organized by the Afterschool Alliance, activists from more than 30 states came to the nation's capitol yesterday to urge their Senators and Representatives to provide more adequate funding for the afterschool programs that American children and families need. Several hundred parents, children, educators, children's advocates and others came to Capitol Hill to urge Congress to fund the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) afterschool program at $1.5 billion in Fiscal Year 2003. The "Afterschool for All Challenge" kicked off with a Breakfast of Champions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. At that event, the nation's preeminent afterschool leaders honored their congressional champions, including Senators Barbara Boxer (CA), Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Kent Conrad (ND), James Jeffords (VT), Arlen Specter (PA) and Debbie A. Stabenow (MI) and Representatives Michael M. Honda (CA), Steny H. Hoyer (MD), Dale E. Kildee (MI) and Connie A. Morella (MD). Children from around the country presented signed banners to each Member of Congress who attended. The Breakfast of Champions included a video greeting by actor and children's activist Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is spearheading a drive to pass the After School Education and Safety Act in California. It would provide funds to make afterschool programs available to every public elementary and junior high school in California that chooses to apply. Schwarzenegger serves as National Chair of Lights On Afterschool!, the Afterschool Alliance's nationwide rally for afterschool. It is scheduled for October 10 this year. Last fall, Congress authorized $1.5 billion for the 21st CCLC program for the coming year. However, President Bush's budget proposal calls for only a $1 billion appropriation. "The $500 million gap could mean that thousands of families will be denied the afterschool programs that they need," said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Judy Y. Samelson. "That is why it is so important that lawmakers understand that Americans want afterschool programs to be available to every family. If we are serious about leaving no child behind, we need to increase funding for the afterschool programs that keep kids safe, help working families and improve academic achievement." The Alliance is working to make afterschool available to every child by the year 2010. As many as 15 million children in the U.S. leave school each afternoon without a safe place to go. Afterschool programs offer young people safe, enriching, fun and engaging places to go once the school day ends. Research shows that afterschool programs are a good investment. Youth who participate have been shown to perform better in school and to hold greater expectations for the future. Children who are unsupervised during the afternoon hours are at greater risk of becoming involved with crime, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. A national poll conducted for the Afterschool Alliance in 2001 with support from JCPenney Afterschool found both broad support and a great need for afterschool programs. More than nine in ten voters (94 percent) agree that "there should be some type of organized activity or place for children and teens to go after school every day that provides opportunities to learn." Eight in ten Americans (80 percent) describe afterschool programs as "a necessity for (their) community" and three in four (75 percent) call them "an absolute necessity." Two-thirds of voters (67 percent) think there are "not enough afterschool programs available for children in America today." Activists participating in the "Afterschool for All Challenge" spent most of the day meeting with Senators, Members of Congress and their staff members. They delivered paper light bulbs with messages about afterschool sent by children and parents across the country. The messages were created last October at the more than 3,500 Lights On Afterschool! events across the country. Among those participating in the "Afterschool for All Challenge" were leaders from the C.S. Mott Foundation, JCPenney, Open Society Institute, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Junior Achievement, National 4-H Council, YMCA of the USA and Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. Tens of thousands of afterschool supporters also participated in the "Afterschool for All Challenge" from their hometowns by emailing their members of Congress. The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization supported by a group of public, private and nonprofit entities dedicated to ensuring that all children and youth have access to afterschool programs by the year 2010. The Alliance is proud to count among its founding partners the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Open Society Institute, JCPenney Afterschool, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the Creative Artists Agency Foundation. Information is available at www.afterschoolalliance.org --- Editors: High-resolution photo available for free editorial use at http://www.wirepix.com/newsphotos/USN/ |