Austin American-Statesman (Texas)
September 10, 2004 Friday
SECTION: METRO/STATE; Pg. B1
LENGTH: 885 words
HEADLINE: After-school care in short supply;
Money woes and ever-increasing demand plague area programs
BYLINE: M.B. Taboada, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

BODY:
LaDonna Tavernier is a grandmother in Austin with one less thing to worry about this year: after-school child care.

That's because her 6-year-old grandson Jaymin Middleton, who lives with her, is part of Heart House, a grass-roots organization that provides a free academic enrichment program for students from families with low incomes.

"It was an answer to prayer," said Tavernier, who works as a substance abuse counselor for less than $25,000 a year.

Jaymin is one of the lucky few.

Nationally, more than 14 million school-age children take care of themselves after school, according to a study released in May by the national Afterschool Alliance. And tens of thousands of Central Texas children head back to empty homes each day after the bell rings, most of them from families with low incomes.

Although advocates of after-school programs said the problem is beginning to get noticed, they say there are still too few programs and not enough money for the ones that are out there.

"There have been after-school programs for many years, but the need has grown for them exponentially in the past decade," said Judy Samelson, Afterschool Alliance executive director. "Working Americans are desperately in need of these programs because they are working," she said, and they want to know their kids are in a safe environment. She noted, too, that the need for after-school care cuts across the economic spectrum.

Though local districts began offering on-site child care at schools more than 10 years ago, many parents and guardians, like Tavernier, cannot afford the care. Nationally, the average cost to parents for after-school care is about $22 per week per child, according to the study.

A 2003 study by the Travis County Afterschool Network found that about 34,000 school-age children in families with low incomes in Travis County are unsupervised after school.

Travis County commissioners recently allocated $200,000 to one after-school program, based at Pearce and Webb middle schools in Northeast Austin, but the money will help only 700 of those children.

"For everyone that is in after-school (programs), two more don't have access," said Anna Land, co-founder of Heart House, in Northeast Austin.

Advocates for after-school care continue to seek federal and state grants and private donations but know they are not meeting the swelling need.

"I think it's endless," said Kasie Nesby, senior director of school-age child care at YMCA of Greater Williamson County. "Every time we think we've got it covered, more people come up and say they need child care."

The Greater Williamson County YMCA provides after-school care for 3,000 children from campuses in the Round Rock, Leander and Pflugerville districts. The organization provides financial assistance for 60 children, dozens fewer than last year because of declining funding. More than 100 children are on the waiting list for the organization's financially assisted slots, and some students on the list are without care.

Research shows that students left alone after school are more likely to engage in criminal activity, sex or drug use than kids who are taking part in constructive, supervised activi- ties.

Even if children aren't misbehaving, they are more likely to watch television than complete their homework in those hours, Land said.

Nearly every elementary school in the Austin, Round Rock, Leander and Hays Consolidated school districts has on-site child care. Most districts contract with local child-care providers, while a handful of schools have their teachers fill the role. Parents pay the providers directly, and the districts provide the space.

"We definitely have seen more of a need this year for child care than we have in the past" few years, said Jaime Garcia, spokeswoman for Extend-A-Care for Kids, which provides after-school care for the Austin and Hays districts. "This year we've already seen very, very high numbers, not only for overall child care service but also for financial assistance."

Some of the most coveted programs include state and federally funded programs, such as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which provide tutoring and extracurricular activities for students and literacy programs for their families.

Chris Orona's fourth-grade son, Phillip Ortiz, needed extra academic assistance. So when officials at Berkman Elementary School in Round Rock offered Orona the free opportunity to enroll her son in the ASPIRE/21st Century Program, she eagerly did so.

"For me, it's been like a savior simply because I don't worry about my (son) being a latch-key kid," said Orona, a beauty manager at H-E-B. "If there wasn't an after-school program, I'd be in trouble."

Still, there are waiting lists for similar programs at most Austin schools, said James Salas, community relations manager for the Austin school district.

Several organizations, including Heart House and the Boys and Girls Clubs, fill part of the gap by providing free or low-cost care.

Other organizations, such as WorkSource, help parents with low incomes raising the level of awareness and looking for new resources for funding," said Alvin Pruitt, chairman of the Travis County Afterschool Network. "We don't really have an alternative but to do whatever we need to serve our kids."

mtaboada@statesman.com; 249-7053

GRAPHIC: Lessli Mora, 9, front, and Dana Salinas, 10, left, having a snack with worker Katie Connell, are among the kids who go to Heart House after school.
Arantxa Salinas, a third-grader at Andrews Elementary School in Austin, works on a crafts project at Heart House.