The Afterschool Investments project has developed profiles for each state to provide a snapshot of the "state of afterschool," as well as an opportunity to compare afterschool activities across the country. This profile provides key data and descriptions of the afterschool landscape, which includes a range of out-of-school time programming that can occur before and after school, on weekends, and during summer months. It is designed to serve as a resource for policymakers, administrators, and providers.

• Quick Facts
• Statewide Initiatives
• Notable Local Initiatives
• Statewide Organizations
• Additional Resources
• Notes and Sources

Quick Facts

Demographics

For more demographic information, visit http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/statedata/statepro/index.html

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

• CCDF Administrative Overview

• Settings

Where CCDF-Subsidy school age-children are served:

• Uses of CCDF Targeted Funds and Quality Dollars for Afterschool

"Resource and referral and school-age" targeted funds:
The Department of Human Services contracts with local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies, the Illinois AfterSchool Network and the MOST program of Action For Children, to offer training, technical assistance, conferences and networking opportunities.

Other quality activities:
No data available.

• Provider Reimbursement Rates

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care

Program Licensing and Accreditation Policies

21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC)

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Statewide Initiatives

• Legislative Initiative. In 2001, a task force mandated by the state legislature and co-chaired by the Superintendent of Education and Secretary of Human Services was charged with conducting an assessment of afterschool services in Illinois, including identification of the number of children and youth served in afterschool programs in the state; the number and location of children and youth who need but are not served by afterschool programs; and the various funding streams that currently support afterschool programs. The task force presented a comprehensive and strategic plan to the legislature in November 2002.

  Highlighted recommendations included:

  • Create a comprehensive system of out-of-school time services across the state.
  • Develop common procedures among state agencies with a focus on youth for training, credentialing, meeting fiscal and programmatic reporting requirements, and evaluating programs.
  • Build a system to disseminate information on best practices and outcome measures, link programs, and increase community capacity to provide needs assessment, training, service delivery, and evaluation.
  • Expand public funding, coordinate state and federal funding, develop strategies to increase private, local, and foundation support.
  • Require publicly funded programs to meet outcomes that support the stated goals for programs.

  Read the Illinois After-school Task Force report at http://www.illinoisafterschool.net/taskforce.asp.

• Illinois Afterschool Partnership. In 2003, the Mott Foundation awarded a grant to the Illinois Center for Violence Prevention to establish and sustain a statewide network to support afterschool programs in Illinois. Co-chaired by the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois Afterschool Partnership is a statewide coalition of public and private entities with a vested interest in afterschool. The Partnership is working to implement the recommendations of the Illinois Afterschool Initiative Task Force, to build relationships with the private sector to increase their support of out-of-school time programs, and to involve parents and youth in strengthening the out-of-school time system. Workgroups have been established for capacity building, policy, and outcome measures. These workgroups have gathered data and are developing tools to enhance the professional development system in Illinois, to build the capacity of programs to measure their outcomes, and to document the need for increased funding for after-school.

  For more information, see www.illinoisafterschool.net.

• Teen REACH The Department of Human Services administers and funds the Teen REACH program at $19 million annually. Teen REACH provides structured activities for teens during non-school hours to prevent their involvement in gangs, alcohol and drug use, sexual activity, teen pregnancy, and other problems. The program was originally funded with federal TANF funds and is currently operating with state general funds. Teen REACH targets youth ages 6 to 17 that live in Illinois’ most needy communities and come from families receiving public assistance.

  For more information, see http://www.dhs.state.il.us/chp/op/CYP/teenReach.asp.

• Bridges for Learning. The Illinois State Board of Education administers the Summer Bridges program, an extended learning program designed to improve the reading, writing, and mathematics skills of students from pre-kindergarten through grade 6 in districts where a significant number of students do not meet state learning standards. The bulk of the program’s funding, $26 million, is from state funds, and the remainder, $6 million, is federal funding. Districts provide a local contribution and agree to integrate the summer bridges literacy framework into the regular school year.

