Three nationally recognized afterschool leaders were in Washington, D.C. on Monday for a discussion on expanded learning policy at the local and federal levels. The Senate briefing, Policy Perspectives in Expanded Learning: Lessons Learned at the Local Level and Implications for Federal Policy, featured Jennifer Peck, executive director of the Partnership for Children and Youth in California; Laura Hansen, director of information management and decision support for the Metro Nashville Public Schools in Tennessee; and Christina Russell, managing director for Policy Studies Associates, Inc. in Washington, D.C. It was sponsored by the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and the Collaborative for Building After-School Systems (CBASS).

The briefing focused on the value of intermediary organizations, quality and accountability, and school and community partnerships. Jennifer Peck spoke about the role of intermediary organizations in supporting school and community partnerships and the implications for student achievement. Her organization, the Partnership for Children and Youth, serves as an intermediary organization for afterschool programs in California's Bay Area. She showcased impressive data demonstrating how summer learning programs significantly increased the grade-level vocabulary of students who participated. She stated that these results occurred due to strong partnerships between schools and non-profit agencies.

Last week Sens. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Richard Burr (R-NC), Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced the bipartisan Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2013.  The bill reauthorizes the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) for the first time in more than 17 years.  Under the legislation, states would be required to ensure that all child care providers who care for children through the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) receive health and safety training in specific areas, comprehensive background checks, and on-site monitoring.  The legislation does recognize the specific training and support needed for school-age caregivers.

More than 500,000 providers serve about 1.6 million low-income children through CCDF, including about 600,000 school-age children in afterschool, before-school and summer learning settings.  Children ages 6 to 13 represent about 33 percent of all children receiving CCDF assistance.  School-age children receive about $1.7 billion of all CCDF funds.  The bill authors are soliciting feedback on the legislation prior to scheduling a mark-up of the bill.  The Afterschool Alliance is preparing recommendations for the bill’s sponsors that would strengthen the school-age care components.  

Do you provide care to children through CCDF?  Please contact us with feedback on the reauthorization bill.

On May 16, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced newly proposed regulations for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). Join Shannon Rudisill, director of the ACF's Office of Child Care, on June 14 at 1 p.m. EDT for a webinar where she'll present on the new rule proposal, including its potential impact on afterschool and school-age programs and providers.

According to ACF, this proposed rule would strengthen health and safety requirements for child care providers, reflect current state and local practices to improve the quality of child care, infuse new accountability for federal tax dollars, and leverage the latest knowledge and research in the field of early care and education to better serve low-income children and families. The proposed rule would only apply directly to child care providers who accept CCDF funds. More than 500,000 providers serve about 1.6 million low-income children through CCDF, including about 650,000 school-age children in afterschool and before-school settings. Many more children would benefit, however, because the providers also serve non-CCDF children.

The Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) was last authorized in 1996, and Congress continues to work on a new reauthorization bill that was introduced in the Senate earlier this week. The regulation is currently open for comment until Aug. 5, 2013.  The complete proposed rule can be accessed online. 

Register for the June 14 webinar here. 

• Receive health and safety trainings in specific areas
• Comply with applicable state and local fire, health and building codes
• Receive comprehensive background checks (including fingerprinting)
• Receive on-site monitoring

While Congress is currently engaged in debate over immigration policy and the 2013 farm bill, two other policy issues are waiting patiently in the wings for their chance in the spotlight. There is a possibility that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the House Education and the Workforce Committee will mark up their own versions of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) reauthorization bills in June. At the same time, progress is slowly being made by the Appropriations Committee staff in both the House and the Senate on FY2014 spending bills. Now is a great time to weigh in on both of these issues:

1. Contact your senators and representative to encourage them to support afterschool and summer learning as part of ESEA by co-sponsoring the Afterschool for America’s Children Act, S. 326.  This bipartisan bill will enhance the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) initiative by strengthening school-community partnerships among other improvements.
2. Funding for 21^st CCLC and the Child Care Development Fund remain critical. Contact your senators and representative to express how sequestration and the economy have impacted access to afterschool programs in your community. Call on them to support funding for afterschool and summer learning programs in the FY2014 appropriations process.

Thank you for taking action on behalf of the 18 million children who would be engaged in afterschool programs this afternoon if a program were accessible to them.

When Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011 almost two years ago, they included a provision meant to be so difficult to swallow that it would force the House and the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, to come together and pass a reasonable plan for reigning in the deficit. That strategy failed and the result is that the across-the-board cuts known as the sequester officially went into effect today—after a two month reprieve that resulted from the Jan. 1, 2013, fiscal cliff resolution.

• Approximately 30,000 low-income children of working parents would lose child care assistance through the Child Care and Development Block Grant and many more would experience a reduction in services.
• Title I Grants to school districts would see a cut in excess of $750 million, denying funding to well over 2,500 schools serving more than 1 million disadvantaged students. These funds pay for teachers, tutors and afterschool programs. Sequestration would mean job losses for more than 10,500 teachers and aides.
• For the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, it is now estimated that about 58,000 young people would lose afterschool and summer learning supports, likely beginning with the 2013-14 school year.

On the heels of the Afterschool for All Challenge, there have been a number of activities in Washington as we move into the middle of February.  From the State of the Union earlier this week to a day of action on sequestration today, the impact on education in general and afterschool and summer learning programs in particular are highlighted below:

• Supporting all 50 states to provide access to preschool for all low- and moderate-income children: The president is proposing to work with Congress to provide all low- and moderate-income 4-year-old children with high-quality preschool—while also expanding these programs to reach hundreds of thousands of additional middle class children—and incentivizing full-day kindergarten policies, so that all children enter kindergarten prepared for academic success.
• Creating a Master Teacher Corps of exemplary educators in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM): President Obama is calling on Congress to commit new resources to create a STEM Master Teacher Corps, enlisting 10,000 of America’s best and brightest science and math teachers to improve STEM education across America’s schools.
• Modernizing America’s high schools for real-world learning: The president is announcing a new competition to kick-start a redesign of high schools to emphasize real-world learning.  The president’s plan will invest in redesigning high school to focus on providing challenging, relevant experiences as well as reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers and that create classes that focus on technology, science, engineering and other 21^st century skills.

Sen. Barbara Boxer at the "Breakfast of Champions"

Following rousing speeches by Sens. Boxer (D-CA) and Murkowski (R-AK) last week during the "Breakfast of Champions," the bipartisan Afterschool for America’s Children Act, S. 326, wasintroduced in the Senate today.  Sens. Boxer (D-CA), Murkowski (R-AK) and Murray (D-WA) introduced the Afterschool for America’s Children Act that reauthorizes the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers initiative and builds on past afterschool and summer learning program success.  The bill number, 326, symbolizes the hours of 3 to 6 p.m. when young people should have quality learning and enrichment opportunities.

• Strengthens school-community partnerships to include sharing of data and resources, the ability to better leverage relationships within the community and provide an intentional alignment with the school day.
• Promotes professional development and training of afterschool program staff.
• Encourages innovative new ways to engage students in learning that looks different from a traditional school day, with an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); and physical activity and nutrition education.  Supports approaches that focus on individualized learning that provide a variety of ways for students to master core skills and knowledge.
• Provides accountability measures that are connected to college- and career-readiness goals and show student progress over time toward meeting indicators of student success including school attendance, grades and on-time grade level advancement.
• Ensures that funding supports programs that utilize evidence-based, successful practices.
• Increases quality and accountability through parent engagement, better alignment with state learning objectives, and coordination between federal, state and local agencies. 
• Does not prioritize any one model of expanded learning opportunities over another. 
• Maintains formula grants to states that then distribute funds to local school-community partnerships through a competitive grant process.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski at the "Breakfast of Champions"

Joining Sens.Boxer, Murkowski and Murray as co-sponors of the bill were Sens. Begich (D-AK) and Manchin (D-WV).  

Plenty of national groups have already registered their support for the bill, including: Afterschool Alliance; After-School All-Stars; American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance; American Camp Association; American Heart Association; A World Fit For Kids; Champions; Harlem RBI; National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity; National Association of Elementary School Principals; National Collaboration for Youth; Save the Children; and the United States Tennis Association. 

In addition to these organizations it’s important that Congress see a strong showing of support from afterschool advocates across the country.  Your senators want to hear from you! Take action now by urging your senators to sign on as co-sponsors to support the next generation of afterschool, before-school and summer learning programs that are re-engaging children in their education and future.  Share personal examples or experiences that illustrate the importance of these out-of-school programs for enhancing learning, keeping kids safe and helping working families.