OPINION: Taking afterschool on the road

June 3, 2016 By Marcel Braithwaite For Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Pictured is Marcel Braithwaite, U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez and Allie Lidie on May 24, 2016. Photo courtesy of Marcel Braithwaite

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Afterschool programs are vital to our nation’s children, families and communities. But they’re facing tough funding challenges. In the last few years, as budgets have tightened and charitable support has become harder to come by, many programs have trimmed back their offerings, reduced the number of students they can serve or — in some cases — closed their doors.

Last week, I joined more than 150 afterschool advocates from 36 states (including Alaska and Hawaii!) at the annual “Afterschool for All Challenge,” sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance, to send a message to Congress that we need to make afterschool a priority.

As the director of center operations at the police athletic league, I’ve seen firsthand what a difference afterschool makes in the lives of our children, our families and our communities. For example, this year, students at PAL’s Brownsville Beacon site had an incredible experience producing their own radio program in partnership with WNYC’s Radio Rookie’s program. I carried the story of our Brownsville youth and others to Washington, D.C., to help our senators and representatives better understand the benefits offered by afterschool programs and the need for more resources to support them. Funding from New York City is vital, but so is federal support.

Together with Afterschool Works NY! Deputy Director Allie Lidie, I met with several elected officials from our area and their aides, including U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez and representatives from Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks for a wonderfully successful day of advocacy on behalf of our kids.

At the federal level, afterschool funding faces a possible budget cut this year, only a few months after Congress and the president agreed to renew the principal federal funding stream for afterschool, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative. This February, the president proposed cutting funding for 21st CCLC by $167 million. We’re hopeful Congress won’t go along, and will instead increase funding from its current $1.167 billion level to $1.3 billion. That would allow another 140,000 or so children to flourish in afterschool programs.

At the local level, the funding picture for afterschool programming in New York is evolving. There continues to be strong support from the state Assembly and New York City Council for youth programs. However, youth development providers are awaiting funding announcements from the New York State Department of Education and the New York City Council that could significantly impact program availability.

Research from the Afterschool Alliance illustrates just how far we are from making afterschool available to all children and families who need it. The 2014 “America After 3PM” survey, commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance, found that 28 percent of New York City’s children participate in an afterschool program, but the parents of 67 percent of children not already in afterschool programs say they would sign their kids up if a program were available to them. That’s a huge unmet demand for afterschool programs. We don’t have nearly enough programs to meet the need — and a budget cut would make things worse.

Lawmakers must resist efforts to balance the budget on the backs of schoolchildren. Securing funding for the afterschool programs that keep kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families is vital for our neighborhoods and communities. It was a message our lawmakers needed to hear, and we were proud to deliver it! Let’s hope they heard us!

—Marcel Braithwaite is director of Center Operations at the Police Athletic League