Keep the Lights On Afterschool!

Try to define the amount of funding needed and how many youth and families will be affected. Consider:

• The pandemic relief funding for afterschool and summer your state will lose. For example, use your state’s ARP set-aside for afterschool and summer, or the amount of grants awarded via pandemic funding. Find your state’s afterschool and summer ESSER III set asides here by checking the columns for the 1% afterschool set aside and 1% summer set aside. 

• Examples of state framing:

  • Texas: A factsheet about funding programs for OST in Texas with data on funding sources, amount invested and students served. Makes the case for sustaining progress and closing gaps.

  • New Mexico: A factsheet about the impact of OST and statewide funding gaps with data about New Mexico's ESSER III grant investments. 

  • Michigan: An overview of Michigan's OST grant program with data on youth served, program offerings, parent testimonials and funding gaps in recent years.

  • Hawaii: A factsheet with data about Hawaii's funding gap for OST programs that shows the level of state investment and how funding is allocated to operate afterschool and summer programs. 

Identify quality programs that will lose funding, and collect data or stories on the positive impact of the program on kids or families. You’ll want these local examples for your communications with leaders and media. 

Do some thinking about what solutions or ideas you can bring to the leaders you work with. 

• Sometimes, states are motivated to keep up or not lag behind other states. Check out this chart of state approaches to funding and, if helpful, share the momentum building across the country (see map of funding and examples and factsheet on state funding growth and afterschool outcomes).

• For ideas on ways to make the case for funding, examples of legislation, and more, see “Working to increase available funds” on the Afterschool Alliance sustainability page.

Consider these messages as starting points in your communications to help champions and decision makers understand the coming crisis and how much programs matter today. You can also pull from the factsheet on state funding growth with key benefits. 

• When we invest in afterschool and summer learning opportunities for young people, we invest in [STATE’s] future. Right now, programs in our state are helping youth thrive – they’re doing better in school, connecting with peers and mentors, and building life and work skills.  

• But these programs may be closing or cutting their hours, right when youth and families need them most. (Define the need/loss in your state, for example):

  • When federal ARP ESSER funding expires in January, we will lose XXX in funding, resulting in XX youth losing their programs.

  • In [STATE], we need XX to meet the need for afterschool. 

• If programs are forced to close, students will lose learning opportunities and parents will have no place for their kids to go while they are working. [STATE] can’t afford to turn the lights out afterschool.

• Programs are vital to supporting academic growth and well-being. We don’t want to lose more ground, or leave our youth in crisis. 

• Chronic absenteeism has become a persistent challenge. Quality afterschool programs increase student attendance. A national study found that nearly 1 in 2 students in federally funded afterschool programs who had been chronically absent improved their school day attendance.

Use these materials to communicate with champions and decisionmakers. Each can be tailored with state or local data.

• Template email from network/provider/partner to local elected official or other key decisionmaker

Contact us if you'd like help creating a handout, slides or other materials: ksargent@burness.com

Alert media of the upcoming crisis. Contact major outlets, but also community blogs and papers using this pitch email and op-ed template. 

• Pitch email to local education reporters

• Short op-ed template

• Letters to the editor from parents or youth are especially effective. Work with a program that will lose funding to help a youth or parent write to the major paper in your state. 

Our media team can help with drafting, strategies and media lists. If you have examples of programs that may close or cut service, please contact Katie Sargent at ksargent@burness.com – these are helpful for our media outreach on the fiscal cliff. 

Consider the best way to leverage your key partners and ask them to get involved. This could be having their government relations help with policymaker outreach, leverage media contacts, generate awareness via social media, or activate their network of programs, families and youth. 

Sample posts for networks and their partners:

• Afterschool programs are a win for [STATE’s] kids, families, economy, and future growth—but right now thousands are at risk of closing or having to cut the number of youth they can serve. Call to action

• Nationwide, states, local government, and school districts are all stepping up to keep afterschool programs open. We can’t let [STATE] kids and families lose their their programs. Will you help us keep the lights on afterschool in [STATE]? Call to action

• More than XX [STATE] kids benefit from afterschool and summer learning programs that help them do better in school, build life skills, and explore careers—but when pandemic relief funds run out this winter, programs are at risk of closing. Call to action

Ask programs to engage and educate families – Lights On presents a great opportunity to do this! Consider your key policymaker, and choose which options you’ll offer programs. Provide programs with language and templates to make it as easy as possible. 

• Ask families to email key policymakers. Here's a sample note programs can insert in their communications to parents. that includes the email of the offices and a prompt for families to complete: 

Afterschool programs across our state are about to lose major funding as pandemic relief dollars run out. Some programs may have to close or reduce services. Help us alert [POLICYMAKER] and ask them to secure funding so that programs can keep the lights on for kids in our state. Please, take a moment to write an email to [EMAIL]. Here is an example you can tailor: 

Dear [POLICYMAKER], 

My family relies on our afterschool program [PROGRAM NAME] here in [COMMUNITY] to keep my children safe and engaged while I work. The program has helped my child/my family ….. If our program closed, ……  I am very concerned about our state losing these programs. Please find a way to ensure that [STATE] kids and families keep the programs they rely on. Thank you, [NAME, COMMUNITY]

• Additional resources programs can ask parents/caregivers to use:

  • Template letter to your child’s principal or school board members

  • Template letter to your mayor or local councilmember 

  • Sample flyer from Utah Afterschool to engage leaders

• Collect postcards or letters. Provide programs with a postcard or letter template they can use to hold a letter-writing activity at back-to-school, Lights On Afterschool, or an upcoming family event. Ask youth and caregivers to complete the activity. Or, distribute template letters for caretakers to take, fill in at home and send back with children. Networks could run a contest or set a goal for the numbers of letters collected/sent. Collect the letters and mail or deliver them to the elected official most important to your campaign. 

  • Email ksargent@burness.com if you'd like a postcard template.

Create your own posts, and provide posts to your programs and contacts. Encourage them to engage their networks and families in getting the word out.  

Sample posts for networks and their partners:

• Afterschool programs are a win for [STATE’s] kids, families, economy, and future growth—but right now thousands are at risk of closing or having to cut the number of youth they can serve. Call to action

• Nationwide, states, local government, and school districts are all stepping up to keep afterschool programs open. We can’t let [STATE] kids and families lose their programs. Will you help us keep the lights on afterschool in [STATE]? Call to action

• More than XX [STATE] kids benefit from afterschool and summer learning programs that help them do better in school, build life skills and explore careers—but when pandemic relief funds run out this winter, programs are at risk of closing. Call to action

Sample posts for programs: 

• We love serving youth and families in [COMMUNITY]! We need your help so our program, and others across our state, can keep the lights on and doors open for kids after school. Pandemic relief funding that many of us rely on is ending this winter. Join us in calling on our [leaders/schools and local leaders] to work with us to find a solution. Call to action

• [STATE] afterschool and summer learning programs are about to lose a major source of funding—but our kids can’t afford to lose out on these opportunities. Call on our leaders to keep the doors open and the lights on for kids after school. 

• [PROGRAM NAME] helps ## kids learn, grow, and reach their full potential after school, but programs across [STATE] are about to lose the pandemic relief funding that they rely on. Join us in calling on our leaders to find a solution!