Uncertainty with federal grants and a proposed decrease in funding from the state could lead to community school programs having to find services to cut.
Gov. JB Pritzker proposed a cut of $17.5 million to out-of-school programs like After School Matters and Teen REACH, which supports kids who need extra resources and emotional support that a school can not provide.
The budget is still being debated in the legislature, but with a tight budget this year there is uncertainty about which programs will see an increase in funding.
ACT Now, a statewide coalition promoting afterschool and youth development programs, is suing the federal government to pay the $18.5 million worth of grant money that was awarded to Illinois community school programs.
This uncertainty could lead to community school programs cutting some services to keep running. Community schools provide services and supports to fill a neighborhood's needs within public schools.
Rebecca Kinsey of the Normal nonprofit The Baby Fold supervises community school teams in Fairview Elementary in Normal and Cedar Ridge Elementary in Bloomington. She spoke this week at the Capitol in Springfield urging the state to find money for community schools.
Kinsey said The Baby Fold helped a homeless student’s family find housing and gave that student the resources they need to succeed in school.
“Through our community school program, we helped his family find permanent housing, got him glasses, two pairs, so he could leave one at school and take one home,” Kinsey said.
An extra bit of care
Kinsey said funding community school programs can change the trajectory of a child's life.
Kinsey said even providing students with clean clothes can improve the child’s behavior and attentiveness in school.
“When kids don't have clean clothes, they don't come to school, or they show up feeling embarrassed and unable to concentrate on why they're at school to begin with,” Kinsey said.
Kinsey said families can come to their programs with no judgment from anyone who is part of the program.
Kinsey said families rely on The Baby Fold to give an extra bit of care. She added when funding is uncertain, the people and programs disappear.
“We've been in positions before where we thought we'd have to cut our team, and I cannot overstate what that would mean in our schools to a child that's one more adult they thought they could rely on who disappears,” Kinsey said.
Susan Stanton, executive director of ACT Now Illinois, said Illinois should fund these programs even with a tight budget this year because these programs will save Illinois money in the future.
“These programs are a cost savings for every $1 invested in after school programs, you save $3 when it comes to things like public benefits or juvenile justice systems later on,” Stanton said at the joint press conference Tuesday.
Stanton said Illinois cannot afford to defund these programs because it will cost the state more money in the future.
Stanton said programs have gone months without contracts or bridge funding, which makes organizations uncertain how they are going to fund afterschool programs.
“When programs don't have certainty, staff leave, enrollment is frozen and children are turned away,” Stanton said. “This isn't about bad intentions. This is about a broken system, and broken systems hurt kids.”
Illinois lawmakers have introduced multiple bills during the spring session to provide more funding for community schools but none were called for a vote.
One measure that has stalled in the legislature would create a statewide Out-of-School Time Advisory Council to strengthen coordination, access and long-term sustainability.
The Illinois legislature has not taken action on the governor's budget proposal. The deadline to pass a spending plan without requiring a supermajority is May 31.
