Spotlight on Connecticut

Spotlight on Connecticut finds that parents of children in afterschool programs are overwhelmingly satisfied, but that existing programs are oversubscribed and underfunded - and that there are not nearly enough to meet demand.

The data come from two newly released surveys. Uncertain Times: Funding Insecurity Puts Afterschool Programs at Risk, a web-based survey of afterschool providers conducted by the Afterschool Alliance; and After School in Connecticut: What Are Kids Doing After School,?" a telephone survey of parents in the state, conducted for the Connecticut After School Network.

Key findings:

• 81 percent of Connecticut's afterschool programs are functioning at or above maximum capacity, serving as many or more children as they were budgeted for. In addition, 84 percent of afterschool providers surveyed said there are children in the community who need afterschool care but cannot access it.
• Nearly half of the afterschool programs in Connecticut have lost funding over the past two years (47 percent) or seen their funding stagnate (25 percent). Just 28 percent have had an increase in funding.
• Looking to the future, less than half of afterschool providers surveyed said they felt secure about their program's funding for the next two years (44 percent).
• Just 10 percent of children in Connecticut are enrolled in a structured afterschool program.
• 88 percent of parents of children in afterschool programs in the state say knowing their child is in a supervised afterschool program helps them better focus on their jobs in the afternoons. 78 percent say it helps them miss work less often.
• 79 percent of parents agree that afterschool helps their child do better in school, and 93 percent say their child enjoys the program he or she attends.
• 60 percent of parents with children not participating in an afterschool program say their children would likely attend a program if one were convenient and affordable.

Click here for the Spotlight on Connecticut report.
Click here for a press release about Spotlight on Connecticut.