Advocacy Resources and Reports
Resources including reports, webinars, toolkits and white papers for advocacy efforts.
- Community Schools and Migrant Youth in Illinois
- Investing in Tomorrow’s Innovators in Illinois: A Comprehensive Assessment of Afterschool STEM Programs and the Need for Expanded Learning Opportunities for Youth
- Civic Engagement Toolkit
- Crisis in the Workforce Event and One-Pager
- Community Schools in Illinois: An Effective Strategy to Address Equity, Health, and Academics in Our Schools
- The Need to Grow Afterschool in Illinois White Paper
- The State of Afterschool in Illinois 2018
- Effectively Communicating the Need for Afterschool
FY26 STATE Budget
Tell Governor JB Pritzker to Include Afterschool in the FY26 Budget
ACT Now is spearheading a sign on letter to Governor JB Pritzker to encourage him to release funding for afterschool programs that was appropriated last June and to sustain this funding in next year’s budget.
State government has been holding on to $50 million in funding allocated for afterschool programs for over six months, while afterschool programs have lost funding and shut down. Parents are in crisis from lost child care and youth are in jeopardy without safe spaces after school.
This funding will expire if action isn’t taken soon. We can’t leave assets on the table while afterschool programs struggle daily. We need the Governor to step in and release this funding now and include it in his FY26 budget to sustain this programs long term. We also need full funding for all other afterschool programs in the state budget as outlined below.
We encourage you to sign on to our letter to the Governor here! We also encourage you to share the sign on letter with your program administration, community members, and other advocates for afterschool! Please sign on by January 31st, 2025!
Our full FY26 budget asks include:
- Maintain the $50 million annual appropriation to fund community learning centers supporting afterschool programs and community schools. The $50 million appropriation from FY25 has still not been released by ISBE. It is imperative that this funding becomes a sustained investment to ensure the sustainability of afterschool programs in Illinois.
- Increase Teen REACH funding to $27.3 million. Teen REACH programs have not received rate increases to address the increased costs associated with inflation, materials, and the number of youth they serve and funding was reduced in FY25.
- Fund the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) at $3.2 billion, with at least $55 million designated to cover an expected increase in CCAP participation.
- Maintain funding at $6 million for After School Matters. This funding line will enable After School Matters to continue supporting teens across Chicago with paid opportunities to develop critical skills for work, college, and beyond.
- Allocate $25 million to the Illinois State Board of Education’s After School Programs line.
- Appropriate $202 million for ICJIA’s Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program.
Take action and encourage the Governor to support afterschool! Please also share our sign on letter with your administration, community members, and anyone who would be interested in supporting afterschool funding.
Illinois State Board of Education FY26 Budget Hearing Resources
The Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) budget hearings for fiscal year 2026 are quickly approaching. You can submit funding requests in writing via the Budget Hearing Form. ACT Now has developed instructions to help programs interested in participating. You will note that there are TWO lines to support afterschool programs:
– “After-School Programs”: $25 million (the traditional program that funds school sites and community-based organizations to provide out-of-school time experiences)
– “After School Programs”: $50 million (the new appropriation to support community learning centers, afterschool, and community schools programs)
Individuals who submit a budget request are also invited to speak at one of three budget hearings.
– IN-PERSON on October 8th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
– VIRTUALLY on October 10th from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
– VIRTUALLY on October 28th from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
You can sign up to speak, here. ISBE will give equal consideration to all written and oral testimony. NOTE: if multiple individuals from the same organization submit budget requests for the same budget hearing day, only one person may speak on behalf of the organization.
We know that some people may highlight the impact of the delays in disseminating these funds. If you would like to see the sign-on letter, we sent to ISBE leadership, the General Assembly, and the Governor’s Office for language, click here.
FY25 STATE Budget
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a report sharing information on school districts’ capacity to offer high-quality afterschool programming. Data suggest that there are more students waiting to get into a program than spaces available, highlighting the importance of school-community partnerships.
New Brief on The Initiative Towards Universal Prekindergarten in California
The Learning Policy Institute wrote a brief on how the state of California is working to implement universal prekindergarten for the entirety of its childhood population. There is data on how many children will be impacted, how many kids are eligible now, and more. There are also highlights of other states that have endeavored to provide universal prekindergarten.
Snapshot of the 21st CCLC Non-Regulatory Guidance
The Afterschool Alliance wrote a blog post sharing several critical pieces within the new 21st CCLC non-regulatory guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education. You can also read ACT Now’s summary, here.
New Brief on Out-of-School Time Learning
The UnidosUS’s Affiliate Network of community-based organizations and public charter schools in Illinois, Florida, Texas, Arizona, and California, developed a policy brief that provides evidence of the critical role of afterschool programs in supporting the Latino community, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
