The Need: Youth today need safe, stimulating places to go after school.

• The parents of more than 28 million school-age children work outside the home. (U.S. Department of Labor)
• At least 7 million and as many as 15 million "latchkey children" go to an empty house on any given afternoon. (U.S. Census Bureau, Urban Institute estimate, 2000)
• 96 percent of working parents pay the full costs of child care. Low-income families who pay for child care spend 35% of their income on it. (National Catholic Reporter, 2003)
• On school days the hours between 3 and 6 pm are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2002)

Supply and Demand: There are not enough afterschool programs.

• More than half of voters say there are not enough afterschool programs available to children and teens. (Afterschool Alliance Poll, October 2003)
• Seventy-six percent of voters are concerned that, with no new funds coming to afterschool programs, not only will there not be new afterschool programs but some existing programs may have to reduce their services or close their doors. (Afterschool Alliance Poll, October 2003)
• In 2002, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers federal afterschool program could fulfill only 25% of community grant requests. (Afterschool Alliance, March 2003)
• Mayors surveyed in 86 cities reported that only one-third of the children needing afterschool care were receiving it. (U.S. Conference of Mayors, January 2003)
• As of December 2001, 19 states were reporting an average of 26,000 children on waiting lists for childcare. (Children's Defense Fund, December 2001)

The Benefits: Afterschool programs keep kids safe, help working families and improve academic achievement.

• Teens who do not participate in afterschool programs are nearly three times more likely to skip classes than teens who do participate. They are also three times more likely to use marijuana or other drugs, and they are more likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and engage in sexual activity. (YMCA of the USA, March 2001)
• Parents in a TASC study said that their child's afterschool program helped them balance work and family life; 60 percent said they missed less work than before because of the program; 59 percent said it supported them in keeping their jobs. (Policy Studies Associates, Inc., February 2001)
• Students in a statewide program in California improved their standardized test scores (SAT-9) in both reading and math by percentages almost twice that of other students. The afterschool participants also had better school attendance. (University of California Irvine, May 2001)
• The boys and girls randomly selected from welfare households to participate in the Quantum Opportunities afterschool program were half as likely to drop out of high school and two and one half times more likely to go on to further education after high school than students not selected to participate. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000)

Americans agree that afterschool programs are vital.

• An overwhelming majority of voters (94 percent) agree that children need organized activities or a program to go to after school every day where they have learning opportunities. (Afterschool Alliance Poll, October 2003)
• Nearly 90 percent of Americans support funding for quality afterschool programs in low-income neighborhoods as an important aspect of government welfare reform programs. (David and Lucile Packard Foundation Poll of Public Views on Welfare Reform and Children in the Current Economy, February 2002)
• Voters show a commitment to afterschool through good and bad economic times, saying they are willing to use taxpayer money and even pay more in taxes. (Afterschool Alliance Poll, October 2003)