Asked the City Manager to direct the Department of Human Service Programs to develop a three-year plan to expand and improve After School Care for Cambridge children

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After School care is critical to ensuring that families can remain employed and living in Cambridge in addition to providing a safe, healthy, and stimulating environment for children; and

There is a high demand for after school in Cambridge, with 1378 children having applied to the Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP) Community Schools program for Fall 2022 according to a Nov 7, 2022 DHSP update; and

The City has only been able to offer 710 spots (making up 52% of applicants or just nearly 20% of the 2022-23 Pre-K to Grade 5 student population) to families of Cambridge; and

The DHSP is to be commended for unveiling a plan to City Council on 2/28/23 to add 1370 new Community Schools and 40 new youth center spots for the upcoming school year (170 total) at an additional cost of $1.5 million; and

The increase in 130 spots for Community Schools will result in DHSP in total only serving 61% of Community Schools applicants; and

DHSP indicated that due to several factors, including staff retention and workforce issues, they would not be able to expand beyond 170 slots for the upcoming school year; and

DHSP’s new plan for afterschool expansion involves expansion at three schools, all east of Harvard Square (King Open, Cambridgeport, and Morse) for the Pre-K to Grade 5 cohort; and

The School Committee recently passed a motion that asked the Superintendent to explore the feasibility of providing additional space to accommodate the Community Schools expansion and explore opportunities to partner with the Department of Human Services (DHSP) in considering creative staffing models to support after-school programming; now therefore be it

That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct DHSP to work with the School Department, and any other relative City departments, to develop a three-year plan that addresses: Achieving the goal of providing an afterschool spot for every child in Cambridge who requests one Expanding spots at schools other than just King Open, Cambridgeport, and Morse Ensuring that every child who needs transportation to an afterschool location receives it, even if the afterschool location is less than one mile from their home school Improving pay/benefits for program staff to aid in retention and recruitment Creating an online dashboard displaying waitlist information by school and grade; and be it further

That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct DHSP to present a report on the current needs and concerns of special education students and their families, on the rules regulating how afterschool should serve these students, and on DHSP’s current special education policies in practice; and that DHSP present a plan to address family and student concerns as part of the three-year plan; and be it further

That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct the DHSP to report back to the City Council on the creation/convening of the Parent/Caregiver Advocacy Council; and be it further

That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to report back to the City Council in a timely manner.