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Compulsory Education Laws Begin
These laws required states to offer primary school and for children to attend for a certain amount of hours. If parents refused they could be fined or stripped of parental rights. These laws led to less children entering child labor factories. -
Child Labor Laws Enacted
These laws required factories to hire adults ONLY. This led to children gaining more free time after school. Some children attended “Boy’s Clubs” which is an after school program. -
WWII led to Women in the Workforce
Millions of men were at war, which caused women to enter the work force and provide for their families. This led children to be left unsupervised, also referred to as a "latchkey child" because they wore their keys around their necks. Due to this, the federal government funded childcare through the Lanham Act from 1943-1946. -
Rise in Inner-City Neighborhoods
Due to segregation and the Great Migration, Inner cities were overcrowded and impoverished. These conditions gave rise to gangs, crimes, and drug use which also created unsafe conditions for children to be in their own neighborhoods. Gang violence and juvenile crime peaked between 3 pm - 6pm, which is during after school hours. Children exposed to these conditions had higher rates of aggression and lower academic achievement in the class room. -
Elementary and Secondary Act
Due to anti-poverty campaigns, this act provided funding for low income families to receive child care. The funding encouraged parents to enter the work force and/or participate in job training, as they now had time to do so. This act also led to the creation of Headstart, which promotes school readiness for pre-school children in low income families. -
Rise in Number of Single Mothers
1/4 children lived with an unmarried mother in the 1970s. Due to this, many children had to rely on self care when they were released from school. This led to nation wide concern, with congress forming the Comprehensive Child Development Act in 1971, which would have allocated 2 billion dollars to quality child care for all children regardless of their social economic status. However, this was vetoed by Nixon in 1972 as he did not want a communal approach to child rearing. -
Child Care Development & Block Grant Act
In the 1990's planned out of school activities were seen as a way to alleviate the negative affects of poverty, such as economic stress and violence in the neighborhood.This grant gave funding for quality child care and after school care for low income families. The purpose of this grant is to increase employment and job training for parents. -
First National Before and After School Study
This study indicated that 1.7 million children attended an organized after-school program. Research shows that these after school programs are linked to improved social-emotional development as well as academic performance. This shows benefits to after-school programming and incentive for the government to continue funding for it. -
Welfare Reform
In 1995, women in the workforce doubled to 76%. The welfare reform required parents to work and participate in job training in order to receive welfare. This employed millions of more women into the workforce, however there became a decreasing amount of available spaces in daycare. -
Fight Crime Report
This crime report discovered that the peak hours for violent juvenile crime were between 3 pm- 8pm. With a 50% increase in violent crime. This further demonstrated the need for affordable after-school programs, especially in low income communities. -
21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC)
The creation of the first federally funded out of school programs. The 21st CCLC's were given 40 millions dollars. They encouraged a partnership between schools, communities (i.e libraries & museums), and families in order to have year round healthy social development and academic success for children. Despite these successes, in 2007 600 schools applied for funding from the 21st CCLC, but were denied. In monetary value that's $100M+ in funding. There is a need for increased federal funding. -
The Equality Shift Emerges
After School programs shifted from safety and supervision to providing academic support, healthy development, supervision, and safety. In short, it shifted from a supervision gap, to now an equity gap. Students are given additional assistance to help students meet state and local standards in academics. It also offers enrichment activities (such as art and music) and educational services to the families of participating children, which all helps to bridge the equity gap in America. -
No Child Left Behind Act
This act authorized programs and transferred funding to states. As a result of this act, evaluations and academic achievement became qualifiers of results. There was large public support for this act and support of more funding for quality programs. -
After School Education & Safety Program Act (ASES) or Prop 49
This program granted $550 million dollars for K-9 after school programs in California. This served 75% of all low income schools in California. Priority is given to schools that qualify for over 50% of free or reduced lunch. In order for these funds to be made possible, the state must reach a financial trigger. -
Senate Bill 638
This bill allowed direct grants to states. The 50% match was reduced to 33.3% since the state was not able to hit the financial trigger for funds to be released. As a result, $400M for after school programming was released in CA. Quality also improved as the daily rate of $5 per child/day was increased to $7.50 per child/day. Despite these successes, 1,900 schools have applied for ASES but did not recieve funding, which totals to about $2M. We still have a lack in federal funding.
