Update on 21st CCLC Funding

Dear 21st CCLC Advocates,

ACT Now has increasing concerns about FY25 federal 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) funding. 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. The budget bill did not pass until March, so we were not surprised when allocations were delayed, especially given changes in staffing at the U.S. Department of Education.  However, SEA’s have still not received these allocations. 

We now know that 21st CCLC is part of 6 different programs that the Office of Management and Budget is reviewing. These facts make us increasingly concerned about a possible recission affecting 21st CCLC. This would be for FY25 federal funding for the 2025 to 2026 school year. Rescission of funding refers to the cancellation of previously approved and allocated budget authority by Congress, essentially a retroactive cut to spending. It’s a process where Congress or the President can propose to cancel funds that have not yet been obligated by a federal agency. 

Recently, in order to promote transparency and assist programs with planning, ISBE published a tentative Funding Opportunities Calendar. ISBE had anticipated a competition for 21st CCLC to launch on June 25, 2025; however, that NOFO was not released.  If the federal government does not issue funding for 21st CCLC, it could affect ISBE’s ability to hold a competition and to fund active contracts.

We do know other U.S. Department of Education funding allocations were delayed this year and were actually received.  We continue to be hopeful that these allocations will be published and that the money will be received by July 1st.  If this does not happen or a recission is issued, we would expect possible lawsuits to follow. 

At this time, ACT Now is working with our partners nationally to put pressure on release of these funds.  In particular, there is a push for Republican legislators and Republican Governors to put pressure on the White House and Office of Management and Budget. ACT Now is working on outreach to the Illinois Congressional Delegation as well as following up with the Governor’s Office and ISBE. Given the delay in the release of this competition and concerns for the coming school year we wanted to update you as soon as we could. We are very sorry that we don’t have more actionable news at this time. If this makes it to a national news story or lawsuits, we know afterschool has wide public, bipartisan appeal and we are confident in our ability to prevail. However, we know that doesn’t make funding delays or another fight for funding much easier to handle. If you have any additional questions or if there are other ways we can support, please let us know.

Best,

Susan Stanton
ACT Now Executive Director