Thousands of youths at risk of losing access to after-school programs
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[May 08, 2024]
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Advocates for community-based after-school programs say as
many as 40,000 youths statewide could lose access to tutoring services,
recreation and other extracurricular activities this summer unless
Illinois lawmakers approve an infusion of funds to keep them going.
“The time is now for legislators to act to save after-school
(programs),” Susan Stanton, executive director of Afterschool for
Children and Teens, or ACT Now, said at a Statehouse rally Tuesday. “We
literally only have weeks left before programs have to shut their doors.
Staff will be laid off and families will be in crisis.”
ACT Now is a coalition of groups such as local YMCA chapters, Boys &
Girls Club, and other community-based organizations that provide
academic enrichment activities and other services during non-school
hours for children and teens, particularly those attending
high-minority, low-performing schools.
The programs that are at risk receive federal funding through the U.S.
Department of Education’s Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning
Centers program.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/May/08/images/ads/current/chicagost_sda_SHG_2024.png)
That money flows through the Illinois State Board of Education, which
awards competitive grants to local programs. Those grants are made in
three-year or five-year cycles. At the end of that cycle, the grants can
either be renewed or the organization can reapply through a new
competitive grant process.
The problem facing many programs whose grant cycles are expiring is that
in 2023, ISBE miscalculated how much money was available and made
commitments to award more grants than the state could fund. As a result,
many programs whose grant cycles are expiring cannot get them renewed
because there is not enough funding available. Advocates are seeking $50
million in state funding to make up for the anticipated shortfall.
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Susan Stanton, executive director of the advocacy group ACT Now,
leads a rally calling on state lawmakers to provide funding to
prevent after-school programs that serve an estimated 40,000
students statewide from being forced to close this summer. (Capitol
News Illinois photo by Peter Hancock)
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/May/08/images/ads/current/rainbowseamless_lda_SHG_2024.png)
Stanton said programs serving about 6,000 students were forced to close
at the end of the previous fiscal year, and without an injection of
state funds, another 40,000 students will lose access to services after
June 30 this year.
State Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, has proposed legislation that
would commit $50 million a year in state funds for the 21st Century
Community Learning Centers.
“It’s not enough for us to say we support quality, safe and vibrant
learning environments for our youth. We have to provide funding for that
to happen,” Villivalam said. “I believe … that investing in childhood
education is an investment in our future communities, and not something
we should take lightly.”
Gov. JB Pritzker’s budget proposal calls for about $234 million for
after-school programs, most of which would come from federal money. But
Stanton said that is a different program that sends funds for
after-school programs directly to school districts, not to the
community-based organizations that receive 21st Century Community
Learning Center funding.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is
distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide.
It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert
R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the
Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial
Association.
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