High quality after school care is vital to our community, allowing parents to work and support their families without worrying about their child's safety.

After school and summer camp care provides a vital service for business owners, who need their employees to have peace of mind that their children are safe and cared for during the regular work day, especially between the hours of 2 - 6 pm when school ends. Without after school care, many employees will have to quit or reduce the number of hours they are able to work, or affect their productivity if these services are no longer available to them. This concern grows in the summer months when all day care through summer camps is vital.

After school also provides children with exercise, improves reading and other academic skills, builds social skills, and helps children be better prepared for success in school and in life. Every child deserves the same opportunity for these enriching programs regardless of their economic circumstances. Cutting funding that supports these programs would be a great loss to our community.

The Early Learning Coalition has already eliminated funding for children ages 9 - 13.  Please do not take away the remaining support for children  rom ages 6 – 8. I ask the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade/Monroe to not put any more children at risk by taking away their best opportunity to develop the values, self-confidence and leadership skills that drive success. 

I strongly support the continued funding for afterschool and summer camp care to children.