Why afterschool programs are a smart investment

By DJ Hilson, elected prosecutor of Muskegon County, MI and member of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. To hear additional remarks from DJ Hilson, view the recording of July 17 Senate Afterschool Caucus Briefing on 21st CCLC.

Over the two and a half decades of being a county prosecutor, I know the best way to keep our communities safe is not just by being reactive to crime: we must be proactive. That is why when I ran to be the elected prosecutor for Muskegon County, MI in 2012, I ran on ensuring the kids in our community had the resources and support needed to become productive citizens and live crime-free lives. And that is one of the reasons why I have been a vocal supporter of afterschool and summertime programs for youth and why I have been the board chair of The Boys and Girls Club of Muskegon Lakeshore for 11 years.

Anecdotally and from the data, we know that youth are much more likely to come into contact with law enforcement after the school bell rings as well as during the summertime. A report from 2019 by the national non-profit, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, an organization of more than 5,000 law enforcement leaders that I belong to, concluded that the hours between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. during the school day, nationally, were peak times for youth to be arrested by law enforcement, according to data collected by the FBI of juvenile arrest rates.

Afterschool and summertime programs are one of the best solutions to youth crime. Since Fight Crime: Invest in Kids’ first report on this issue in 2000, juvenile arrest rates have decreased by 70 percent across the nation, due in part to increased access to high-quality afterschool programming, as evaluations of a number of programs have shown. Yet crime continues to peak in the after school hours.

Without the support of caring, trusted adults between the time that school lets out and when parents come home from work, we know that youth are much more likely to get involved in risky behaviors when they are unsupervised. Afterschool and summertime programs provide youth an opportunity to learn new skills, be more physically active, be more connected with peers, and be in a supportive, caring, and enriching environment.

For the past 25 years, the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, the sole federal dedicated funding for afterschool and summertime programs, has helped communities across the country provide access to these critical programs. That federal program is bringing afterschool and summer programs to nearly 1.4 million students, including 16,000 young people in Michigan.

For law enforcement leaders, we see this as a smart investment. According to the research, 2 in 5 students enrolled in a program funded by the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program improved their GPA, more than 7 in 10 improved their engagement in learning, and more than half saw a decrease in school suspensions.

And there is a big return on investment. Research spanning several states shows that every dollar invested in afterschool programs saves at least $3 by increasing kids’ earning potential as adults, improving kids’ performance at school, and reducing crime and juvenile delinquency.

While this program has helped a tremendous number of kids to succeed, there are far too many that don’t have access.  For every one participant in a quality afterschool program, there are three more who would participate but can’t because there are no programs available to them. That’s concerning to me. That means that nearly 25 million youth nationwide are unsupervised after the school bell rings. We must ensure more of today’s youth have access to these programs that keep them safe.

We saw what could happen without federal investments in afterschool and summertime programs. On June 30th, the Office of Management and Budget announced it would pause releasing over $6 million in Congressionally-approved funding signed into law by President Trump for afterschool, summertime, and other educational programs, right before the upcoming school year with no timeline of when those funds that thousands of programs rely upon would be released.Thousands of programs across the country, including the Boys and Girls Club where I serve as board chair, were scrambling to fill the hole of this unexpected funding gap. My club was scheduled to receive $600,000 on July 1 to fund programs that are already underway and starting up in the fall. Staff were left wondering when, or if, those critical funds would be released or risk shutting these programs down. We were not alone. Programs across the country faced this same dilemma. To our relief, The Trump Administration announced last Friday it would release and make available those funds this week.

We saw what could happen without this funding. Thousands of programs would shut down and millions of kids would lose access to afterschool and summertime programs. And we are not out of the woods.  President Trump's budget proposal, released in May, called for the elimination of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding. This would cause thousands of programs to shut down leaving more youth unsupervised and without a constructive, caring environment to go to after school. That alarms me for my community and communities across the country. Youth, parents, businesses, and public safety need these programs.

As a law enforcement and community leader, I urge the Administration to maintain these funds for this coming school year and for Congress to continue its investment in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program because it puts kids on the path to success and keeps our communities safe. It’s not just good for public safety, it makes good common sense.