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BacxcnouND ¡,run NBBn The hidden crisis. Beneath the exterior of a thriving, fully-employed pittsburgh lies a hidden crisis. Specifically, the very factors of economic prosperity and social reform that have led increasing numbers of mothers, including low-income and single mothers, into the workforce have produced an unintended crisis of nonschool-hour care in which parents must piece together an often-changing set of care arangements and miss work to deal with gaps and glitches in that care. For example , in a 1999 nationwide survey of I , 100 adult registered voters sponsored by the Mott Foundation and J. C. Penney, nine out of ten favored providing after-school programs for children ,657o said there were not enough such programs, and 857o believed parents had difficulty finding programs in their communities. Moreover, most parents resort to forms of care that are convenient and less expensive. Research demonstrates that these arrangements are more likely to short-change their children and society in terms of poorer academic achievement and more behavior problems than would be the case if a system of structured, center-based, programmically and logistically seamless nonschoolhour care were available. 't l;t' t i..ì\' ì.. ..lf" ''(. ffÊ The children. This hidden crisis affects the majority of families of elementary school-aged children in Allegheny County. Specifically, two-thirds of elementary school-aged children - 73,000 children in the County - are estimated to need some nonschool-hour care. Only approximately l4%o of these children are enrolled in some structured center-based nonschool-hour program and only approximately 277o of these programs are licensed. Therefore, the majority of children (86Vo) estimated to need nonschool-hour services more - than half of all elementary school-aged children in the County - are unaccounted for, apparently obtaining nonschool-hour care in homes or in self-care. But recent research shows that school-age children in such settings (as well as unstructured programs in centers) get less academic assistance, spend more time watching TV, and engage in unsupervised social activities. The result is they do poorer academically and have more social, emotional, and discipline problems in school than children attending structured center care during nonschool hours. ¡-..r:;J. The economíc prosperìty and social reþrnts that have led íncreasing numbers of motlrcrs - ittcluding single and lotv-íttco¡ne worrten - ínto the workforce have also produced an unìntended crísis of nonscltoolJtour care,
Low-income narents and children. The problem is worse for low-income parents, who are more likely to work inegular hours when care is not available and to be less able to miss work when problems of care arise, and for their children, who are more likely to be left for reasons of convenience and cost in those forms of care that are less likely to promote academic success and appropriate social behavior. Moreover, the number of low-income children needing care has increased because of increases in poverty in general and increases in the number of low-income mothers, including single mothers, who must work because of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TAIIÐ. Specifically, although the number of elementary school-aged children in Allegheny County has not i changed during the last decade, the number of low-income children has increased to approximately one-third of all ;iå*äö:ihäääËäiri'fr1" ^òt ¡ Y¡cl srrcr_\movrngtomunlcrDalrnes _il ilEl-- å f][ Æ'ñf - nonschool-hour care, but Geographíc targeting of nonschoolJtour services for low-ittcome clúldren is ineJfecsimply targeting services at tive, since pockets oÍ poverty exisl evat vithín nnre affluent tlistt'icts. impoverished inner-city neighborhoods is not sufficient, because some school districts outside the City and even elementary schools within otherwise more affluent districts have pockets of poverty. As low-income children continue to spread throughout the County, geographic targeting of services becomes less effective and unfair, so other strategies of targeting assistance must be adopted (e.g., subsidies or vouchers for individual families, sliding-fee scales and agency subsidies or reimbursements, universal programs available to all, etc.). S¡,r¿psgor oF NoNscHoor, PRocRAMS IN ALLBGHENY Cou¡qly A recent (1999) study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development of nonschool-hour programs included a survey of programs and focus groups with parent participants in Allegheny County. Approximately 370 center-type programs were identified that wôuld (but not necessarily did) take school-age children during nonschool hours plus approximately 300 family and homebased care locations. Of the 139 center-based programs profiled in this survey, approximately one third were operated by social service agencies, approximately one fourth by private schools (94Vo Catholic schools), 2l%o by other organizations (e.g., Citiparks), and l47o by religious groups. However, 4lfto of programs were located in (if not operated by) schools, the majority of which were Catholic schools.
Page 1 and 2: ExPAt{Drf{c THE PnoMrsE: An AcENDA
Page 3 and 4: Tnnrp or CoNTENTs Ol't,;Rl,ni\\',\N
Page 5: committee and rhe Forbes Fund that
Page 9 and 10: of the agencies surveyed said suffi
Page 11 and 12: _:.;;É:,: ;... .l;;..t.. t-1. ii.r
Page 13 and 14: Low-income children are no longer_s
Page 15 and 16: - Enrichment activities, including
Page 17 and 18: 1991, programs in Allegheny County
Page 19 and 20: likely to occur when nonschool-hour
Page 21 and 22: ' The agenda should emphasize creat
Page 23 and 24: I Nonschool-Hour Programs Community
Page 25 and 26: MAP 1: Loc¿,uon or Nonscuool-Houn
Page 27 and 28: MAP 3: Nuwan or Scuool Acn Csu.nnBn
Page 29 and 30: Goffin, S.G. & Lombardi, J. (1988).
Page 31: U.S. Departments of Education and J

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