by Bela P. Shah and Michael Karpman

More than 100 mayors, councilmembers and senior municipal staff gathered in Washington, D.C., last week to attend the first-ever National City Afterschool Summit, hosted by NLC?s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute).

The historic event highlighted the critical leadership roles that city leaders play in strengthening and expanding access to afterschool programs for children and youth.

NLC also held the second half of the summit in conjunction with the Afterschool Alliance?s Afterschool for All Challenge, showcasing city leadership before an audience of more than 400 municipal, nonprofit, foundation, community and youth leaders.

Several speakers, including An-Me Chung of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, noted that the greatest progress on improving afterschool opportunities in recent years has been made at the city level. Municipal leaders have been at the vanguard of efforts to increase local investments in out-of-school time programs and build citywide afterschool systems.

Cities Lead the Way on Afterschool
Philadelphia Mayor John Street kicked off the event with a strong keynote address emphasizing the importance that municipal leadership plays in creating high-quality afterschool programs. Under Mayor Street?s leadership, Philadelphia has leveraged state, federal and local funding to create 150 new afterschool programs serving an additional 44,000 students.

?You can?t have a first-class city if you treat your young people like second-class citizens,? said Street, outlining the following key strategies to promote afterschool programs:

? Make afterschool a top priority and don?t think you?ll have successful afterschool programs if you?re unwilling to invest in them.

? Collaboration across city government and community organizations is key; mayors have to get involved to make people work together.

? Pool and coordinate funding streams to increase the total investment for afterschool.

? Use nonprofit organizations as intermediaries to leverage funding and deliver quality programs.

? Be guided by the data ? often you find out that what you thought you knew is not true.

Following his speech, Mayor Street joined Mayors Donald Plusquellic of Akron, Ohio; William Euille of Alexandria, Va.; and John Fabrizi of Bridgeport, Conn., in a panel discussion of what mayors can do to raise the visibility of afterschool in their communities, along with strategies to create, expand or improve afterschool programs.

?Building schools as community learning centers is key so that our public facilities can be used by the community during non-school hours,? said Mayor Plusquellic.

?We need to provide alternatives for our young people to be safe and involved in productive and positive experiences,? said Mayor Fabrizi. ?Sustainability is a challenge, but collaboration with business and community organizations is the way to move the work forward.?

Noting that the City of Alexandria spent $3.3 million to support 125 afterschool programs last year, Mayor Euille reinforced the message that ?the return on investment is high.?

A Top Municipal Priority
The interest and leadership of municipal officials reflects the key roles that afterschool programs can play in addressing a broad array of city priorities such as reducing youth violence and risk-taking behavior, reinforcing in-school learning and improving student achievement, supporting working parents and promoting youth development.

Research highlighted at the summit underscores the enormous impact of afterschool programs. Every dollar invested in afterschool programs saves taxpayers approximately $3, and 82 percent of voters want higher funding for afterschool programs.

James Mitchell, councilmember, Charlotte, N.C., took part in a panel discussion about city investment strategies with Mary Ellen Caron, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Children and Youth Services; Jeanne Mullgrav, commissioner of the New York Department of Youth and Community Development; Grenae Dudley, director of Mayor?s Time in Detroit; and Sharon Deich, associate director of the Finance Project.

Mitchell, who helped establish an afterschool program for middle school youth in his district, stressed the need to link afterschool to other top city concerns.

?The key to sustainability of afterschool programs in your cities is to ensure that they are aligned with council priorities so that funding for afterschool is not on the chopping block,? said Mitchell.

Commissioner Caron highlighted Chicago?s investment of more than $60 million in afterschool and Chicago First Lady Maggie Daley?s nationally recognized After School Matters teen program.

Caron noted that the city is considering taxing child music and video entertainment and working with the utility department to create a check off option for citizens to contribute funds to afterschool.

Commissioner Mullgrav shared New York City?s plan to increase its investment in afterschool this year from $47 million to $65 million to serve 75,000 children. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has convened stakeholders to develop a universal goal on afterschool and assigned a high-level advisor to ensure that departments work together on more than 550 city-funded afterschool programs.

Facing tight budgets, Mayor?s Time helps ensure that Detroit receives its fair share of 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding.

The city has also partnered with other Michigan cities to change state program licensing guidelines, enabling afterschool programs to qualify for federal snack and meal dollars and increase the number of meals served by 41,000.

Mayor Rick Baker of St. Petersburg, Fla., closed the first part of the summit by stressing the tremendous impact that municipal leadership can make to bring attention to the needs of children and youth.

Afterschool Champions
Mayors David Cicilline of Providence, R.I., and Michael Coleman of Columbus, Ohio, were recognized for their local efforts as featured speakers at the Afterschool Alliance?s ?Breakfast of Champions,? which garnered further visibility for city afterschool efforts. All mayors and councilmembers were presented with an award to honor their leadership. Municipal leaders then had the opportunity to join with more than 400 afterschool advocates and youth to visit Congressional representatives on Capitol Hill to push for increased federal funding for afterschool programs.

?Our afterschool programs help prepare our city for the next generation,? said Mayor Coleman. ?Afterschool programs need to be part of every community and mayors are in a great position to make it happen.?

Details: To learn more about municipal initiatives on afterschool or to obtain the YEF Institute?s action kit on Expanding Afterschool Opportunities, visit www.nlc.org/iyefor contact Bela Shah at (202) 626-3057 or shah@nlc.org.