Report Calls for Aligning State and Local Investments with Voters' Voices 
   
ATLANTA – A new survey finds that 86% of Georgia’s parents think afterschool programs are important for children and youth and they want to see more afterschool opportunities in the state. Nearly half of a million of Georgia’s children are not participating in afterschool programs - programs that have been shown to be critical to their development and the growth and prosperity of the economy.
 
The recently published report out of the Georgia Afterschool Investment Council and Georgia PTA, entitled Critical Need: Georgia’s Parents Speak Out About Afterschool, calls for increased investments in afterschool that align with voters’ priorities. Three out of four of Georgia’s voting parents support public investment in afterschool. Currently, only 37% of parents believe Georgia’s state legislators are doing enough to improve quality and access to afterschool programs in Georgia, and only 42% believe their local elected officials are doing enough to ensure afterschool opportunities for children.
 
Critical Need: Georgia’s Parents Speak Out About Afterschool analyzes the first survey of 600 of Georgia’s voting parents to better understand afterschool needs, challenges, and desires among parents across the state. By providing data on parent opinions regarding the hours beyond a typical school day, this survey complements national research on the effectiveness of out-of-school time programs, which demonstrates that involvement in afterschool yields improved academic achievement, better work habits, improved social skills and decreased negative behaviors.
 
“Georgia’s parents experience firsthand what the research tells us and their message is clear. Kids need a safe, engaging place to be when they are not in school,” says Jill Riemer, executive director of GAIC.  “High-quality afterschool programs are an important component of our kid’s lives. They give children and youth the time and place for learning, exploration, and positive development. We look forward to working with our elected officials to carry out voting parents wishes for making afterschool a public policy issue to be taken seriously.”
 
“The days of afterschool programs being babysitting venues are over” said Leslie Cushman, president of the Georgia PTA. Georgia’s parents want sustainable, high-quality programming for their children. We encourage public officials to see afterschool the way the voters in this state see it – as a public policy priority that deserves public investment.”
 
Georgia’s registered voters with school-age children report that: 

• Parents’ top three priorities when choosing afterschool programs for their kids are: quality of the staff, program content and staff to child ratio. 
• There are not enough high-quality afterschool programs in their communities and that middle school students have the fewest opportunities for high-quality programs. 
• Afterschool is important for children of all ages with the intensity of support increasing as children get older. 

Critical Need makes several, specific recommendations for Georgia’s child advocates and policymakers: improve the quality of afterschool programs, ensure opportunities for middle school youth, and increase access to afterschool programs for Georgia’s families. 
 
“Afterschool is a positive state and local solution to ensure our young people develop into safe, healthy, educated, connected, and employable citizens. This report makes it clear that parents in Georgia think afterschool is critical to the success of children,” says GAIC’s Riemer. “Georgia’s parents want to see increased investment so that high-quality afterschool is a reality for all of our kids.”
 
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Critical Need: Georgia’s Parents Speak Out About Afterschool is the first scientific statewide telephone poll focused on the afterschool needs and desires of Georgia's voting parents. Commissioned by the Georgia PTA and the Georgia Afterschool Investment Council (GAIC), the survey was conducted by The Schapiro Group, Inc. in spring 2008. The total sample is demographically and geographically representative of Georgia voters with school-age children and has a 3.2% margin of error. 
 
Download Critical Need here.

Download Critical Need Executive Summary here.

The Georgia Afterschool Investment Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring Georgia's youth have access to high-quality, affordable afterschool and summer learning programs. For more information about the Georgia Afterschool Investment Council, please contact Rachel Wellborn at (404)527-8831 or rwellborn@afterschoolga.org. Information is also available at www.afterschoolga.org.