There’s an unmet need for after-school programs across Omaha. The city and an area nonprofit look to fill the gaps.
A recently released survey commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance and Collective for Youth gathered input from 444 Omaha households with 670 children to measure the successes and shortcomings of the metro’s after-school programs. The organization found that roughly 75% of Omaha children don’t have an available program, despite their parents’ or guardians’ desire to enroll.
“Families want more spots, more access and more support, especially as national resources, particularly for middle school programs, continue to decline,” said Megan Addison, executive director of local nonprofit Collective for Youth.
Addison shared the results of the survey alongside Mayor John Ewing and Omaha City Council members during a press conference Monday afternoon.
The unmet demand for after-school programs represents 38,409 children whose parents want them to be in an after-school program but are not, according to the survey. Filling that gap will take investments, and knowing the state of things is an important place to start.
“I’ve been running Collective for Youth now for 18 years, and we’ve never had a survey done to really just get the lay of the land across Omaha. We’re very familiar with what’s happening in Omaha Public Schools and with our partners and what their needs are, but we just didn’t have a good pulse on what’s going on beyond that scope,” Addison said.
Ewing’s support for after-school programming is shaped by his previous career in law enforcement. He said safe alternatives for young people are especially important between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. when they are “left to their own devices.”
“By doing that, we help keep our community safe, because it’s really about prevention and keeping young people engaged in positive activities versus them getting involved in criminal activity,” Ewing said.
In the new study, 88% of parents with children in after-school programs report enrollment allows them to work more hours and 79% say it boosts their productivity at work. It also found that about 9 in 10 Omaha parents agree that all young people deserve access to quality after-school and summer programs and 92% are in favor of public funding for after-school opportunities.
“We want to keep them stay connected to their community, so that they give back. And that’s one thing that after school provides,” Addison said. “It helps that connection with them in the places where they live.”