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Parents of elementary schoor-aged children are faced with the challenge of
finding safe and affordabre care for them during nonschool hours. with
the welfare-to-work initiative, many single t*th"r, are forced into
employment, often at minimum wage. Finding and ananging child care
can be a daunting challenge. parents often rely on neighbors, family
members, or center-based care, and use two or more care providers. Too
often, children are left in self-care. The unpublicized crisis ofcare for
young children after school hours, during summer vacations, and during
snow emergency cancellations, is rapidly increasing.
To better understand and document the curent status of nonschool_hour
care for elementary school-aged children residing in Allegheny county,
The Forbes Fund commissioned the university oltittsuuigh office of
child Development to conduct an environmental scan of the types and
locations of existing programs, demographic distribution of low-income
and working families, the needs and preferences of parents, and what the
national literature has to say about quality after-schôor care. The research
was guided by the following questions:
' what do children in this age group need during nonschool hours, and
what kinds of services are currently available?
' where are the gaps between what programs offer and what parents
want, and between where children go to school and where programs are
located?
' \vhat are the characteristics of successful after-school programs and
how do programs in Allegheny County compare?
' !o* are programs financed and what are the opportunities for future
funding that we are not accessing?
An advisory committee of 2l practitioners, funders, school officials and
government representatives reviewed the research, analy zed the findings,
and developed a set of recommendations that we believe will strengthen
the system of care for Allegheny County school children.
The following report offers a picture of the current status of nonschool_
hour care and a blueprint for moving our community forward to build a
more coherent, high-quality system of care. tt is thè hope of the advisory