Restore Funding to Out-of-School Time
Mayor Bowser and the DC Council
Update (June 21): The Mayor's proposed budget, and support from the American Rescue Plan, provides approximately $16.9 million in funding for OST in FY22. We are now asking the Council to protect this funding so programs can build capacity and serve more DC youth, and to put us on the road to fully fund OST in the future.
Out-of-school time works. When the pandemic hit, and schools had to quickly transition to remote learning, OST pivoted too and served as a valuable bridge between schools and families, supporting them through a year of loss and trauma.
Young people deserve a holistic recovery--one that meets their academic, mental, and physical health and social-emotional learning needs. We know that in order for schools to successfully get students back on track, they will need to be innovative and expansive in how they reconnect with and welcome students after a year of disrupted and distance learning. This is why funding initiatives like OST is so important, as part of a holistic approach to a just recovery.
Demand is up for OST, but funding is down. Funding for OST peaked in FY08, when the Children and Youth Investment Corporation, which managed OST funding, was budgeted at $20.8 million. If funding had kept pace with inflation, rather than being cut, funding would be over $28 million today. Instead, the Office of Out-of-School Time is funded at just $13.6 million. Yet for every one student enrolled in an after school program in the District, there is one more waiting to get in. OST remains a tiny fraction of the District’s $16.9 billion budget (including local and federal funds), making up less than 0.1% of the budget. Put another way, if the District’s budget were one dollar, OST would make up one tenth of a penny.
Increasing the OST budget will give more Black and brown children access to the programming they want and deserve. In DC, 79% of children enrolled in programs that receive local funding in 2019 were Black, and 17% were Latinx. By increasing investments in OST, the District will ensure that more Black and Brown youth can have access to the programs that they want and deserve.
OST programs are especially important for working families, even more so as young people begin to return to the classroom. Families who work need to know that their children have a safe place to learn and grow while they are working to make ends meet. A recent poll by the Afterschool Alliance found that 84% of parents with a child in an OST program agree that the program helps them keep their job or work more hours and 90% of parents overall agree that programs provide working parents peace of mind.
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To:
Mayor Bowser and the DC Council
From:
[Your Name]
Mayor Bowswer and Members of the DC Council,
Out-of-school time works. When the pandemic hit, and schools had to quickly transition to remote learning, OST pivoted too and served as a valuable bridge between schools and families, supporting them through a year of loss and trauma.
Young people deserve a holistic recovery--one that meets their academic, mental, and physical health and social-emotional learning needs. We know that in order for schools to successfully get students back on track, they will need to be innovative and expansive in how they reconnect with and welcome students after a year of disrupted and distance learning. This is why funding initiatives like OST is so important, as part of a holistic approach to a just recovery.
Demand is up for OST, but funding is down. Funding for OST peaked in FY08, when the Children and Youth Investment Corporation, which managed OST funding, was budgeted at $20.8 million. If funding had kept pace with inflation, rather than being cut, funding would be over $28 million today. Instead, the Office of Out-of-School Time is funded at just $13.6 million. Yet for every one student enrolled in an after school program in the District, there is one more waiting to get in. OST remains a tiny fraction of the District’s $16.9 billion budget (including local and federal funds), making up less than 0.1% of the budget. Put another way, if the District’s budget were one dollar, OST would make up one tenth of a penny.
Increasing the OST budget will give more Black and brown children access to the programming they want and deserve. In DC, 79% of children enrolled in programs that receive local funding in 2019 were Black, and 17% were Latinx. By increasing investments in OST, the District will ensure that more Black and Brown youth can have access to the programs that they want and deserve.
OST programs are especially important for working families, even more so as young people begin to return to the classroom. Families who work need to know that their children have a safe place to learn and grow while they are working to make ends meet. A recent poll by the Afterschool Alliance found that 84% of parents with a child in an OST program agree that the program helps them keep their job or work more hours and 90% of parents overall agree that programs provide working parents peace of mind.
Update: The Mayor's proposed budget, and support from the American Rescue Plan, provides approximately $16.9 million in funding for OST in FY22. That's why we are now asking the Council to protect this funding so programs can build capacity and serve more DC youth, and to put us on the road to fully fund OST in the future.
Original: That’s why it’s time to restore funding for OST. If we want to see a just recovery and to build back better, we need to invest in what works, especially for the families that depend on these supports the most. That’s why as a member of the DC OST Coalition, we are calling on the Mayor and the Council to protect and begin to restore funding to OST to at least $18 million for FY22.