Boxer, Murkowski Praise HELP Committee Passage of Amendment to Improve Afterschool Programs

Press Release

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Senate Afterschool Caucus, and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today praised the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee's passage of an amendment to help children and families by investing in high quality afterschool programs across the country, which was included in the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015.

"Since we passed the very first authorization for afterschool over 15 years ago, the program has proven itself time and time again, and now more than a million children benefit from it," Senator Boxer said. "We must continue to help working families by giving kids a safe and enriching place to go when the school day ends."

"This policy is a win-win for our children and for working parents. Studies have proven the effectiveness of high-quality after school programs not only in helping children get better in reading in math, getting their homework done, and behaving in class, but also in reducing the chances that kids will get involved in risky behaviors and crime," said Senator Murkowski. "Including our amendment helps towards the success stories for the next generation of Alaskans, by providing access to a safe and supportive environment outside of school hours with effective guidelines and standards."

The amendment is similar to the Afterschool for America's Children Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Boxer and Murkowski in January, which would reauthorize the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program. The program has allowed millions of children to attend afterschool programs over the last decade, including more than 1.6 million children last year. Reauthorizing this program will ensure that children of working families continue to have a safe, well-rounded and educational environment until the end of their parents' work day. Afterschool programs provide enrichment activities to complement regular academic activities and helps students, particularly those attending high-poverty and low-performing schools, to meet state and local standards for core academic subjects such as reading and math.

Although the number of children participating in afterschool programs has been increasing, the unmet need for afterschool activities is increasing as well. A 2014 report, America After 3pm, found that parents of 19.4 million children not currently participating in afterschool programs say they would enroll their children if a program were available to them. The 2009 edition of the same reportfound that 18.5 million children would be enrolled in afterschool programs if their parents had the opportunity -- an increase of nearly one million in five years.

The measure would also modernize the 21st CCLC program to improve states' ability to effectively support quality afterschool programs, run more effective grant competitions and improve struggling programs. In addition, it would enhance communication between local schools and afterschool programs to ensure afterschool activities complement the academic curriculum while encouraging parental engagement in student learning and improving the tracking of student progress.

Supporters of the bill include the Afterschool Alliance, American Heart Association, National Association of Elementary School Principals, First Focus Campaign for Children, National 4-H Council and YMCA of the USA.

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