Team Co-Chairs: Eddie Locklear, State 4-H Office and Julie Landry, Ashe Team Members: Howard Scott, Wayne; Ben Silliman, State 4-H Office; Linda Blackburn,
Ashe; Stan Dixon, Greene; Ruth Ann Christian, Lenoir; DeRonnie Harrison, Mecklenburg;
Connie Greene, Harnett; Judy West, Wilkes; Ann Ward, Dare; Rosa Andrews, State
4-H Office; Jill Glenn, Wake; Shelley Gardner, State 4-H Office; Deborah Franko,
Wake
Objective 8
To increase the quality of After-School Programs by helping to provide safe,
nurturing and appropriate environments for children.
Objective 9
To increase availability of quality After-School Care as a result of collaboration
and/or increased resource development.
Program Description
The Cooperative Extension Service has a wonderful opportunity to provide valuable
and much needed support to the school-age care movement. With the rapid growth
of after school programs, there has never been a greater need for staff development
training, experiential learning curriculum, and opportunities to help after
school staffs develop fun, enriching, and educational environments for youth
after school and during non-school hours. Although the need is greater today
than ever before, Extension has been actively involved in after-school work
for decades. Although there are several terms used to refer to the care of youth
during non-school time, the terms after-school care and school-age care are
used synonymously throughout this section.
Since the early 1980s, Cooperative Extension professionals have responded to
the need for quality after school programs. During the early years, most programs
were offered two to three times per week. These programs offered enrichment
activities and programs to teach youth how to be safe when they were home along
or without adult supervision. Because of the early work of Extension professionals,
a national Extension Consortium for School-Age Care (SAC) developed the SAC
program Development Model. This model has become the primary focus of how Cooperative
Extension can support after school programs. The primary elements of the model
are the basis for the work of the School-Age Care Long Range Focus Area Team.
The first element of the model is a community needs assessment. Before getting
involved in after-school work, Extension staffs should work with local communities
to conduct community needs assessments. Although Extension professionals do
not have to conduct the assessment, there must be a thorough knowledge of the
needs of families and youth before working to organize or support after school
programs.
Once an assessment is completed, Extension professionals can take two approaches
to supporting after school programs. Local Extension staffs must decide the
best approach in their communities.
One approach is impacting the quality of existing school-age care programs.
The key ways Extension staff can impact quality are:
Provide education and technical assistance which includes:
Providing staff development training
Enhancing the educational environment through
Curriculum support
Starting 4-H Clubs in school-age care programs
Extension staffs can also increase the availability of school-age care programs.
If the needs assessment indicates that there is insufficient numbers of after
school programs in a community, this is the best approach to use to support
families and youth. The key ways Extension staffs can help increase availability
of programs are:
Extension managed: This involves Extension staff establishing and conducting
the after school program, including securing the location, hiring and training
staff, supervision of staff, marketing the program, establishing and charging
fees to users, and all operational aspects of the program. Although Extension
staffs do not have to do all of the activities in running the program, Extension
is responsible for the management of the program. This approach is very time
intensive. Extension staff members contemplating this approach are encouraged
to talk with other Extension professionals who have or are using this model.
Community managed: This approach involves Extension staff members working
with a community-based organization to establish and implement the after school
program. This approach is appropriate when there is a strong need for an after
school program and a community-based organization is willing to start a program.
With this approach, Extension serves as a collaborator. Once the program is
operational, Extension staffs would perform the same functions identified in
the section above, impacting the quality of existing school-age care programs.
This approach can be used with new non-profit boards and existing agencies and
organizations.
The primary goal of the School-Age Care Long Range Focus Area Team is to support
Extension professionals who are interested in supporting after-school work in
communities. The functions of the team will include:
Providing training and technical assistance to Extension staff
Helping staff locate and secure financial and programmatic resources
Providing templates and instructions Extension staffs can use to complete the Extension Reporting System (ERS)
Conducting environmental scans
Conducting school-age care research to determine Extension’s impact on children and youth, including benefits to parents and families
Ensuring input from county, state, and national school-age care activities
Building collaborations and networks to support Extension’s school-age care work, including developing working relationships with the following agencies
and groups. This is only a partial list of potential partners.
NCSACC (North Carolina School-Age Care Coalition)
4-H Afterschool, National 4-H Council
NSACA (National School-Age Care Alliance)
NIOST (National Institute on Out-of-School Time)
ECI (Extension Cares Initiative)
Afterschool Alliance
Departments of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention, Health and Human Services, Public Instruction, and Labor
Youth Organizations (i.e. Boys and Girls Clubs, Scouts, etc.)
Community groups (i.e. YMCA, YWCA, churches, etc.)
Businesses
This work is an evolving process. Extension staff members are invited to become
a part of this dynamic and exciting work. Since 1914, Cooperative Extension
has been a leader in helping people address community needs. Today, Extension’s
leadership is needed to help ensure that youth have safe, fun, enriching, and
quality after school programs to attend when parents are working.
Situational Statement/Research
Changes in the structure and employment of North Carolina families are having
a profound impact on the care and supervision of youth, ages 5 and older. Increasing
numbers of two-parent working families, single parent families, and increasing
numbers of working mothers have created a need for high quality, year round
care for school-age youth. However problems with availability, affordability,
and accessibility to high quality school-age care programs prevent many families
from taking advantage of school-age care opportunities (Vandenbergh, Davis,
Kirk, 2001).
School-age care (SAC), or after school care, refers to structured, adult supervised
programs offered to youth during after school hours, including teacher workdays,
holidays, intercession, and summer months. The term is generally used to refer
to all non-school time, organized, and sequential programs for youth ages 5
and above.
School-age programs have gained tremendous support during the past few years.
School-age care programs are viewed as effective ways to keep youth safe, improve
academic and life skills, and provide support to working families. Of the 800
adults who responded to a survey in August 2002 (Afterschool Alert, 2002):
95% of parents with children in after-school programs say their children
are safer and less likely to be involved with juvenile crime than children not
in programs
93% agree that after-school programs are needed, even in states with
budget deficits
92% of parents with children in after-school programs indicated that
their children do better in reading, writing, and math as a result of their
participation in the programs
90% felt there is a need for after school programs for youth
90% of parents who are not at home when their children get home from
school indicated a need for organized after school programs for youth
72% indicated that after school programs are an absolute necessity
for their communities
70% say after-school programs are important to them personally
This high interest in after school programs is generated by the negative consequences
that occur when youth do not have organized, adult supervised activities during
after school hours. Some of the most significant negative consequences include:
Juvenile crime triples at 3:00 p.m.
Youth are at greater risk of being victims of violent crime
Greater risk of substance abuse and sexual activity
Antisocial behavior
School drop out
Low academic performance and poor grades
Over exposure to television
Truancy
Accidents
These and other negative consequences have been identified by a number of sources,
including Chung, (2000); Newman, Fox, Flynn, & Christeson (2000); Beuhring,
Blum, & Rinehart, (2000); Miller, (1995); Pierce, Hamm, &Vandell, (1999).
The high interest in school age care programming is generated because of the
positive impact that quality school age care programs can have on youth. According
to the authors cited above, some of the most significant benefits youth enjoy
from participation in after-school programs include:
Improved academic performance
Reduction in youth crime and risky behavior
Reduction in sexual activity
Reduction in drug use
Increased school success and high school graduation
Improved social skills
Improved school attendance
Reduction in school drop out
Increased homework completion and quality
Improved self-confidence
Improved interpersonal skills
Increased life skills
Although there is tremendous support for after school programs, there continues
to be insufficient programs available to youth and families (Newman, et al.,
2000; Afterschool Alert, 2000). Of the more than 28 million school-age children
with working parents in America, as many as 15 million may be latchkey, or unsupervised
after school. In North Carolina there are about 1,113,920 youth ages 5-14. If
youth up to age 18 are included, the total number is 1,424,538 (U.S. Census
Bureau, 2001). Of the 5-14 year olds, the ages primarily involved with after-school
programs, the Division of Child Development, Department of Health and Human
Services, estimates that about 345,315 are in organized, adult supervised after
school programs. These data were collected from regulated childcare programs,
Communities in Schools, Support Our Students, and other primary care givers.
Since all sources of care, such as churches, parents, and relatives could not
be identified, the exact number of youth needing after-school programs could
not be determined. However, based on the figures from the Division, there may
be as many as 768,605 youth who might need after-school programs. These data
are based on a presentation from the Division of Child Development, January
31, 2003.
Even in communities where after school programs may be available, low staff
wages and benefits, staff turnover, lack of staff training, high staff to child
ratios, lack of transportation, lack of age appropriate curricula, and other
obstacles create problems of offering quality programs and maintaining them
(Vandenbergh, Davis, Kirk, 2001). Without appropriate training and support,
after school staff may be unable to provide safe, enriching, fun, and supportive
programs for youth. Therefore, there is a need for Cooperative Extension to
focus significant resources to help improve the quality and availability of
school-age care programs for NC families.