  For more information, see http://www.isbe.state.il.us/sos/htmls/summerbridges.htm

• School Age/Youth Provider Credential. In partnership with the Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, the statewide afterschool network is convening stakeholders from around the state to aid in the development of a voluntary School Age and Youth credential. The credential development is focused in five elements of comprehensive provider supports. Those elements include Quality Assurance, Access and Outreach, Core Knowledge, Qualifications and Credentials, and Funding. This project is supported in part by the Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Child Care and Development.

  Through this initiative, Illinois has been invited, along with seven other states and cities, to participate in the Career Pathways Project of the Next Generation Youth Work Coalition as a demonstration site. The National Collaboration for Youth and the National Institute on Out-of-School-Time are taking the lead in this project on behalf of the coalition.

• School's Out: After-School Programs and Policies that Work. In February 2007, the University of Illinois’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs conducted a legislative briefing on afterschool issues. The three speakers for the event presented information on how successful afterschool programs achieve their goals, where Illinois ranks relative to other states on funding, innovative approaches other states are taking to design and fund their afterschool programs, and how program quality can be assessed for program self-improvement and for accountability.

  For more information, please see http://www.igpa.uillinois.edu/fis/2007.asp

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Notable Local Initiatives

In Chicago, approximately 400,000 youth participate in out-of-school time activities administered by several city departments, ranging from the Chicago Park District to the Chicago Department of Human Services. The city is also spearheading an effort to improve the quality of activities for youth and track the programs available in the city’s neighborhoods.

• The Wallace Foundation awarded an infrastructure building grant to Chicago. Received and lauded by the mayor, the three year grant of $8 million will be used to fund a support, tracking, and evaluation system for Chicago’s continuing programs oriented towards teenagers.

• In 2000, Chicago’s First Lady brought together representatives from the Chicago Public Schools, the Park District, and the Public Library to create After School Matters, a network of afterschool activities that offers paid “apprenticeships” in such fields as sports, arts, and communication. The apprenticeships often lead to regular or part-time summer jobs. A related program, also sponsored by the three city bureaucracies, provides open recreation with adult supervision.

• The Northern Illinois Collaboration, a group of large employers based in northern Cook County and Lake County have pooled their resources to expand the child care and out-of-school-time opportunities available to their employees. The employers involved in the collaboration include Hewitt Associates, Baxter, Allstate, Discover Financial Services, Kraft, and Abbott Laboratories. Members of this group have supported programs run by the YMCA of Lake County, including professional development for in-home child care providers and a 10-week summer program for early adolescents.

• The Lake County Afterschool Coalition is a coalition of community leaders dedicated to increasing access to quality afterschool and youth development programs based on each community’s needs and resources. Members of the Coalition include elected officials, police chiefs, park district directors, community organizations, and educators. The Coalition is working to draw awareness to the need for programs, improve coordination and efficient use of existing resources, and promote programs to fill gaps where needs are not being met. This effort has been spearheaded by a state Representative and Chief of Police, and its initial development was supported by staff from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Illinois and the Illinois Afterschool Alliance at the Illinois Center for Violence Prevention.

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Statewide Organizations

National AfterSchool Association Affiliate:

Illinois Afterschool Network.
207 West Jefferson St., Suite 503
Bloomington, IL 61701
Phone: 309-829-5327
Web: http://www.ianetwork.org

Statewide Child Care Resource & Referral Network:

Illinois Network of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
207 W. Jefferson
Suite 504
Bloomington, IL 61701
Phone: 800-649-1994
Web: http://www.ilchildcare.org

Statewide Afterschool Network:

Illinois After-school Partnership
220 South State St., Suite 1215
Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: 312-986-9200
Web: http://www.illinoisafterschool.net

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Additional Resources

State Child Care Administrators:
http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/statedata/dirs/display.cfm?title=ccdf

State TANF Contacts:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/tanf-dir.htm

21st Century Community Learning Centers Contacts:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/contacts.html

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Notes and Sources

Demographics

Total population: Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States and States, and for Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006, U.S. Census Bureau.

Number of children ages 5-12: Estimates of the Resident Population by Single-Year of Age and Sex for the United States and States: July 1, 2006, U.S. Census Bureau.

Percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch rate: Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Percent of K-12 students in Title I "schoolwide" schools: Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. The federal Title I program provides funding to local school districts and schools with high percentages of poor children to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards. Schools enrolling at least 40 percent of students from poor families are eligible to use Title I funds for schoolwide programs that serve all children in the school.

