Research shows that the “critical hours” for youth are directly after school from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. That’s the time kids are more likely to get into trouble, develop bad habits or engage in negative behaviors. During those times, they’re often unsupervised and/or not participating in extracurricular activities.

According to The Afterschool Alliance, a non-profit organization working to ensure that all children have access to affordable, quality afterschool programs, nearly 1 in 5 kids in California were alone and unsupervised between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. And 49% said they would participate in an afterschool program if one were available.

Military families feel the need too. According to Blue Star Families’ annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey of over 10,000 active duty, veterans and immediate family members, 78% of military spouse caregivers say they need some form of childcare.

Enter The Armed Services YMCA of San Diego, a non-profit that provides innovative and quality social, educational, and recreational programs to meet the needs of military service members and their families.

They now offer daily afterschool care for elementary school aged children.

Their new Afterschool Achievement Academy is a comprehensive afterschool program focused on resiliency and skill building that engages military dependents in grades K-6. Students participate in a series of activities designed and developed to support in-classroom learning by meeting the common core standards that local school districts focus on.

The children benefit from programming, supervision and positive interaction. They work on homework, receive academic support, and participate in STEM activities, as well as arts and crafts, and sports.

“We’re also focusing on developing on coping strategies for kids in military families, who face obstacles including having a parent deploy, constant relocations, adjusting to new environments and many more,” says Tim Ney, Executive Director for The Armed Services YMCA of San Diego, noting military children move an average of six to nine times over course of
their school career.

“This curriculum is focused to tailor very specific needs and is a national effort being facilitated all over the country.”

Critical Need
The Afterschool Achievement will give working parents an opportunity to focus on their job, without worrying about of afterschool childcare. It will also provide an opportunity for a non-working spouse in a military family to seek employment as well.

That’s critical because Blue Star Families’ survey shows military spouse unemployment/ underemployment is a top challenge: 30% of spouses were unemployed but actively seeking work and 56% of working spouse respondents reported they were underemployed. They say frequent relocation was the reason for underemployment.

The survey also found 43% of respondents did not feel a sense of belonging to their local community. They say the availability of military spouse jobs could improve a sense of belonging to their local civilian community.

Serving Military Families
For this afterschool program, The ASYMCA San Diego will provide transportation from Miller, Hancock and Angier Elementary schools immediately after dismissal to their facility on Santo Road in Murphy Canyon.

That area has the largest concentration of military families in San Diego County. There are six elementary schools within a six-mile radius. On average, those schools have student populations made up of at least 74% military kids.

“Our goal is to eventually serve all six elementary schools in this area as well as the two middle schools,” says Ney, who adds that this program creates coverage for kids both when they are in school and during all school breaks. (Camp Hero camps are available during school vacations.) “Kids can stay engaged all year long with ASYMCA programs!”

For more information about the Afterschool Achievement Academy, go to: www.ASYsd.org