Message From Co-Chairs

Children and youth across the Commonwealth need our help and support to become caring and productive members of our society. As Co-Chairs of this Special Commission, we welcome your input as we work together with our 36 members to craft recommendations on how best to support the healthy development of children and youth when they are in and out of school. In addition to the Commission meetings about this critical issue, we intend to hold at least nine public hearings across the Commonwealth. We are aware that not everyone will be able to attend and and invite you to use this blog to communicate with us about your issues and concerns. We look forward to your comments.

Posting Rules and Etiquette

We welcome and value your feedback and ask that you do the following in order to post your comments to this blog. 1. To provide your first and last name and the town or city in which you live to help us track the feedback statewide. 2. To label your comments so we can direct your feedback to the right Commission Work Group. The Commission's three Work Groups are: 1) Information and Access; 2) Quality, Workforce and Professional Development and 3) Sustainability. If your comments cut across all three Work Groups, please label that as "Crosscutting Issue". 3. To add constructive and professional comments - rude or profane comments will be deleted. Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Special Commission Issues Press Release for Lynn Public Hearing

The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time
Announces Public Hearing

Special Commission to Convene Ninth Public Hearing in Lynn, September 20,
5 PM - 8 PM

Boston, Massachusetts - September 19, 2007 — The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time announces its ninth public hearing to be held at the North Shore Community College on Thursday, September 20 from 5 PM - 8 PM in the Gymnasium of the McGee Building located at 300 Broad Street in Lynn. Before the public hearing, from 3 PM—4 PM, the Special Commission members will be visiting the Gregg House and Girls, Inc. of Lynn, located at 106 Broad Street and 112 Market Street in Lynn respectively. The Gregg Neighborhood House is a program that serves 280 children annually ages 5 through 13; they have 300 children on their waiting list for services. Girls Inc., of Lynn operates afterschool programs for girls ages 6—18.

This Special Commission was created by the Massachusetts Legislature to "study and recommend how to' define and 'better coordinate, expand, finance and improve accessible, affordable, and quality out of school time programming for school age children in all settings in Massachusetts."

Led by Senator Thomas McGee (D-Lynn), the Chair of the Senate's Labor and Workforce
Development Committee and Representative Marie St. Fleur (D-Boston), the Vice-Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the 36 member Commission has committed to holding ten public hearings throughout the state to gather input about the Commonwealth's afterschool system. Youth, parents, community and faith-based providers, law enforcement officials, educators, funders, business and other community leaders are expected to attend and provide testimony.

"We have a historic opportunity to gain a better understanding of the importance of afterschool programs in the lives of children, youth and families," said Senator Thomas McGee. "Since a quality workforce is a linchpin of the afterschool system, we need to identify solutions to strengthen it. We look forward to gathering information from the public hearings and site visits that will help us figure out this and other ways to better serve children and youth when they are not in school."

"Currently, Massachusetts provides afterschool programs to approximately 20% of the
Commonwealth's school age population," noted Representative Marie St. Fleur. "It is well documented that the time period between 2PM and 6PM is the most hazardous, if unsupervised, for children of that age. It is clear that we need to closely examine how public/private partnerships can leverage existing resources to serve more children and youth to coordinate and strengthen a system of afterschool and expanded learning that promotes their healthy development. The public hearings and site visits will help us to hear from all stakeholders on this important matter."

"What people don't realize is that school-aged afterschool programs are just as important as public school", said Kelly O'Connor, Director of the School-Aged Program at the Gregg Neighborhood House. "We spend on average 4.5 hours with a child and they spend 5 hours in public school. We closely align our activities with the Massachusetts Department of Education's curriculum frameworks to ensure that each child receives a quality learning experience. Kids should have the best you have to offer them." O'Connor further added that many of their staff participate in the North Shore Community College's School Aged Child Care Certificate Program. "We are glad that the Special Commission is particularly focusing on the issue of workforce and professional development. Sometimes the field does not get the important recognition it deserves."

1.1 Million School Aged Children and Youth in Massachusetts There are 1.1 million school aged children and youth ages 5-18 that live in Massachusetts. Of that group, 720,000 are children ages 5-13 and 380,000 are youth ages 14-19. Current state funding serves 205,500 children and youth leaving nearly 80% without access to quality and enriching afterschool and summer opportunities.

The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time intends to study this issue more in-depth. In addition to holding the nine public hearings, it will also convene three working groups that will 1) analyze information and access issues; 2) identify quality, workforce and professional development concerns, and 3) determine how the afterschool system in the Commonwealth can be sustained. The Special Commission expects to issue a report in the fall of 2007 that will have recommendations in these areas which will strengthen the Commonwealth's
afterschool system.

About The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time
The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time has been created 'to study and recommend how to' define and 'better coordinate, expand, finance and improve accessible, affordable, and quality out-of-school time programming for school age children in all settings in Massachusetts."

The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time
For More Information Contact:
Debra McLaughlin, Consultant to the Commission
dmclaughlin@kunnusta.com
617.792.3173

Visit Our Blog:
http://www.massafterschoolcomm.blogspot.com

Visit Our Website:
http://www.massafterschoolcomm.org
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