
May 31 The Importance of Out-of-School Time Programs
(May 31, 2024)
This Bold Voices blog post was written by one of Allies for Children’s partners about a subject that is relevant to their work as well as ours.
Today’s blog was written by:
Karen Dreyer, Executive Director at Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School Time (APOST).
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the Student Showcase event for Industrial Arts Workshop in Hazelwood. Speaking with the staff and instructors, it was beautiful to hear how thoughtful they are about using welding to foster creativity, self-control, persistence, and collaboration. I especially enjoyed seeing the pride that the students had in their finished works and the impressive growth and expertise that the students demonstrated whether they had been in the program for just a year or for multiple years.
Research makes clear what we can see with our eyes, that young people benefit tremendously from participating in out-of-school time programs. In fact, a meta-analysis of almost 70 different studies of after-school programs that focused on improving young people’s personal and social skills, revealed that participants:
- demonstrated significant increases in positive social behaviors,
- achieved higher levels of academic success,
- reduced drug use,
- and exhibited fewer problem behaviors, including noncompliance, aggression and conduct.
Evaluations have also found that out-of-school time program participants improved in their school classroom participation, attentiveness in class, and motivation to learn (Durlak, Weissberg, and Pachan).
Despite these benefits for young people, too many are not able to participate in out-of-school time programs. In Allegheny County, more than 64,000 children would be enrolled in an out-of-school time (OST) program if one were available to them (America After 3 PM Survey). Fifty-five percent of families reported cost being a barrier to enrolling their child in a program in 2020, which was a significant increase from 22% of parents who reported this in 2014, and this survey was completed before the economic challenges of the pandemic.
Out-of-school time programs are a significant life-line resource for families. While parents or caregivers are working, these programs provide safe learning spaces for kids to be with friends and adults who mentor them. In the summer months, out-of-school time programs allow parents to continue working and provide much needed learning experiences for the months that young people are not in school. During the pandemic, young people suffered great learning losses, both in academics and social-emotional learning. OST Programs are supporting young people as they recover from the cognitive and social learning losses of the pandemic.
At least twenty states already have dedicated state government afterschool funding streams. Sadly, Pennsylvania is not one of them. Current programs receive financial support from foundations, corporations, individuals, and fees paid by participants’ families, but this is not enough. In June 2021, the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission issued a report and found that for every dollar invested in afterschool programs, the return on investment in afterschool programs is almost $7.00. This is based on potential benefits of reducing:
- high school dropout rates
- teen pregnancy rates
- substance use disorder
- crime
- delinquency
These programs have considerable public support with eighty-eight percent of Pennsylvania parents supportive of public funding for out-of-school time programs.
In his proposed 2024-25 budget, Governor Shapiro included $11.5 million dollars to create a statewide Building Opportunity Through Out of School Time Program (BOOST). You can find specifics about the program in the governor’s Executive Budget under Budget Themes on page A1-15. This would be an important investment to begin to demonstrate support for young people’s learning during out of school hours. Through these investments we can prioritize our young people’s learning and success. If you would like to receive updates about this issue, please reach out to us at apostpgh@gmail.com or you can monitor progress on this work here.