2006 Florida Children's Summit
Compilation of Commitment Issues
| Click here to see the Summit recommendations for this issue. |
Have access to quality affordable, accessible, accountable and inclusive before and after-school programs.
There are 1.7 million Florida children ages 5-12. However, only 22% of children from Florida's working families are in after-school programs. Two contributing factors to this low percentage are affordability and access to quality before and after school programs. Quality management and proactive training are proven best practices; however, are not currently in place statewide.
Research shows that after-school programs help working families keep children safe and many offer academic enrichment. Florida's percentage of children, ages 5-12, receiving Child Care Development Fund subsidies is steadily decreasing, while juvenile crime between the hours of 2 and 6 p.m. continues to increase. Quality after school programs would serve as a crime prevention measure.
A commitment to developing a separate funding stream dedicated to before and after school programs is critical.