Allegheny County Programs Receive Significant Funding for Out-of-School Time

(January 31, 2025)

On January 16th, 2025, Lieutenant Governor (and McKeesport native) Austin Davis announced the recipients of $11.5 million in new grant funding. This first time funding stream was allocated under the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s program, Building Opportunity through Out of School Time (BOOST).

Lt. Gov. Davis made it clear that the BOOST funding is part of a larger goal to keep children safe in Pennsylvania. “The number one cause of death for young people in America isn’t cancer or car accidents — it’s guns,” Davis stated at the press conference announcing the funding. “When we invest in afterschool programs, we’re being smart about safety, and we’re saving lives.”

After school programs provide more than just safe places that engage children in positive ways. There is a growing understanding that after school programs improve the wellbeing of children and their families. Offering a place for children to go while parents are working allows those parents to do their jobs. These safe spaces ensure children are being cared for, easing parent’s minds and letting them maintain their income.

These programs also support what children are learning during the school day, improving school outcomes for those that attend. Among many of the positive effects on students outlined in countless studies, such as improved mental health and social well-being, quality out-of-school time programs have also shown to improve school attendance rates among chronically absent students. This provides immediate positive impact for that child, as school attendance is a key indicator of student success and graduation rates. As the Afterschool Alliance has stated, high-quality afterschool programs help kids do better in school.

For all these reasons, Allies for Children is glad to see that $1.8 million of the funding will be directly invested into programs serving Allegheny County (this does not include the added $3 million going to the statewide Alliances of YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs, which will also positively impact this region). Of the 44 site-specific funded applications, 10 reside in Allegheny County. We have included the full list below.

Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler said at the press conference, “This dedicated funding — the first of its kind — will make it possible to bring kids off waitlists and into afterschool programs, retain highly-trained professionals, and invest in our collective future.” In 2020, a national study showed that for every child in an afterschool program, three more are waiting to be admitted (pg.13). The hold up to enrollment stems from lack of staffing at quality sites, transportation, and simply not enough places for children to go. We look forward to seeing how this funding may open doors for these children, improve out-of-school time sites with more staff and resources, and ultimately improve outcomes for children and families.

To read more about how each of these organizations will be utilizing the allocations, click here.

Shauna McMillan, Consultant


Allies for Children’s previous coverage of BOOST funding:

The Importance of Out-of-School Time Programs (by Karen Dreyer, Executive Director at Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School Time (APOST))
Boosting the Potential of Our Youth (by Chris Watts, President and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania)