Inequality In Brookline Before- and After-School Programs: Report

BROOKLINE, MA — Brookline’s before-school and after-school expanded learning programs have a glaring inequity: Low-income families and families with barriers to participation - from special needs to language differences - do not have the access to out of school programming that others enjoy.

That's according to a new report by the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, a program out of Wellesley College, that aims to help before-school, after-school, expanded learning and summer programs get better at what they do.

The report finds that, while Brookline is home to some 900 out-of-school programs serving a variety of needs, some populations—particularly middle schoolers, low-income families, and families whose home language is not English—are significantly underserved.

"An outgrowth of a multi-year effort, Advancing Access to Quality Out-of-School Time Opportunities in Brookline, paints a fuller picture of Brookline's current out-of-school time landscape and suggests concrete steps we can take to improve access for all," according to Jenny Amory of the Brookline Community Foundation, which sponsored the study.

"Equity is a big issue right in Brookline right now, and out-of-school time is critical part of that solution," said Julie Marcus, president of the board of trustees for the foundation.

Out-of-school programs are everything from sports programs after school to educational summer camps to tutoring or extra-curricular programming.

Those gathered said children gain confidence from out of school activities and build life-skills that trickle into the community.

"Education within the school walls is incredibly important and I don't think anyone here would debate that," said Brookline Teen Center Director Matt Cooney. "[But] out-of-school time is incredibly, incredibly important," he said. "Learning isn't just taking place during the school day."

The institute set up focus groups with youth and families and interviews with providers and town leaders and the result pointed to multiple challenges, including gaps in funding and lack of coordination among Brookline’s network of providers.

Amory said the study marks an important next step in a growing town-wide effort to improve out-of-school time access.

“This new report underscores something we all know—out-of-school time programs are a crucial resource for children and families—and we’re fortunate to have so many dedicated providers right here in Brookline. But we have work to do as a community to make Brookline’s out-of-school time landscape more seamless and accessible,” she said.

Primary author Daniel Michaud Weinstock highlighted key findings and recommendations, including asking the town's youth serving systems to collect better data about low-income families and their experiences to help identify priority areas, increase awareness of programs through more consistent communication and in different languages, work more with families, address cost issues and pool resources to create a position to work with the community as a representative of the whole out-of-school time system.

"Changes to Brookline’s [out-of-school time] system intended to help low-income families can benefit not only those families but also all children and families — and indeed the whole community," reads the report.

Brookline Community Foundation Trustee Alicia Hsu moderated a panel discussion with Cooney, Shoma Haque, executive director of Steps to Success, and Leigh Jackson, acting director of the Brookline Recreation Department .

After the panel discussion, those gathered shared their own ideas and concerns as they move forward, including getting together a group of people to talk about the issue on a regular basis, finding a way to centralize program applications, perhaps through a common app, and a way to centralize leadership on the issue, perhaps through an advisory council with stakeholder representatives, a need to examine transportation issues for young people in town and funding.

Now that the study is completed, said Marcus of the foundation, she hopes the community takes time to digest the findings and look for ways to work together to implement some of the recommendations.

The report is more than 30 pages and comes after a convening two years ago on out-of-school time.

"It's our hope that this convening is that spark that catalyst that reminder that if we set that goal out there and come together and connect, we can close that opportunity gap," she said. "We can close the opportunity gap if we close the barriers to access. And we have to do it together."

Over the past four years, the Brookline Community Foundation has awarded more than $610,000 to expand access to out-of-school time programs, build provider capacity, and promote town-wide coordination, according to the non profit.

The Brookline Community Foundation released the report Tuesday at the Brookline Teen Center. Read it here:

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).