Purpose and findings

Purpose and findings. The General Assembly declares that it is the policy of this State to provide all young people between the ages of 6 and 19 with access to quality afterschool programs through a State commitment to sufficient and sustainable funding for programs that promote positive youth development. The need for this policy is based on a series of facts: The General Assembly finds that youth who are engaged in quality afterschool activities are more likely to succeed in academics, employment, and civic affairs than youth who do not participate in afterschool activities. Youth with high levels of participation in quality afterschool programs miss fewer days of school, have lower drop-out rates, and higher rates of graduation. The General Assembly also finds that youth in Illinois face greater barriers to success than ever before: (1) Statewide demand for quality afterschool activities far outpaces the current supply, with shortfall estimates between 60 and 70 percent. (2) Illinois youth spend fewer hours in school than in most other states and approximately 45% of all children in grades K-12 are either responsible for themselves or are in the care of a sibling during afterschool hours. (3) On school days, the hours between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and sex. The General Assembly also finds that the State of Illinois, having demonstrated national leadership in advancing toward universal early childhood education, must also expand youth development programming in order to realize the full, continued benefits of public investment in Illinois' young people. The policy established by this Act will be developed through an afterschool demonstration program the results of which will be used to establish standards and policies to design and fund a statewide system of quality afterschool programs accessible to all youth between the ages of 6 and 19 that promote positive outcomes in such areas as education, employment, and civic success. (Source: P.A. 96-1302, eff. 7-27-10.)