Child Care and Development Fund

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the largest federal funding source for child care. States receive a funding allocation determined by formula and have broad flexibility to design programs that provide child care subsidies for low-income children under the age of 13 and to enhance the quality of child care for all children. Federal CCDF funding consists of mandatory, matching, and discretionary funds. Federal law requires that states spend at least 4 percent of their CCDF funds as well as additional targeted funds on activities to improve the quality and availability of child care. CCDF administrative data in this and the following sections is from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau, as reported by States, unless otherwise noted.

FFY06 state MOE plus match: In order to receive Federal matching funds, a state must expend Maintenance of Effort funds. Note that this does not capture actual expenditures, only the minimum required to draw down all available federal funds.

FFY06 Tribal CCDF Allocation: Federal CCDF Funds are awarded directly to Federally-recognized Indian Tribes.

FFY05 total quality expenditures: This data includes FY05 and prior year funds expended for quality from each of the CCDF funding streams (mandatory, matching, and discretionary) and expenditures under targeted funds for infant and toddler, school-age care and resource and referral. This figure provides information obtained from state financial reports submitted for FY05.

Uses of CCDF Targeted Funds and Quality Dollars for Afterschool: Portions of CCDF discretionary funds are targeted specifically for resource and referral and school-age child care activities as well as for quality expansion. (These funds are in addition to the required 4 percent minimum quality expenditure.)

Maximum rate for school-age category: Rate listed applies to center-based care; where rates vary by region or county, the rate for the most populated urban area is given.

Standardized monthly school-age rate: Monthly rate for a child, age 8, in care after school during the school year at a center in the most costly district for four hours per day, 20 days per month. Calculated (in the lowest tier of a tiered system) using information from the FY2006-2007. State CCDF Plan, including rate structures, as submitted to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Separate subsidy rates for part-time vs. full time and Tiered Reimbursement Rate Systems: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Child Care Bureau. Report of State Plans FY2006-2007.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care

In addition to spending TANF funds directly on child care, a state may transfer up to 30 percent of its TANF grant to CCDF. Expenditures represent TANF funds spent in FY05 that were awarded in FY05 and prior years. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Program Licensing and Accreditation Policies

States with separate school-age licensing standards and states with specialized requirements for child care centers serving school-age children: National Association for Regulatory Administration, 2005 Child Care Licensing Study, available at http://www.nara.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=104.

Ratio of children to adults in school-age setting: Data from the National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC), available at: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov.

Number of NAA-accredited programs: Data from the National AfterSchool Association, March 2007, available at: http://www.naaweb.org.

21st Century Community Learning Centers

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 converted the 21st Century Community Learning Centers’ authority to a state formula grant. In past years, the U.S. Department of Education made competitive awards directly to school districts. Under the reauthorized law, funds flow to states based on their share of Title I, Part A funds. States use their allocations to make competitive awards to eligible entities. Data from the U.S. Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Centers Office and the 21st CCLC Profile and Performance Information Collection System.

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The Child Care Bureau awarded a technical assistance contract to The Finance Project and their partner, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, for the Afterschool Investments project. The goals of the Afterschool Investments project include:

• Identifying ways that state and communities are using Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidy and quality dollars to support out-of-school time programs, and sharing these practices and approaches with other states;
• Identifying administrative and implementation issues related to CCDF investments in out-of-school time programs, and providing information and context (about barriers, problems, opportunities) as well as practical tools that will help CCDF administrators make decisions; and
• Identifying other major programs and sectors that are potential partners for CCDF in supporting out-of-school time programs and providing models, strategies, and tools for coordination with other programs and sectors.

Contact Us:

Email:
afterschool@financeproject.org

Web:
http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/afterschool/

The Finance Project
1401 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-587-1000
Web: www.financeproject.org

National Governors Association
Center for Best Practices
444 North Capitol Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-624-5300
Web: www.nga.org

The Afterschool Investments project’s State Profiles are designed to provide a comprehensive overview of noteworthy State and local initiatives across the country. Inclusion of an initiative in the Profiles does not represent an endorsement of a particular policy or practice.