SPECIAL FOCUS

Park districts provide safe havens for children during the risky hours after school, before mom or dad come home from work.

"It's 4 p.m. Do you know where your kids are?" That's the title of a Newsweek article (April 27, 1998), which hits at the core of perhaps the most troubling concern for working parents today: the lack of care, adult supervision and positive outlets for young children and teens after school lets out.

Statistic after statistic feeds this worry. The highest rates for juvenile crime and teen pregnancy occur between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., when children are out of school and many parents are working. According to the Newsweek article, an estimated 5 million American children are considered "latchkey" kids.

After-school care is rising to the top of political agendas, including the Clinton Administration's. In Illinois, before- and after-school care is among the many issues being explored by the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women. At the Commission's May 13 public hearing in Springfield, the Illinois Association of Park Districts testified regarding the role of park districts in providing such care.

Park districts have witnessed an evolution over the years: summer camps and day camps becoming all-day and yearlong programs for children. Today park districts across the state work in partnership with local schools and other nonprofits to offer flexible, affordable, safe and entertaining early childhood and after-school care.

Sandra Thompson, director of the Crystal Lake Park District's innovative Extended Time (ET) program, also testified at this hearing. She shared ET as a model for quality before- and after-school programs. ET started in the early '80s in partnership with the Crystal Lake School District, with 30 children in the basement of one school. ET is now offered at nine sites and serves 640 children and their working families. At its bare bones, the Crystal Lake Park District model has the following characteristics: the school supplies the facilities; the park district supplies the staff and programming; and user fees pay for personnel.

What are the benefits to families and the community? Taxpayers can feel good that their tax dollars are keeping schools open past 3 p.m. to fill this need. And, taxpayers can appreciate that local governments are cooperating to help provide a solution to the growing need for childcare. Plus, public care programs are more likely than commercial facilities to offer the flexibility (early morning, after-school and evening hours) and affordability (approximately 25 percent below what commercial programs charge) needed by today's working parents.

What follows are 20 examples of before- and after-school programs currently offered at Illinois park districts, culled from a fax survey sent to the IAPD membership. Many of the programs are offered in partnership with schools. All are providing a safe and positive outlet for youth, especially during those uncertain hours between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.