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
• 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:
Funds may be used to support professional development training modules for school-age providers and to increase the capacity of the Nebraska Community Learning Center Network.

Other quality activities:
Quality dollars may support programs seeking national accreditation through the National AfterSchool Association (NAA).

• 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

• Nebraska Community Learning Center Network. This group convened in 2001 to enrich afterschool programs at the state’s 11 Community Learning Center (CLC) sites. A collaboration of the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation and the Nebraska Department of Education, the Network also includes representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Nebraska School-Age Care Alliance, the Early Childhood Training Center, and the Lincoln Community Learning Centers Initiative. With workgroups focusing on advocacy, sustainability, capacity, and evaluation, the Network plans to provide training, technical assistance, and outreach throughout the state. In 2003, the Network received Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) dollars and an award from the C.S. Mott Foundation to support its activities.

• Youth Development Collaboration Demonstration Project. The Nebraska Children and Families Foundation also administers a Positive Youth Development State and Local Collaboration grant from the Family and Youth Services Bureau of the U.S. Administration for Children and Families. One of the programmatic goals of the project is increased opportunities for positive use of time, including safe places with structured activities during non-school hours and ongoing relationships with caring adults. The project has worked closely with the Governor, who has agreed to work with his Youth Advisory Council to further integrate youth development strategies into the work of agencies in his administration.

• Lincoln Community Learning Centers Initiative. In 1998 and 2000, the Lincoln Public Schools Foundation teamed with Gallup to conduct interviews and focus groups to gauge public support for community learning centers (CLCs). When the assessment showed strong support for the community learning center concept, the Lincoln Public Schools Foundation convened key business, government, and school leaders to move toward a community school initiative for their hometown. This group formed the initiative’s Leadership Council, which is charged with guiding development and long-term financing. Work at the neighborhood and center level is overseen by School Neighborhood Advisory Councils (SNACs), which include parents, youth, neighborhood residents, educators, community-based organizations, and service providers who reflect the uniqueness and diversity of the surrounding neighborhood. In the spring of 2003, the CLC initiative convened its first SNAC summit to focus on building leadership skills. The Nebraska Community Learning Center Network is replicating Lincoln’s program model throughout the state.

• Omaha Mayor’s Initiatives. The mayor of Omaha, recognizing that transportation is a major barrier to access to afterschool programs, established a pilot program to use city buses and charter transit service to transport children and youth to afterschool programs. The program uses reworked city bus routes to transport children from Omaha middle schools to community-based programs. The program also links afterschool providers with an established community organization, "Omaha on the Move," that provides specialized transportation for underserved and at-risk populations. The mayor developed a resource guide to afterschool providers that lists all current afterschool programs, as well as possible local, state, and federal funding sources. He has also pledged the city’s assistance in grant-writing for afterschool initiatives.

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Statewide Organizations

National AfterSchool Association Affiliate:

Nebraska School Age Care Alliance
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services
PO Box 98933
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: 402-471-9274
Email: Marvie.Sullivan@hhss.state.ne.us

Statewide Child Care Resource & Referral Network:

Midwest Child Care Association
5015 Dodge Street, Suite 2
Omaha, NE 68132
Phone: 402-558-6794
Fax: 402-551-7198
Web: http://www.childcarene.org

Statewide Afterschool Network:

Nebraska Children and Families Foundation
215 Centennial Mall South, Suite 200
Lincoln, NE 68508
Phone: 402-477-6422
Web: www.NebraskaChildren.org

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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.