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How parks support kids out of school

Many hands make light work: This is as true when it comes to passing legislation as it is when it comes to cleaning your house. Coalition building is an essential part of the policy change process. NRPA collaborates with a wide range of organizations that share our policy goals to bring about policy change for the public and the profession of parks and recreation. When it comes to supporting children in and out of schools, it takes a village — or in our case, a park.

Providing After-School Care

Park and recreation agencies are one of the major players in providing after-school services to youth. Departments and professionals around the country provide meals, mentoring and other programs for children when they aren’t in school. As a result, NRPA is an active member of the Out-of-School Time (OST) Coalition.

Whether it’s youth sports, after-school care programs or educational classes, many students turn to their local park and recreation agencies once school is out. More than 81 percent of park and recreation agencies provide after-
school programs for children. Many departments also utilize funds from the Department of Justice to create effective mentorship programs for at-risk youth.

During the past decade, park and recreation departments provided more than 1.8 billion meals to children in need in their communities. After schools, park and recreation departments are the second largest providers of the National School Lunch Program, and when schools aren’t in session, they are the largest providers of summer meals via the Summer Food Service Program.

Supporting Youth

NRPA represents the thousands of park and recreation professionals who support youth outside of the classroom as an active member of the OST Coalition. This coalition is dedicated to policy reform that improves access to quality OST programing for all youth. Like-minded organizations — including the Boys and Girls Club of America, the YMCA, and the Afterschool Alliance — work together to advocate for legislation and funding that invest in children and critical after-school programming.

“The OST Coalition, established in 2020, was created to ensure that Congress’ transformative pandemic relief programs included crucial support for after-school and summer programs, which have been and remain essential to help youth succeed,” says Alex Knapp, director, policy and advocacy, government relations, at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “Building on that success, the coalition has grown into a leading policy forum and advocacy catalyst, advancing a wide range of priorities for youth and OST providers. Our members’ efforts are vital in securing public resources that enable out-of-school time programs to expand their reach and adapt to the needs of more youth and teens.”

This work cannot be done alone. Together, our collective voice rings out in support of after-school programs that support the positive environments children need to grow up healthy and strong.

Does your agency run after-school programs for children in your community? Do your children benefit from these programs? We’d love to hear from you. We need your stories to share with Congress and make the case for more investments in these vital programs.

Christian Miller is Government Affairs Manager at NRPA.