[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 18, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H1282-H1283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE AMERICA AFTER SCHOOL ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Slaughter) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, experts estimate that nearly 5 million 
school-age children in the United States spend time without adult 
supervision during a typical week. Too many of these unsupervised 
children hang out on the street, exposed to drugs and crime, or sit at 
home with only the television set for company. I recently introduced 
the America After School Act, H.R. 3400, to expand high quality after-
school programs for 5- to 15-year-old students to give these kids a 
safe place to go when the school day ends.
  In 64% of families with children under 18, both parents work. A 
recent study showed that when children were unsupervised for long 
periods of time early in life, they were more likely to display poor 
hebavior adjustment and academic performance as early as the sixth 
grade. Clearly, we no longer live in the time of Ward and June Cleaver. 
Young people today need productive, supervised activities for the 
periods when they are not in school.
  In my district of Rochester, NY, Henry Lomb School #20 has an after 
school program that serves about 25 students. They could easily triple 
this number, based on their waiting list and space availability, if 
only they had enough funding to increase their staff to meet the one-
to-ten staff-student requirement.
  Meanwhile, Adlai Stevenson School #29 has an after school program 
that has enough funding to serve sixteen of its students. This is a 
great start. However, the school has four hundred students. This is 
another example of the great need to expand after school child care in 
this country.
  Other schools in my district report the need for increased funding 
for transportation, staff, and supplies to provide supervision and 
constructive activities for school-age children when the school day 
ends. Because of the lack of funding, schools do not have the resources 
to provide after-school care for all students every day. They ration 
the care--two or three days per week for each student. However, a study 
in my district showed that school attendance was higher on days when 
students knew they had their after-school program at

[[Page H1283]]

the end of the day. Clearly, students desire a safe haven after school, 
as much as their parents desire it for them.
  In addition, the peak hours for juvenile crime are from 3 PM to 8 PM. 
We need to get kids off the streets and into safe, productive programs 
at their schools where they can receive help with their homework, 
participate in the arts, and expend positive energy on athletic 
competition.
  We have learned so much about the development of young minds and the 
importance of nurturing children at a young age. Expanding after school 
programs will help more children benefit from supervision and 
constructive attention from adults. We can stimulate these young minds 
through tutoring opportunities, arts and computer projects, and drug 
prevention activities.
  My bill increases the availability and affordability of quality care 
for 5- to 15-year-olds before and after school, as well during summers 
and weekends through the Child Care Development Block Grant program. It 
also expands the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program, which 
gives students a safe environment in which to do homework, receive 
tutoring in basic skills, benefit from college preparatory training and 
get experience with technology. Students also receive counseling on 
drug and violence prevention, learn to appreciate the arts and compete 
in athletics.
  Finally, H.R. 3400 invests funds into after school prevention 
programs for areas with high at-risk youth populations. By giving these 
young people positive alternatives, we can dissuade them from high risk 
behavior and encourage productivity and positive interactions with both 
peers and adults.
  I am proud to be the House sponsor of the America After School Act 
and look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to improve 
the care of school age children.

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