Search:

Home : Children's Issues : Youth Development : Ohio Afterschool Network

Ohio Afterschool Network

OAN Strong Advocacy Efforts Support Quality Extended Learning Opportunities

The Ohio Afterschool Network, through its work with Voices for Ohio’s Children, is ramping up statewide advocacy for extended learning opportunities! Ensuring that high-quality before- and afterschool/extended learning services are available to all families should be priority for all Ohioans – and for their leaders. We know that afterschool programs work. They keep kids safe during the most dangerous part of their days. They improve students’ performance in school and support working families by providing safe and healthy environments for their children while they are at work.

A September 2006 OAN gap analysis tells us that:

• Approximately 381,000 school-age children are presently being served by nearly 5,000 licensed afterschool programs in Ohio.

• A surprisingly high 30% of Ohio’s school-age youth spend their time beyond the normal school hours in unsupervised “self care,” spending on average 7.5 hours each week in an unsupervised setting.

• Approximately 24% of Ohio school-age children would be enrolled in afterschool programs if their parents/guardians could find services that are affordable and conveniently located.

What families need most are choices so they can decide how best to raise their children, protect them from harm and prepare them for the challenges that lie ahead. As the economy weakens and as gas prices climb, families should not have to choose between work and family. One of the most difficult challenges for many of these families is finding supervised activity for their school-age children beyond the normal school day. Data shows that, unfortunately, the older a child gets, the less likely child care is to be a top priority for families, leaving many young people unsupervised for much of any given week.

The mission of the Ohio Afterschool Network continues to be to support children, youth, families, and communities by advocating and building capacity with a unified voice for sustainable investments in safe, healthy, and nurturing extended learning experiences.