Introduction

Afterschool in the United States has played an active role in youth

development since the latter half of the 19th century, when local clubs
evolved to provide recreation and learning activities to children. While
afterschool has evolved in the past century, the core passion for
helping guide our children to healthy, safe and successful outcomes
remains. The history of afterschool is the history of dedicated
afterschool professionals like you, working to create the best
environment possible for our children. Below are just a few of the
milestones in that history.

2009
On October 6, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan gives the keynote
address for the 10th anniversary of 21st Century Community Learning
Centers' Lights On Afterschool event in Washington, D.C.

2002
Reauthorization under the No Child Left Behind Act shifts the focus of
21st CCLC from using the school as a community resource to providing
greater support for academic achievement for children in high-need
schools. State administration of 21st CCLC grants begins; nonprofits,
community and faith-based organizations, and private schools become
eligible for awards.

2001
About 1,500 21st CCLC programs are operating in 6,600 schools. They
serve 1.2 million children and youth, and 400,000 adults.

1998-2001
The U.S. Department of Education provides the first 21st CCLC grants
to local education agencies on a competitive basis. Many of these
grants include community organizations, businesses and recreation
departments as partners. The C.S. Mott Foundation provides training
and technical assistance to grantees and would-be applicants. Funding
increases from $40 million in 1998 to $846 million in 2001.

1998
The Department refocuses 21st CCLC to keep public schools in urban
and rural areas open longer to provide a broad range of community
services, including academic support and enrichment programs.

1994
Congress authorizes the 21st CCLC program to open schools up to
broader use by their communities under Part I of Title X of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act. However, early 21st CCLC
grants focus on research projects about serving children with high
needs or disabilities.

1960s-1990s
Despite renewed interest in afterschool, programs still struggle with
issues of funding and staffing, as well as enabling youth to access

programs in their communities. Most afterschool activities are provided

through center-based programs.
1965
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was signed into
law in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson who believed that full
educational opportunity should be our first national goal. This gave
more resources to low-income schools and it shifted the conversation
to equality.
1960s
The rise in crime in inner city neighborhoods as well as a rise in gangs
and drug use created a worry about what exactly latchkey kids were
going to be exposed to.

1920s-1950s
Compulsory education and limits on child labor increase children's
overall discretionary time. Communities perceive a need for supervised
recreation time for children and youth, especially in immigrant
neighborhoods and major cities.
1940s
When women began to fill the workforce gap during World War Two it
created the latchkey children. At this time 6 million women with
children were working and latchkey children were pitied. They were
thought to be deserted by their mothers and therefore would not
develop properly in the future.
1938
When the child labor laws were enacted it promoted the idea for
businesses to hire adults not kids. It emphasized the importance of
kids going to school and it created a time and space for after school.
The Great Depression
Most of school enrichment such as art, music, and physical education
was cut. Many children had to work in order to help their families,
which created adultification of many children. By the end of the 1930s
however, some New Deal funds began to support programs and there
was a changed focus on afterschool that promoted the arts.

1870s-1920s
Driven by changes in youth demographics, as well as the increased
prevalence of formal schooling and decreased need for child labor, the
first settlement-based afterschool clubs began in the United States,
providing services to enrich the lives of children. These were staffed
primarily by volunteers from the community.
1852
Compulsory education laws were implemented in order to get kids to
actually go to school since so many of Americas youth were in the
work force. Before getting kids to participate in afterschool it was
necessary to get them to go to school in the first place