After-school programs are a beacon for the millions of working families in California who need a safe, enriching environment for their children in the hours after the last school bell rings. These programs provide caring adult supervision, varied enrichment and recreation activities, and academic assistance for children and youth. Research has shown after school programs produce tangible developmental, social, and academic benefits for children, while also leading to long-term cost savings for communities. Investments in after-school programs promote positive child and youth development, while helping to mitigate the human and financial costs associated with risky behavior, child victimization, and juvenile crime—all of which occur at higher rates when after-school options are limited.

Proposition 49 | After School Education and Safety Act (ASES)

In 2002, California voters passed Proposition 49, the After School Education and Safety Act (ASES), to secure ongoing funding for permanent, universal after school programs at elementary, middle, and junior high schools throughout the state. Proposition 49 was championed by then-citizen Arnold Schwarzanegger, who has been a longtime supporter of after school programs. Proposition 49 expanded California’s existing after school grant program from $122 million to a guaranteed $550 million annually. Proposition 49 was written with a trigger mechanism, so that new funds would not be released until the first fiscal year when state general fund expenditures exceed 2000 levels by at least $1.5 billion. That trigger occurred in 2006, and a Request for Proposals (RFP) for roughly $428 million in funding went out in the fall of 2006, with new grants awarded early in 2007. All of the guaranteed $550 million was requested and granted in this first round, so no RFP has occurred since.

Also in 2006, advocates, together with Senator Tom Torlakson, spearheaded a successful effort to make significant revisions to Proposition 49 that were deemed critical to ensure the success of the initiative. Those revisions, accomplished through Senate Bill 638, included: prioritizing funding for schools serving high numbers of children from low-income families; increasing the daily per child rate and maximum grant amounts; and reforming the evaluation system so that developmental and social outcomes are valued alongside academic outcomes.

California also receives roughly $140 million in federal after school dollars annually, through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. Unlike ASES, this funding also serves high school students in addition to elementary and middle school students.

The Need for After School in California

There are now roughly 4,000 program sites serving roughly 400,000 students, and California leads the nation with its significant investment in after school programs. However, according to a March, 2010 report by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, nearly 2,000 schools in low-income California neighborhoods still have no state or federal after-school funding and more than half of our state-funded programs report having waiting lists. The need and demand for these programs continues to be extremely high.

California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance (CA³)

On the policy front, the time has come for after-school advocates and their key stakeholders to align policy agendas, pool resources and coordinate lobbying efforts for the benefit of their collective constituency. Therefore, a dedicated group of partners has established the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance (CA³), consisting of agencies that have invested, and are committed to investing significant time and resources to influence state and national after-school policies.

This alliance of agencies will collaborate to adopt a shared vision for after-school in California. They will then create a policy agenda and develop a common set of accountability standards in alignment with that vision, and share the labor and cost involved in building and making their case for both policy-makers and the general public.

• Learn more about the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance >>