while also missing important chances for learning, enrichment and positive development.
Columbus, Ohio, Mayor Michael Coleman says mayors have the opportunity -- and responsibility -- to promote and expand the availability of quality afterschool programs for all children.
“By making afterschool a priority, mayors can help more children access the educational tools and resources that will help them grow into healthy, mature adults,” he said. “That, in turn, creates a positive impact on the overall community, which is what being a city leader is about.”
Coleman and Cicciline were among several officials honored in May 2006 for their ongoing work on behalf of afterschool programs in their communities. That recognition took place in Washington, D.C., at the National City Afterschool Summit and Breakfast of Champions, events sponsored by the National League of Cities’ (NLC) Institute for Youth, Education and Families, and the Afterschool Alliance. Both are Mott Foundation grantees.
NLC, launched in 2000, helps mayors and other municipal leaders explore and address such issues as afterschool. It compiles and disseminates information on promising strategies and best practices, builds networks of local officials working on similar topics and concerns, and provides site-specific technical assistance in dozens of communities nationwide.
The alliance was founded in 1999. Under its Afterschool for All: Project 2010, the alliance works with a broad range of organizations and supporters to ensure that all children have access to afterschool programs by 2010.
Mott support of afterschool initiatives, including grants to the alliance and NLC, has totaled $__ million since the launch of the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative in 1998. That grantmaking reflects Mott’s longstanding belief that educational opportunities -- including afterschool programs -- offer an important pathway out of poverty for low-income and underserved families.
As the importance of quality afterschool programs becomes increasingly clear, the strategies -- and challenges -- of supporting their design, launch and sustainability also take on growing significance.
Some communities, under the direction and support of mayors and other local officials, are discovering ways to build financial support for afterschool programs without breaking the bank. Many youth-focused leaders -- school superintendents and educators, recreation directors, public safety officers, and afterschool providers -- are mobilizing existing assets of facilities, transportation, program models and staff expertise to enhance out-of-school services.
Officials in Providence have developed a business plan aimed at leveraging local, state and federal funds earmarked for day care and supplemental services to children and families with those targeting afterschool initiatives. Advocates note that the combined resources could provide as much as $4 million annually for the city’s afterschool programs.
And Coleman says he routinely speaks to Columbus-area businesses, individuals and foundations on the role such programs can play in strengthening the academic achievement and overall development of children and youth. That story, he says, has helped build momentum for local initiatives.
“Making afterschool a priority of the mayor and the city -- and demonstrating to governmental and non-governmental funding sources just how important and promising those programs are -- is a good way to generate the needed support.”
The outcomes of such strategies are evident in Providence, says Hillary Salmons. She is vice president of community engagement for the Providence-based Education Partnership and director of the Providence After School Alliance.
Salmons says Cicciline’s office has helped her alliance bring together leaders from the community’s public and private sectors to work on issues of afterschool. Those partnerships were instrumental to the city’s 2004 launch of a formal plan to establish quality standards for local afterschool programs, build and share effective models, and create long-term financial support.
Cicilline also routinely meets with local young people to discuss their interests, priorities and concerns. That level of community engagement, Salmons says, creates a strong basis for quality out-of-school programs.
“Mayors are in a position to make children a priority, setting a vision where every adult takes responsibility for every child's future success,” she said. “That leadership is critical to the future of afterschool.”
In Las Cruces, New Mexico, Mayor William Mattiace successfully worked with other local leaders to expand the city’s out-of-school programs this year to six locations. Las Cruces officials also are developing a resource center to strengthen local programs and are exploring strategies to help residents learn about, and access, available afterschool services.
Mattiace was among the several officials recognized at the 2006 Afterschool Summit. He says experience has taught him that the office of mayor can be a key launching point for broader conversations among key stakeholders on the need for quality afterschool programs.
“I make a point, whether in official meetings, speaking to groups or just talking to someone at the grocery store, to emphasize the importance of afterschool. And now the people of Las Cruces talk about it outside the context of the mayor's office, which to me indicates that it has become important in and of itself to this community.”
As the nation’s mayors increasingly embrace afterschool programs in their communities, many are inspired to call for support beyond their city boundaries. Cicilline, Coleman and Mattiace are among the growing number of public officials, community leaders, educators, corporations, organizations and foundations from around the country that have pledged their support for Project: 2010.
Clifford Johnson, executive director of NLC’s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, says such endorsements are key to the future of afterschool. He says state and national legislation on public education, particularly in tight economic times, must be supportive of expanded afterschool learning opportunities. And mayors are in the position to cultivate that interest among the country’s decisionmakers at all levels.
“Mayors understand the full range of benefits -- educational achievement, public safety, child health and family well-being -- that can accrue from strategic investments in afterschool,” Johnson said. “As a result, they can make a very compelling case at both the state and national levels.”
Cicilline agrees.
“As mayors, we have the opportunity to help make afterschool a priority throughout the country. Education is everybody’s business and afterschool has to be part of it.”