21ST CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTERS
What it is: The 21st Century Community Learning Centers
(21st CCLC) program is the federal government's principal after-school program investment.
It awards grants to establish and run after-school programs that provide academic enrichment
opportunities for elementary and secondary school students and their families and offer
students youth development activities, counseling, art, music, recreation, technology, and
character education programs. It was reauthorized in January 2002 as Title IV, Part B of the
No Child Left Behind Act.
How it works: The U.S. Department of Education distributes money to state
education agencies on a formula basis, and each state education agency awards 21st CCLC
grants to local entities. School districts, local governments, and community groups are
allowed to compete for grants.
Whom it serves: 21st CCLC serves elementary, middle, and high school students in
predominantly low-income communities. 21st CCLC helps fund after-school programs for
approximately 1.4 million children in 8,448 schools and other providers in 1,420 communities
in all 50 states.
Why it's important: In the hour after the school bell rings, violent juvenile
crime soars and the prime time for juvenile crime begins. The peak hours for such crime are
from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. These are also the hours when children are most likely to become
victims of crime, be in an automobile accident, smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs. A recent
poll found that 82% of voters agree that there should be some type of organized activity or
safe place for children and teens to go after school every day that provides opportunities
for them to learn, and two in three voters say that after school programs are an absolute
necessity for their community.
After-school programs that connect children to caring adults and provide constructive
activities during these critical hours are among our most powerful tools for preventing
crime. For example, a study compared five housing projects without Boys & Girls Clubs to
five receiving new clubs. At the beginning, drug activity and vandalism were the same.
But by the time the study ended, the projects without the programs had 50 percent more
vandalism and scored 37 percent worse on drug activity.
Overwhelming unmet need: Although 21st CCLC programs are available to all grade
levels, elementary school students are the group most frequently targeted for services by
the center. About half of centers serve elementary school students exclusively, and at least
two thirds of all centers serve some elementary students. Only 20 percent of the centers
exclusively target middle school students and only 5 percent of centers exclusively target
high school students. Each year, thousands of grant applications are turned down due to
lack of funding. Meanwhile, more than 14 million children still lack adult supervision after
school.
Current funding level: Since being funded at $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2002,
there have been no real funding increases for 21st CCLC. In FY06, the program was cut back
to $981 million, where it remains for FY07. This is far below the program's $2.5 billion
authorization under the No Child Left Behind Act. For FY08, the Administration is again
proposing a funding level of $981 million - a further cut in services to kids/families when
inflation is considered.
Reauthorization and funding recommendation: 21st CCLC is expected to be
reauthorized as part of the No Child Left Behind Act renewal in 2007. Fight Crime: Invest in
Kids recommends that Congress reauthorize and substantially increase funding for 21st CCLC
in order to improve quality and expand access to this program, and authorize at least $500
million in new funding for at-risk middle and high school students who now experience the
greatest unmet need.
For more information, please contact Miriam Rollin at (202) 776-0027
ext. 143 or miriam@fightcrime.org
1212 New York Ave. NW, Suite 300