Take Action and Support 21st CCLC

The White House is withholding Congressionally appropriated 21st Century Community Learning Center funds meant to be disbursed for the 2025 to 2026 school year. Learn more and take action today!

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Issue Overview

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Additional Resources

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FAQs

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Issue Overview

Effectively immediately, the White House is withholding Congressionally appropriated 21st Century Community Learning Center funds meant to be disbursed for the 2025 to 2026 school year. State education agencies have no 21st CCLC to disburse for the fiscal year, which began July 1st, 2025. 

The bipartisan FY2025 full-year continuing resolution was signed into law by President Trump in March. Annually, State Education Agencies (SEA’s) normally receive allocations for 21st CCLC in April and then receive the actual funding on July 1st. 

On Monday afternoon, June 30th, 2025, Education Department staff informed SEAs that the Trump administration is withholding $6.8 billion in federal funding for K-12 schools, including 21st CCLC. This funding was required by law to be received by July 1st. Federal law prohibits the executive branch from withholding congressionally appropriated funds unless it gives federal lawmakers an opportunity to approve or reject the move within 45 days.

Statement on Withheld 21st CCLC Funding

On July 18th, 2025, the Trump administration told State Education Agencies that is that it will send every state their formula funding allocations for before- and after-school programs nationwide.

We are grateful to our partner organizations within Illinois and across state lines who organized to compel the Trump Administration to release funding for 21st CCLC. We would also like to thank Congressional leaders who came together, regardless of political affiliation, and answered the call of advocates to fund afterschool and summer programming. In Illinois, especially, we saw tremendous leadership from Governor JB Pritzker, who led a group of 18 Governors pushing the White House to release this funding, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who filed suit to release these funds.

ACT Now continues to have fears about the longevity of programs like 21st CCLC and Full Service Community Schools (FSCS), both of which the President has proposed to cut. As the FY26 budgeting process continues, advocates must continue to make it clear that these services are essential to the development of our children and the government’s bottom line cannot be at the expense of students’ learning.

Statement on Release of 21st CCLC Funding

 ACT Now is continuing to track these issues and will continue to provide updates.

“We can’t hold hostage the safety and future of our children in the name of partisan politics.”

Take Action

Take action today to urge the federal government to immediately release 21st CCLC funds. Email and call your legislators using ACT Now’s Action Alert and a sample phone script. We encourage you to share the Action Alert and other resources with your students and communities.

And help us educate lawmakers, leaders, and the community on the impact of federal policy changes on your program and community by sharing your story. Use this form to share the impact of the recent actions from the administration (such as executive orders, budget cuts and funding freezes, restrictions on populations served, etc.). 

Email Your Legislators

Starting an Afterschool Program

Sample Phone Script to Call Legislators

Building a Strong Program

Share Your Story

Nonprofit Management

Find Your Legislators

Nonprofit Management

Additional Resources

ACT Now Community Call

On July 2nd, 2025, ACT Now hosted a community call to learn more about the White House’s decision to withhold education funding, including 21st CCLC, from states and hear more about advocacy actions that partners can take to encourage the federal government to release this funding.

Access the Recording

Passcode: 3MVZ^Dke

Afterschool Works for America

The Afterschool Alliance has developed a new webpage with information and resources about the importance of afterschool programs.

Afterschool Works for America includes resources for engaging youth and families, contacting Congress, and information about the impact of the loss of funding, state by state.

Afterschool Works for America

Afterschool Works for America from the Afterschool Alliance has also shared graphics and sample captions that you can use to share more about this issue on social media!

Social Media Templates

A new national poll of registered voters finds that public support for afterschool programs is at an all-time high. Whether Democratic, Independent, or Republican; rural, urban, or suburban; younger or older; voters agree that programs are an absolute necessity. Learn more and access talking points from the Afterschool Alliance on why voters support afterschool.

Voters Opinions on Afterschool

How to Host a Site Visit with Legislators

Check out ACT Now’s recent training on How to Host a Site Visit with Legislators and Stakeholders.

Site visits are a powerful advocacy tool, offering legislators and stakeholders a firsthand look at the impact of programs and services. This training equips participants with the knowledge and skills needed to plan, execute, and follow up on site visits that effectively convey their message and inspire action.

Access training

State Information

Looking for information on Illinois’ recent funding issues and state legislative priorities? Visit our website below.

State Information

FAQs

No, this funding issue is separate from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. There are multiple funding and budgetary discussions and issues currently happening at the federal government. See a breakdown of the differences between these issues below:

One Big Beautiful Bill or Budget Reconciliation

On July 4th, 2025, President Trump signed the reconciliation bill H.R.1, or the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, into law. This bill was a budget reconciliation bill which can deal with mandatory spending, revenue, and the federal debt limit. Budget reconciliation does not apply to discretionary spending, which is instead managed through the annual appropriations process. While this bill does not directly impact funding for afterschool programs or community schools, this bill does impact all Illinois families and youth through devastating cuts to programs including SNAP and Medicaid.

