Become an active afterschool advocate!
If you want to lend your voice to our afterschool advocacy efforts, consider joining the Afterschool Advocacy Committee: please contact Rhonda Rogers, Prime Time Palm Beach County's Director of Community Engagement & Supports for further information: 561-732-8066 ext. 106
rrogers@primetimepbc.org. |
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Highlighted Advocacy Committee Member
Elaine Cittadino
Business & Community
Partnership Coordinator,
School District of Palm Beach County - Department of Afterschool Programming
Elaine Cittadino serves as the Business & Community Partnership Coordinator for the Department of Afterschool Programming, School District of Palm Beach County. As a member of Prime Time Palm Beach County's Advocacy Committee, Elaine brings a wealth of experience and valuable partnerships, including the Palm Beach State College Business Partnership Council and the Cultural Ed Council of Palm Beach County. Elaine's commitment to the Lights On Afterschool advocacy initiative since its inception in Palm Beach County has led to increased awareness of the importance of the quality afterschool programs to the children, youth and families of our communities. As a former afterschool and camp director, Elaine believes advocating for children and youth is the key to a better tomorrow. |
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An advocacy addendum!
As we enter the fall season and the new afterschool year, let us not forget that advocating for summer programs is an integral component of our year-round afterschool advocacy efforts. So, when speaking with business and community leaders, legislators and potential funders in your community about afterschool programs and specifically about Lights On Afterschool Day . . . why not take a moment to remind them about the vital role summer programs play in the overall well-being of our children and youth, i.e., preventing summer academic learning loss (including crucial literacy and mathematic skills), encouraging positive youth development and promoting health and wellness (providing access to exercise/sports activities and sound nutrition).
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Prime Time Palm Beach County 2300 High Ridge Road, Ste. 330 Boynton Beach, Florida 33426 katie@primetimepbc.org561-732-8066 |
Prime Time receives significant funding from Children's Services Council of
Palm Beach County
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About Lights On Afterschool
Lights On Afterschool is a national awareness initiative of the Afterschool Alliance, a national advocacy organization. Celebrated by more than 7,500 communities and one million Americans nationwide, Lights On Afterschool highlights the importance of afterschool programs to the well-being and future of our children, families and communities.
This year marks Prime Time Palm Beach County's 8th Annual Lights On Afterschool Palm Beach County event, to be held on Thursday, October. 18, 2012. In partnership with the Afterschool Alliance, it is Prime Time's major advocacy initiative of the year.
Prime Time recently hosted Lights On Afterschool kick-off events to build awareness of this important day:
Afterschool Consortium Lights On Afterschool Kick-off Event for Afterschool Professionals
Prime Time hosted a Lights On Afterschool kick-off events for afterschool professionals, invited all to be actively involved in this national event. As such, Prime Time distributed tool-kits to all, with helpful information and creative ideas to assist and inspire afterschool programs to create their own unique and memorable events.
Special thanks go to Advocacy Committee Chair, Olivia Rogers, and Committee Member, Elaine Cittadino, for speaking eloquently on the topic of afterschool advocacy at these events.
Spirit of Lights On Afterschool
Afterschool advocates celebrated the Spirit of Lights On Afterschool 2012 on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at Chick-fil-A in Boynton Beach to raise awareness of Prime Time's 8th Annual Lights On Afterschool Palm Beach County event to be held on Lights On Afterschool Day, Thursday, October 18, 2012. Prime Time supporters had the opportunity to network with one another, have fun and enjoy a great meal . . . all the while raising awareness of the importance of afterschool in our community! Thanks to the generosity of Chick-Fil-A, the event also served as a fundraising opportunity for Prime Time.
Lights On Afterschool Day, October 18, 2012, arrives!
