Weekly Media Roundup: January 28, 2026

After-School Care Crisis, Good Morning America

For working mom Geovanna Sejas in Arlington, Virginia, the care and support the free ASPIRE afterschool program provides is essential – enabling her to work while knowing her daughter is safe, getting academic support, and exploring her interests. But because of federal funding cuts, the program was forced to close one of its classrooms last year, leaving the families of 25 students scrambling. Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant spoke to Good Morning America about how threats to federal funding are worsening the afterschool care crisis. “There is enormous demand for afterschool programs, but far too many families don’t have access,” Grant said. 

South Florida Chef Teaching Young People Lessons That Go Far Beyond the Kitchen, CBS News Miami (Florida)

Through a partnership with Barry University, chef Dario Stephen shares his culinary talents and enthusiasm for cooking with students at afterschool programs across Southern Florida. Five days a week, Stephen provides recipes, fresh ingredients and life lessons. “I teach resilience because a lot of times they’re going to make mistakes and I teach them broken crayons still color," Stephen told CBS News Miami. “So even though they’ve made a mistake they can correct it, they can fix it, they can add something to it and make it still work.”

Popular Wildwood After-School Program Threatened by Possible Funding Cuts, Cape May County Herald (New Jersey) 

For the past 14 years, WAVE 21 in Rio Grande, New Jersey has provided engaging, educational activities, such as urban gardening, journalism, musical theater, cooking, esports, and much more to students in third through 12th grade. The free afterschool and summer program partners with dozens of local organizations and business but also relies on federal funding that the Trump Administration proposed to eliminate. “There is talk of cutting Title IV funding in the federal government,” Superintendent John Kumming told Cape May County Herald. “It came close to a stop-work order this summer. We are concerned, but we are banking on another year.” 

Expanding the Afterschool Lane: Why Universal Afterschool Programming is Necessary for K-12 Students, AMNY (New York)

In a recent guest column for AMNY, New York Edge CEO Rachael Gazdick calls on New York City lawmakers to implement the New York City Commission on Universal Afterschool’s Afterschool Roadmap to ensure every child has access to a safe, engaging afterschool program. Gazdick shares how nonprofits such as New York Edge, the largest afterschool provider in the city, make an enormous difference in the lives of students and families, but without adequate funding, many students are missing out. “To fully realize the goals of universal childcare — support working families, advance educational equity, and strengthen the economy — New York City must extend this vision to K–12 students and make universal afterschool programming a core part of the solution,” Gazdick writes.