As the state counts down to finalizing its budget this year, electeds scramble to advocate for programs they want to see funded. Senator Zellnor Mryie is currently pushing for free, universal after-school programming to help working families.
“With New York facing an affordability crisis, working families need all the relief they can get. After-school programs keep students engaged and out of trouble, and help struggling parents get through the workday,” said Myrie.
Myrie and a coalition of parents and teachers gathered in Albany at a rally calling for universal afterschool last week. As a Brooklyn youth, he thanked after-school organizations like Crown Heights Youth Collective for keeping him out of trouble while being raised by a single mother. He spoke about current dangers, such as subway surfing and gun violence, that students are exposed to during the vulnerable hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. These hours in particular are considered “peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex,” according to an Afterschool Alliance study.
“Every child who wants a seat in a high-quality after-school program should be able to have one,” said Myrie. “That’s why I’m hopeful we can create a pathway toward universal after-school programming, starting with this year’s budget.”
The preliminary state budget is $233 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2025 with $35.3 billion in total going towards public education. New York State Network for Youth Success estimates that at $4,300 per student, it’d cost the state $6.9 billion to give a seat to every school-age child in New York who is currently waiting for one. That’s about 1.6 million school age children, according to their analysis.
“We know that access is a huge issue, typically more so for low income communities and marginalized families. So universal after-school care is really a path to help working families, support economic development, and support students,” said Kelly McMahon, chief executive officer of New York State Network for Youth Success.
McMahon added that access to high-quality after-school care provides stability for students experiencing homelessness who rely on before-school, after-school, summer, and other expanded-learning programs to survive.
Meanwhile on the city level, Councilmember Crystal Hudson introduced an universal afterschool bill last year. This bill would require the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the Department of Education (DOE) to establish an universal after-school plan in New York City by September 1, 2024.
A few of New York City’s child advocate groups are fully behind universal after-school programs because of their proven benefits. The worry is that the $170 million in cuts to the city’s budget, which resulted in about 15,000 lost childcare and over 3,500 afterschool seats, means that universal afterschool may not be feasible this year, said Caitlyn Passaretti, policy and advocate associate at Citizens’ Committee for Children (CCC) of New York.
“It’s tricky because the need is so great,” said Passaretti. “So why are we cutting them is the question in all our minds.”
Passaretti said that the infrastructure of the city’s childcare and after-school system needs reform, especially since many providers need extended contracts and on time wages to provide these services for students.
Nicholas Ferreira, the senior vice president of youth development at The Child Center of NY, Inc., said their programs guarantee some sort of academic enrichment, STEM, math, arts, and physical recreation for middle and elementary school students. All of which requires proper staffing through contracts and pay parity to run, he added.
“If the question is should we invest in universal afterschool, if we’re really thinking about it as an investment we can’t afford not to,” said Ferreira “We’re spending all this other money now to fill the gaps that happen because kids are not developing appropriately and are unsupervised.”
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.