American Rescue Plan

With billions in funding available for afterschool and summer enrichment, the American Rescue Plan presents a tremendous opportunity to support students’ recovery. 

Federal Pandemic Relief Funds: City, State, and School District Investments in Afterschool and Summer Learning
Learn about how afterschool and summer learning programs are using pandemic relief funds with our map, City, State, and School District Investments in Afterschool and Summer Learning. This map shows hundreds of examples of state and local agencies are investing these critical funds into afterschool and summer learning programs.

• What funding is available?
• When is this funding available?
• How can I access this funding?
• Evidence-based strategies & examples of programs supporting students’ recovery
• NEW: June 2023 | American Rescue Plan is Making a Difference for Students through Afterschool and Summer Programs: update on current investments in afterschool and summer programs and their impact
• June 2022 |  Investing ARP Funds in Afterschool & Summer: the need, funds available, examples at work, and role districts, policymakers, and others can play

Reach out to local education leaders | See examples of partnerships between schools and programs | Explore the Fall 2021 staff recruitment toolkit

What funding is available?

The American Rescue Plan provides $500 billion that can be used in part to support young people during the hours they are out of school. Funds specifically available for afterschool and summer programs in the Plan include: 

• $8.45B available from SEAs, including: 
  • $1.22B set-aside for summer enrichment
  • $1.22B set-aside for afterschool programs
  • 5%, approximately, $6.1B, for learning recovery, which can include afterschool/summer/ELT
• $22B provided to LEAs for learning recovery strategies, including afterschool and summer enrichment
• $39 billion for child care, which can include school-age care, which will flow to state child care agencies 
• $1 billion for Corporation for National and Community Service through  AmeriCorps for AmeriCorps positions to help address learning recovery and other purposes
• $350 billion for state and local governments that can be used in part for child care and other purposes

See the funds available in your state: FY2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER Fund State Allocation Table.

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When is this funding available?

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How can I access funding?

The federal government disbursed funds to states in March 2021. The federal Dept. of Education and Dept. of Health and Human Services provide direction to state education and human service agencies on how to distribute the funds. Here’s a quick take on how major categories of the funds will flow, and what you can do. 

1. $21.9B for learning recovery to local education agencies/school districts. States will need to disperse funds to your local education agencies within 60 days. Each district will be required to use 20% of the new funds they receive on learning recovery strategies that may include afterschool/summer/ELT. Start mapping out what you can offer school districts, and prepare for your outreach to local education leaders. Use our toolkit for reaching out to local education leaders to access these resources. 
2. $39 billion for child care has been sent to state child care agencies for dispersal – this includes school age care. State human service or child care agencies determine how the funds are dispersed. Reach out to state child care agencies to learn what their plans are for these funds. A portion of funds will flow through Child Care Development Block Grants while a majority of funds in each state for child care will be dispersed as child care provider stabilization grants. (Learn more about school-age child care and Child Care Development Block Grants.)
3. $8.45 billion in funding to state education agencies (SEAs), including $1B for afterschool, $1B for summer enrichment, and $6B for learning recovery that can include afterschool and summer. Each state will have their own dispersal process and it will be important to advocate for an efficient distribution of these funds. Reach out to your statewide afterschool network to find out what's happening in your state. There may be a grant competition for some of the funds, either run by the SEA or a third party, or some may opt to channel the funds through 21st CCLC grantees. SEAs must complete the ESSER III State Plan Template and submit it to the US Dept of Education by June 7, outlining plans for responding to students' academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, including afterschool and summer programs. The plan will be posted for public viewing. See examples from states that have announced plans for spending ESSER III plans on afterschool and summer.
4. Counties and state governments have received $350 billion to spend. Reach out to county government officials to ask if there are plans to spend their allotment of funds in part on afterschool, youth programs, summer learning, or child care. (This was a common practice with funding from the previous relief bill known as CARES Act last summer.)

For local afterschool and summer program providers, it is important to seek partnerships with school districts. Use this toolkit to reach out to local education leaders — school boards, superintendents, and principals — to share what your program can offer students to support students’ academic, social, and emotional well-being.

Several states have posted grant funding opportunities that afterschool and/or summer learning providers may be eligible to apply for:

State	Funding source	URL	Focus	RFP opens	RFP submission deadline
Alaska	ESSER III afterschool set asides	https://education.alaska.gov/forms/05-22-047.docx	Afterschool	4/28/22	5/31/22
Arkansas ESSER III Grants	ESSER III set asides	https://www.astate.edu/news/partnership-establishes-arp-esser-iii-competitive-grant-program-a-state-and-aosn-to-lead-25-million-project	Summer/ Afterschool	7/30/21	8/30/21
Colorado ESSER Expanded Learning Opportunities (ELO) Grant	ESSER IIII afterschool and summer set asides	https://www.cde.state.co.us/caresact/esser-expandedlearningopportunities	Afterschool and Summer	5/5/22	6/28/22
Connecticut Accelerate Summer Expansion Grants	ESSER III set aside	https://ctafterschoolnetwork.org/acceleratect-summer-expansion-grants/	Summer 2021	4/28/21	5/10/21
DC: Learn 24 grants	Includes ARP funding and other funding sources	https://learn24.dc.gov/page/funding-opportunities-0	Summer and Afterschool	Posting/Deadline dates vary	Posting/Deadline dates vary
Delaware School-Community Learning Grant Program	ESSER III set asides $6 million	https://bids.doe.k12.de.us/#viewproposal?propID=370	Year Round - Summer/ Afterschool	10/15/21	12/17/21
Georgia BOOST Grants	ESSER III 1%	https://www.afterschoolga.org/boost/	Summer/Afterschool	8/5/21	8/19/21
Idaho Community Programs for Youth Award Round III	ARP, CARES and CRRSA	https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JU1Xe_zaIpwq1yGAEKPLc7p5zZydwWy8/view	Summer 2022	3/7/2022	4/7/2022
Idaho Summer of Innovation Grant	ARP ESSER Summer Set Aside	https://idahooutofschool.org/funding-and-grants/	Summer 2023	1/5/2023	1/31/2023 & 3/27/2023
Indiana REACH grant	ESSER III 1%	https://www.in.gov/doe/files/REACH-Grant-Application.pdf	Summer and Afterschool	7/16/21	9/16/21
Maryland ARP ESSER  Afterschool Program Competitive Award	ESSER III 1% afterschool set aside	http://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Documents/ARP-ESSER/ARPESSERRFPAnnouncement07062021.pdf	Afterschool	7/16/21	8/20/21
Minnesota: Believe and Build Afterschool Grants	ARP ESSER III	https://igniteafterschool.org/believe-and-build-afterschool-grants	Afterschool	9/30/2021	TBD
Montana Afterschool Grant	ARP ESSER III	https://opi.mt.gov/COVID-19-Information/ESSER/Montana-ESSER-After-School-Grant	Afterschool	10/22/21 (intent to apply) 11/19/21 (RFP opens)	12/10/21
Oklahoma High-Quality Afterschool and Summer Learning Programs Initiative	ARP ESSER III	https://sde.ok.gov/expanded-learning	Afterschool	10/2021	11/2021
South Carolina Providing Opportunities for Lifelong Learning Grants	ESSER III State set aside & CARES GEER	http://scafterschool.com/arp-grants/	Afterschool and Summer	12/10/21	12/30/21
Texas COVID Learning Acceleration Supports (TCLAS): High Quality Afterschool	ARP ESSER III	https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/health-safety-discipline/covid/texas-covid-learning-acceleration-supports-tclas	Afterschool	10/8/2021	11/12/21
Utah American Rescue Plan Act Afterschool and Summer Funding	ESSE III set aside	https://www.schools.utah.gov/file/bfbb97f6-63ff-4416-a7a3-a980f4808dc4	Afterschool and Summer	6/23/21	8/20/21
Vermont Summer Matters	ESSER III and II set asides	https://vermontafterschool.org/summergrant/	Summer 2021		5/5/21
Wyoming Reserve Summer and Afterschool grant	ESSER II State set aside	https://edu.wyoming.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ESSER-II-SEA-Reserve-Summer-School-and-After-School-Grant-Application-FILLABLE.pdf	Afterschool and Summer		10/15/21

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Evidence-based strategies & examples of programs supporting students’ recovery

• Key Principles for Expanding Learning to Support Student Re-Engagement — A full guide to expanded learning policy and implementation at the local, state, and federal levels, which is particularly important as our country moves to recovery from COVID-19.
  • Brief
  • Summary
• January 2021: Afterschool Essential for COVID Recovery — A two-page handout that describes how afterschool and summer learning programs are essential for meeting kids’ needs and addressing inequities. It also explains why COVID relief funds are needed with specific examples of how they would be used.
• February 2021: Expanding Learning and Supports for All Students — A three-page handout that shows how afterschool and summer programs accelerate learning with unique academic, social and emotional supports. Includes new data from Deborah Vandell and 2020 America After 3PM.
• Issue Brief: How Afterschool is Supporting Learning and Recovery During COVID-19 (July 2020) - This issue brief, complemented by in-depth afterschool program profiles, explores the range of ways in which programs have responded to the needs of their community and placed the well-being and safety of children and families at the forefront of program efforts.
• The evidence base for afterschool and summer – A sourced listing of research on outcomes for youth (April 2021). Also see our searchable Research resources.  
• Community Learning Hubs — A resource priovding key considerations in creating Community Learning Hubs, as well as lessons learned to inform the robust supports needed for students’ recovery post-pandemic.
• Recognizing the Role of Research and Evidence in Out-of-School Time by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a series that covers: how afterschool and summer programs can make the most of this time of opportunity (Guide 1); takeaways from decades of research on afterschool and summer learning programs (Guide 2); what evidence-based means for afterschool and summer learning programs (Guide 3); strategies to help access relief funding opportunities, including a guide for creating an evidence-based logic model (Guide 4).
• Evidence-Based Considerations for COVID-19 Reopening and Recovery Planning: Briefs from the Wallace Foundation
  • The Importance of Adult Skills in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) (March 2021)
  • Summer Learning with Academic and Non-Academic Activities (March 2021)
  • Afterschool Coordination Systems to Support Afterschool Programming (March 2021)
• December 2021: Comprehensive Afterschool Programs — A one pager that describes and defines comprehensive afterschool programs, including what the evidence shows about outcomes, a puzzle graphic detailing program components, and the key principles for effective programs.

• Use this March 2022 National Association of State Boards of Education article with education leaders to share examples and strategies to support students and strengthen the education system by employing an “all hands on deck” approach that engages afterschool, summer learning, and community partners to meet students’ immediate needs and catalyze a transformation in where and how learning takes place.

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Learn about how afterschool and summer learning programs are using pandemic relief funds with our map, City, State, and School District Investments in Afterschool and Summer Learning. This map shows hundreds of examples of state and local agencies are investing these critical funds into afterschool and summer learning programs.