THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100032
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 159 lines
A GROUP OF children take a break from bashing dinosaurs at The Girls Inc. Center for Youth to say why they come to this cinder-block building after school.
Games, snacks, arts and crafts, kick ball and friends. ``Plus, they don't give homework,'' said 9-year-old Patrick Mansfield of Chesa-peake.
The children's parents list a different reason: The noisy activities inside the Chesapeake building fill the space between their children's day in school and the time their parents get off work.
The gap between school and home has made before-school and after-school care one of the fastest growing areas of child care in the country. Two trends are fueling the demand: The growth in dual-income families and the entry of baby boomers' children into school.
``It's horrible trying to find the right place,'' said Sherrie Bridgeman of Chesapeake, whose two sons, Zachary and Joshua, go to the Girls Inc. center, which serves both boys and girls, from 5 to 13 years of age. ``It's hard to find someone you can trust your kids with.''
An estimated 24 million school-age children across the country need some type of after-school arrangement, says Joyce Shortt, director of a project called Making the Most of Out-of-School Time, which is based at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass.
Because of the demand, many before-school and after-school programs are experiencing growing pains in Hampton Roads and elsewhere in the country.
The YMCA of South Hampton Roads, for instance, provides before-school and after-school care for children from 67 schools in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach, and it has gone from serving 100 students in 1991-92 to more than 750 this year.
``It's an area that's grown tremendously for us,'' said Beverley Blount, spokesperson for the YMCA of South Hampton Roads. ``We get many more requests than we can serve. Some of the sites are full, and we get many requests from schools we don't service.''
Youth organizations also are feeling the pinch. Kim Davis, who runs The Girls Inc. center in Chesapeake, said the parents of seven children signed up for before-school and after-school care the first day of school last Tuesday, maxing out their enrollment to 55. They now have a waiting list of five.
And Kathryn J. Wolf, director of child-care services at The Planning Council in Norfolk, said their counselors fielded dozens of calls last week from parents who waited until the last minute to set up before-school and after-school care.
``In August of every year, we get tons of calls for school-age care,'' said Wolf, who directs a service that links parents with quality child care throughout the area. ``There's definitely a big need for it.''
Child-care centers are also revamping programs to better serve the school-age set. Children's World Learning Centers, a for-profit chain with centers across the country, began a pilot project in Suffolk last week in which their day-care teachers operate a before-school and after-school program for 60 children in three elementary schools. The chain has 12 centers in Hampton Roads, but none in Suffolk, making it more cost-effective to operate out of the schools. The school district approved the arrangement because a survey listed after-school care as a concern of many Suffolk parents.
Now, Children's World officials are talking with other area school districts to set up similar programs by next year. ``It addresses the needs of parents,'' said Debbie Crelly, district manager of Children's World. ``Principals of schools are getting a lot of pressure from parents to run before- and after-school programs.''
In fact, there's a national debate going on as to how best to serve children before and after the school bell rings. The discussion is fueled not just by working parents' needs but also by concerns that children spend too much time roaming the streets or sitting in front of a television set.
President Clinton, in his nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, challenged communities to address the problem, saying, ``We must keep schools open late so that young people have some place to go and something to say `yes' to.''
Child-care advocates are also urging schools and youth groups to make the most out of after-school time.
``School-age children spend 20 percent of their waking hours in school,'' said Barbara Reisman, executive director of the Child Care Action Campaign, a national child advocacy group. ``That leaves an awful lot of time where they're parked in front of the television or doing something else that's not helping them develop skills they need.''
One of the greatest needs nationwide is for programs aimed at children 9 to 13 years of age. The hours between 3 and 6 p.m. tend to be high-risk period for adolescents to fall in with the wrong crowd or get into trouble.
Shortt's group is working with school districts, youth groups and communities to improve the quantity and quality of care for all school-age children. Some school districts have been hesitant to jump on the after-school band wagon, she said, because of a lack of resources and fears of liability.
Still, in the long run, better before-school and after-school care could lead to better performance by children. ``It's a time when children can develop hobbies, interests and skills that can improve their work in school,'' Shortt said.
That doesn't mean children need a rigorous after-school schedule. In fact, most child-care experts advocate a program that gives children time to unwind after school, along with activities to keep them inter-ested.
``We encourage adults to think back to what their favorite after-school memories were when they were a kid,'' Reisman said. ``This isn't rocket science.''
At the Y, that advice translates into a ``snacks, naps or run laps'' approach that gives children time to relax and a chance to burn off energy.
On the second day of school last week, 9-year-old Jasmine Lewis was quietly working on her math homework in a secluded corner of a Y facility on Indian River Road in Virginia Beach.
When she has a lighter homework load, she also fits in swimming after school. ``It's a fun place,'' she said. ``There's lot of stuff to do.''
Meanwhile, four other children were playing the Battleship board game at another table, and three others were coloring with markers. One boy was lounging on a sofa listening to stereo music. Downstairs, several children were taking swimming lessons.
In yet another room, Tiffany Dunning and Hunter Beaton - both Virginia Beach 13-year-olds - were shooting pool.
``It's a good place to hang out,'' Tiffany said. ``You get a sense of security, but there's no one telling you what to do all the time.''
Still, both teens are lobbying their parents big-time to go the home-alone route next year so they can have even more freedom.
Virginia law does not specify an age at which a child can be left unsupervised, unlike many states. However, Wolf of The Planning Council said parents need to consider the maturity level of a child when considering that option.
``You have to make a decision based on your child and how mature they are and how responsible they are,'' she said.
Working parents find a variety of ways to bridge the gap between school and parent time. Some send their children to relatives, neighbors or neighborhood day-care providers. Others try youth organization programs, parks and recreation centers, or child-care facilities.
While the supply of programs has grown along with the demand, it can be a struggle finding the right fit.
Hilari Devine, a Norfolk single parent, had her 8-year-old son, Thomas, in a YMCA program at Granby Elementary last year, but she moved at midyear into a different district that had no after-school program.
She then applied for an out-of-district transfer so her son could go to an after-school Y program at Larchmont Elementary this year. That after-school program was already full, however, so she transferred him back to Granby.
Devine has to drop off and pick up her son at school, but it's worth the hassle to make sure her son is in a program he enjoys and one she can afford. ``I had to go through a lot of red tape, but it was worth it,'' she said. ``There just seems to be more kids than there's space for them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
Sarah Kennedy, 9, left, and Lindsey Farmer, 10, play a game of Mary
Mac at The Girls Inc. Center for Youth in Chesapeake.
Color photos
STEVE EARLY/The Virginian-Pilot
Brynn Davis, 5, is dropped off before school by her mother, Joni
Davis, at the Indian River Road YMCA in Virginia Beach.
Alan Akins, 5, gets some help from child care worker Lynn Boone as
he calls a game of Bingo at the YMCA on Indian River Road. The South
Hampton Roads YMCA provides before-school and after-school care for
750 children, up from 100 five years ago.
Photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
Jasmine Davidson, 7, sips a drink at The Girls Inc. Center for Youth
in Chesapeake, which provides after-school activities. by CNB