This is just a taste of the wide landscape of afterschool programs offered in Memphis and Shelby County, each serving their own unique populations and neighborhoods. Just imagine what more can be done with federal support in the form of grant funding to serve every child, beginning at birth.
To achieve the best possible results, Memphis and Shelby County should set their sights on a systems-based approach to delivering services for children and families. By leveraging the city’s amazing partners, like the ones spotlighted here, and coupling their services with the robust data infrastructure provided by Seeding Success, as well as existing and potentially new resources from the city, county, state, and federal governments, we can achieve tremendous success. This approach will help expand learning and engagement to dramatically reduce youth violence and increase excitement for education, the arts, well-being, and workforce readiness.
The clearest example of success with this approach is First 8 Memphis. The community came together to identify early childhood education as a priority for improving outcomes for children throughout their lives, and our local governments followed suit to fund a program that now provides free Pre-K seats and wraparound services for families who need them. We can do the same with afterschool programs and other services that expand learning and decrease youth violence.
As it stands, the AFTER SCHOOL Act does not appear to have a companion bill in the House of Representatives. We hope that one of our Tennessee leaders will follow Senator Blackburn’s lead and sponsor the bill so that we can make progress toward ensuring that vital resources reach our communities.