8th Annual Lights On Afterschool Palm Beach County: Thursday October 18, 2012,
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. City Center Plaza Courtyard (outside West Palm Beach City Hall)
Prime Time is pleased to host its 8th Annual Lights On Afterschool event, a festive rally including dynamic guest speakers, talented youth performers from afterschool programs, music and refreshments. The event is expected to draw more than 150 participants, including parents, community leaders, funders, government officials, businesses, afterschool professionals, teachers and school district administrators to celebrate the vital role that afterschool plays in keeping Palm Beach County's youth safe and engaged in enriching activities.
Your quick reference guide for Lights On Afterschool:
- Lights On Afterschool is celebrated nationwide to call attention to the importance of afterschool programs for America's children, families and communities.
- In America today 15.1 million children are alone and unsupervised after school. Afterschool programs keep children safe, help working families and inspire learning. They provide opportunities to help young people develop into successful adults.
- Lights On Afterschool was launched in October 2000 with celebrations in more than 1,200 communities nationwide. The event grew in 2001 to more than 3,600 events, and more than 7,500 in 2009. This October, more than one million Americans will celebrate Lights On Afterschool!
- Lights On Afterschool is a project of the Afterschool Alliance, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children have access to quality, affordable afterschool programs.
- The Afterschool Alliance salutes the many Lights On Afterschool partners and programs that make this event a success, in particular the After-School All-Stars, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 4-H Afterschool, Junior Achievement, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Young Rembrandts, and the YMCA of the USA.
Click here for your copy of the Afterschool for All petition. Encourage parents and families to sign this petition and raise their voices in strong support of afterschool!
Thank you for lending your strong voice in support of afterschool on Lights On Afterschool Day and every day! |
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Uncertain Times 2012:
Afterschool Programs Still Struggling in Today's Economy
(This survey, conducted by Afterschool Alliance, is a useful reference tool for discussions with legislators, community and business leaders, as well as potential funders, when speaking on afterschool advocacy issues. Following are direct excerpts from Afterschool Alliance report. Additional details on results and methodology can be reviewed at: http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/Uncertain_Times.cfm)
Uncertain Times is the Afterschool Alliance's national survey of afterschool providers offering answers to questions regarding the economy's effect on afterschool programs across the country. The Afterschool Alliance provides an in-depth analysis of each year's survey, including key geographic and demographic findings.
Uncertain Times 2012, the third in the Uncertain Times series, assesses the impact of economic conditions on afterschool programs. Based on 1,012 survey responses, Uncertain Times 2012-Afterschool Programs Still Struggling in Today's Economy, finds that afterschool programs are struggling to meet the needs of children and families in their communities, as they face shrinking resources and dismal prospects for new support. Hardest hit are programs serving disadvantaged communities-the very population that has the most to gain from afterschool and summer programs.
Among the keyfindings of the report include:
Afterschool program budgets continue to shrink.
- Close to 4 in 10 programs (39 percent) report that their budget is in worse shape today than it was at the height of the recession in 2008.
- More than 3 in 5 programs (62 percent) report their funding is down a little or a lot from three years ago.
Programs are struggling to meet the needs of children in the community.
- Almost 9 in 10 programs (88 percent) say children in their community need afterschool care, but are unable to access it.
- More than half of programs (57 percent) report that their budgets are inadequate to meet community needs, an increase of nearly 10 points since 2009.
- Nearly 1 in 4 programs (24 percent) say they would need to at least double their capacity to meet the demand for services.
- Close to 1 in 5 programs (16 percent) report that a loss of funding caused major cutbacks or shut down sites (up from 14 percent in 2009).
- Close to 7 in 10 African-American majority programs (68 percent) and 65 percent of Latino majority programs report that their funding is down from three years ago.
- 70 percent of African-American majority programs say that their current budgets cannot meet the needs of students and families in their community.
- More than 6 in 10 Latino majority programs (62 percent) say that their current budgets cannot meet the needs of students and families in their community, and 92 percent report that children in their community need afterschool, but are unable to access it.
1 The Afterschool Alliance. (2012). |
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