Senate Democrats LHHS bill proposes $50 million increase to 21st CCLC as FY2022 Appropriations process continues

This week Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released the nine remaining fiscal year FY 2022 appropriations bills that the Senate has not yet addressed, including the FY 2022 Labor-HHS-Education bill.  The bills are partisan in nature, and the Committee is unlikely to mark up any of these bills before they are negotiated with their House colleagues. As a reminder, the House passed 9 of their 12 spending measures last summer. The Senate Democrats’ proposed LHHS bill includes a $50 million increase to the Nita M. Lowey 21^st Century Community Learning Center (21^st CCLC) initiative – the only federal funding stream dedicated to afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. The House bill included a $100 million increase while President Biden’s budget proposal included a $50 million increase for 21^st CCLC.

The Senate appropriations bills have the same overall non-defense discretionary (NDD) total as the President’s request and the House appropriations bills, but provide more for defense discretionary accounts to match the allocation in the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act.  By providing a 5% increase for defense discretionary spending rather than the 2% requested by the President, NDD programs are increased by 13%, which is smaller than the 16% increase included in the House-passed bills.  The Senate Labor-HHS-Education bill provides a 35% increase over the FY 2021 level of funding for the Department of Education  – less than the 41% increase in the President’s budget and the House-passed appropriations bill.  The Senate FY 2022 Labor-HHS-Education bill provides $220.8 billion in overall funding, an increase of $46.7 billion above FY 2021 spending. For the Department of Education (ED), the bill provides $98.4 billion in discretionary appropriations, an increase of $24.9 billion above the funding level for FY 2021. The text of the draft bill and an explanatory statement was released on October 18.

Key funding provisions of the draft bill that would support afterschool and summer learning programs include the following:

• $50 million increase for the Nita M. Lowey 21^st Century Community Learning Center program, which supports before-school, afterschool and summer learning programs for almost 2 million students. The program would receive $1.310 billion.
• $1.4 billion increase for Child Care and Development Block Grant, for a total of $7.31 billion. This Department of Health and Human Services program supports school-age children with afterschool and summer programs, in addition to providing child care to infants, toddlers and preschool children.
• A $16.5 billion increase for ESSA Title I grants to Local Education Agencies for a total $33 billion. These education funds can be used by school districts to support afterschool and summer learning.
• $100 million increase for Title IV Part A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants for a total of $1.32 billion. These funds can be used for afterschool science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), physical activity and a host of other uses.
• $370 million increase for Full-Service Community Schools for a total of $400 million. Full Service Community Schools funding supports comprehensive services and expands evidence-based models that meet the holistic needs of children, families, and communities, including afterschool and summer learning components.
• $50 million increase for Career and Technical Education State Grants for a total of $1.38 billion.
• $15 million for Career Pathways for Youth Grants at the Department of Labor – an increase of $5 million. The Committee recommendation includes $15,000,000 to utilize the demonstration grant authority under the dislocated worker national reserve for grants to support national out-of-school time organizations that serve youth and teens, and place an emphasis on age-appropriate workforce readiness programming to expand job training and workforce pathways
  for youth and disconnected youth. This programming includes soft skill development, career exploration, job readiness and certification, summer jobs, year-round job opportunities, and apprenticeships. Funding will also support partnerships between workforce investment boards and youth serving organizations.
• Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS): a $64 million increase for CNCS for a total of $1.2 billion. AmeriCorps positions include those supporting afterschool and summer learning programs.
• With regard to support for trauma informed care, the bill includes:
  • As part of a $73.5 million increase, up to $180 million for SAMHSA’s Project Aware school mental health grants, there is $25M to implement for the first time ever the Sec. 7134 grants that were created in the 2018 SUPPORT Act
  • $180.5 million for Project AWARE, an increase of $73.5 million. Project AWARE within SAMHSA increases awareness of mental health issues and connects young people that have behavioral health issues and their families with needed services. The Committee encourages SAMHSA to continue using funds to provide mental health services in schools and out of school for school aged youth. Additionally, of the amount provided for Project AWARE, SAMHSA is directed to use $18.7 million for discretionary grants to support efforts in high-crime, high-poverty areas and, in particular, communities that are seeking to address relevant impacts and root causes of civil unrest,
    community violence, and collective trauma. SAMHSA is encouraged to continue consultation with the Department of Education in administration of these grants.
  • $25 million is also provided for trauma support services in educational settings. Specifically, in accompanying report language, the Senate Appropriations Committee states that it recognizes that the COVID–19 pandemic has increased the need for school and community-based trauma services for children, youth, young adults, and their families; and also recognizes the need to support school staff with training in trauma-informed practices. The $25 million is provided to increase student access to evidence-based, culturally relevant, trauma support services and mental healthcare through established partnerships with community organizations as described by section 7134 of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act that passed in 2018.
  • $6.25 million increase for the Resiliency In Communities After Stress and Trauma (ReCAST) grant program, for a total of $18.75 million  
  • $10 million increase, up to $82 million, for SAMHSA’s National Child Traumatic Stress Network
  • $5 million for CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experiences prevention program
  • A $100 million increase, up to $110 million for CDC’s new community violence initiative, consistent with the President’s budget request  
  • Language supportive of the Interagency Trauma Task Force

The Senate Commerce Justice and Science draft bill was also released this week and includes the following funds that can support afterschool and summer learning:

• $110 million for Youth Mentoring grants within the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), an increase of $10 million.
• $50 million in new funding for DOJ's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for a new initiative for states to close and repurpose youth prisons and expand more effective community-based alternatives for youth. 
• An increase to $10 million for the DOJ Children Exposed to Violence initiative.
• An increase of $132 million for the National Science Foundation’s Education and Human Resources Directorate, which includes no less than $70 million for the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, a proposed increase of at least $7.5 million for AISL.
• Language encouraging NSF to provide hands-on and experiential learning opportunities through grants to support STEM education, including through afterschool activities and innovative learning opportunities such as robotics competitions.

FY 2022 began on October 1, 2021, however a continuing resolution is funding the federal government through December 3, 2021. With the release of the remaining Senate spending bills this week negotiations between the House and Senate, and Democrats and Republicans will continue this fall in anticipation of a final FY 2022 spending bill that can pass both chambers and be signed into law by the President. As afterschool advocates celebrate Lights On Afterschool this month, speaking out in support of afterschool program funding is especially important! Friends of afterschool can weigh in with their members of Congress about the importance of funding afterschool and summer learning programs.