Withheld Federal Funding for 21st CCLC

Currently, the White House is withholding Congressionally appropriated 21st Century Community Learning Center funds meant to be disbursed for the 2025 to 2026 school year. This issue is impacting the FY 2025 appropriation of funds. Typically, Congress appropriates fund in the fall. States then receive allocations from the federal government in the spring. States are then able to begin disbursing this funding to programs on July 1st.

In the fall of 2024, there were delays with the budget and therefore a Continuing Resolution was passed and signed into law in March. A continuing resolution or CR is a temporary measure used by the U.S. Congress to fund government operations when appropriations bills have not been passed, preventing a government shutdown. A CR funds programs at level-funding, so states were expecting to receive the same funding that they did in 2024.

The money that was expected to be released on July 1st, 2025 was appropriated by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in March of 2025 as part of the CR for FY 2025 funding. This impacts program through the 2025-2026 school year. These funds were already appropriated via the CR and are now being withheld.

FY26 Budget and Annual Appropriations Process

You likely have also heard conversations about the FY 2026 budget process. Congress is currently working on the budget for FY 2026 which they aim to pass in October 2025. On Friday, May 30th, 2025, the Department of Education released its proposed FY 2026 budget. The full budget proposal details the Administration’s aim to eliminate Full-Service Community Schools and consolidate 18 grants, including 21st CCLC, into what the U.S. Department of Education refers to as a K-12 Simplified Funding Program (SFP). This consolidated grant program would also cut funding for those 18 programs by 69% overall. By eliminating dedicated funding for afterschool and reducing education funding overall, this proposal would effectively eliminate afterschool funding. The FY 2026 budget appropriations would impact funding for the 2026-2027 school year.

A fiscal year consists of a consecutive 12-month period that is used for accounting, budgeting, and financial reporting purposes. Unlike the calendar year, which always begins on Jan. 1 and ends on Dec. 31, a fiscal year can start and end in any month. 

The U.S. federal goverment’s fiscal year begins on October 1st and ends September 30th. Therefore, the federal government is currently in Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25).

The Illinois state government’s fiscal year begins July 1st and end June 30th. Therefore, the Illinois state government is currently in Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26).

Almost all of your 21st CCLC contracts are going to be flowing through the State, and so they are operating under the State fiscal year in Illinois. Since the Illinois fiscal year starts July 1st, that is normally when your 21st CCLC contracts are started and backdated.

“Forward funding is an appropriation of budget authority that becomes available for obligation in the last quarter of the fiscal year for the financing of ongoing grant programs during the next fiscal year. This device is often used for education programs, so that grants can be made on a school year basis” (Forward Funding Scenario).

21st CCLC is a forward funded program because typically, on July 1st programs would receive funding for the entire upcoming fiscal year. So on July 1st, 2025, programs should have received funding for the 2025-2026 school year.

ISBE has not yet published grantee-wide guidance answering this question. ACT Now has heard reports that ISBE has communicated directly with a few grantees. We recommend that you reach out directly to ISBE and your principal consultant ASAP to inquire about this funding. We recommend reaching out via email in order to receive information in writing.

Yes, if you are a current grantee, this funding issue likely impacts you. Each year, the federal government gives states a set amount of funding for 21st CCLC. State Education Agencies, such as ISBE, then use that funding from the federal government to pay grantees across cohorts. Therefore, the funding that ISBE distributes each year is always subject to federal appropriation. ISBE depends upon the federal funding being distributed annually, which has been largely consistent for over 25 years. So if you are an active grantee, the funding for your grants for for this coming school year is currently being withheld by the federal government. This funding issue directly impacts active grantees and will also affect programs who, for sustainability reasons, were depending upon competition being released.

One resource for finding current and upcoming grants for afterschool and youth programs, including federal, state, and private funding is ACT Now’s Capacity Building and Funding Opportunities page. Here, you’ll find deadlines, eligibility details, and additional resources to help you secure funding.

SPEAR: Sustainable Programs for Education and Afterschool Resources is a one-stop platform where educators and community leaders can find state & federal grant programs, sustainability practices, and grant writing resources.

We also strongly encourage you to start talking with your school districts now, to develop a strategy moving forward, and see if there is any additional funding or floating funding that you may be eligible for.

We also recommend that if you have private funders that you already work with, to reach out to them to update them on this federal issue. They may be able to provide additional short-term support or they may be able to adjust their funding priorities moving forward to support afterschool and community schools.

Not seeing the answer to your question on this page or during our recent community call? Reach out to Elizabeth Hartnett at hartnette@actnowillinois.org. While we may not have all of the answers at this point in time, we will do our best to collect your question and find the answer for you.

We recognize the uncertainty, fear, and chaos these actions have created for you, your programs, and your communities. Again, we encourage you to not lose sight of how important you are to ensuring our Illinois youth and families are supported. We know the value, the diversity, and the resilience of our out-of-school time (OST) and community schools field. Thank you for your ongoing leadership and perseverance.

As we continue to monitor any changes at the federal level, we will be sharing more ways to stay engaged, access advocacy actions, and resources for supporting students, families, community members, colleagues, and yourselves.

Questions? Reach out to Elizabeth Hartnett at hartnette@actnowillinois.org.

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