Children's Campaign, Inc. - Promise 4 Facts

Risk Factors

On school days the hours from 3:00pm to 6:00pm are the peak hours for juveniles to commit crimes, be victims of a crime, be in or cause a car crash, smoke, drink or use drugs, and/or engage in sexual activity.
In Florida 27% of children are unsupervised afterschool; only 17% participate in an afterschool program.¹
25% of children in America do not participate in an afterschool program including 40,000 kindergarteners.¹
Just 7% of children in rural working families attend after-school programs, parents of these children are more likely than parents of urban and suburban families to say the program their child attends is the only on available.

Attendance/Need

22% of children in Florida working families are in after-school programs, while the parents of 31% say they would likely enroll their children in a program, if one were available².
91% of Florida parents are extremely or somewhat satisfied with the after-school program their child attends.
The top reasons given for selecting an after-school program are cost, convenience, and child enjoyment of the program.³
Parents of non-participants believe that their children would benefit most from after-school programs by having fun, improved physical activity, improved social skills, academic enrichment, and by staying safe and out of trouble.

After-school Programs

In Florida, pubic schools are the largest provider of after-school programs. YMCA’s, Boys and Girls Clubs, private schools, and religious organizations round out the top five providers of after-school care in the state.
3 in 4 voters say that congress should increase funding for afterschool programs.¹
94% of voters say that there should be some type of organized activity for children and teens to attend after-school every day, and 75% of voters believe that Federal or state tax dollars should be used to expand daily after-school programs and make them accessible to all children.
Lack of afterschool care causes parents to miss an average of eight work days a year; costing the nation up to $300 billion in productivity loss.⁴

After-school Program Benefits

Children who participate in high quality, constructive after-school programs demonstrate high school attendance and improved performance on standardized tests.
Teens that do not participate in an afterschool program are three times more likely to skip school, smoke marijuana, consume alcohol, drugs and engage in sexual activity.⁴
Studies show that the positive benefits resulting from elementary age children’s participation in quality after-school programs includes: better grades, work habits, emotional adjustment, peer relations, improvement in social skills, ability to maintain self-control and avoid conflicts and make constructive choices about their personal behavior.
Research supports the relationship between a high quality after-school program and a decrease in crime, in other words High Quality After-school Programs Reduce Youth Crime.

¹ The Afterschool Hours in America Factsheet. Afterschool Alliance. http://www.afterschoolalliance.org (.pdf)
² More than One in Four Children in Florida Working families are Unsupervised in the Afternoons. Afterschool Alliance. http://www.afterschoolalliance.org (.pdf)
³ America after 3pm: A Household Survey on After School in America. Afterschool Alliance. http://www.afterschoolalliance.org (.pdf)
⁴ Afterschool Programs Fact Sheet. www.afterschoolalliance.org. http://www.afterschoolalliance.org (.pdf)

*For full list of sources please contact Children’s Campaign at campaign@iamforkids.org*

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