Wheatley announces release of report on Pa. after-school programs

	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State Rep. Jake Wheatley D-Allegheny www.pahouse.com/Wheatley

Wheatley announces release of report on Pa. after-school programs

HARRISBURG, Sept. 17 – State Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Allegheny, announced the recent release of a report on after-school programs in Pennsylvania.

Wheatley won House approval last year for commissioning the report from the nonpartisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. The full report is available online at http://lbfc.legis.state.pa.us.

Among the committee's findings:

·               Public funding is available for after-school programs in Pennsylvania, but it is primarily directed to low-income families with children ages 6-12.

·               After-school program costs vary widely.

·               Transportation can be a major issue for the programs.

·               It can be difficult to engage teenagers in structured after-school programs.

·               Unlike southwestern Pennsylvania, which has a publicly accessible database of 1,500 after-school programs at www.swpaafterschool.org, some regions of the state lack such comprehensive information resources for parents.

·               Pennsylvania is one of the 27 states that does provide some state funding specifically for after-school programs, although several states provide higher amounts.

The committee's recommendations include promoting additional regional databases like the one that serves southwestern Pennsylvania, identifying direct and indirect funding opportunities that may be available through the federal stimulus package, and conducting local assessments of barriers to after-school services and the need for them, including the level of unmet need for programs for middle- and high-school-age youth.

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