Public Policy & Advocacy

	AT A GLANCE » TASC advocates for the establishment of comprehensive after-school programs operated by community-based organizations in public school buildings. Of the 1.1 million students who attend New York City public schools, approximately 140,000 currently have access to these programs. Research shows 400,000 need programs or would choose to attend them if they were available. TASC advocates for an expansion of publicly funded programs to meet this need. Comprehensive after-school programs cost, on average, $1,700 per student. After-school funding and policy is fragmented across multiple government agencies. TASC is working toward a system of after-school funding derived from dedicated local, state and federal sources operating in a coordinated manner, to maximize the number of children and older youth served.

From TASC's inception, the goal was ambitious - to create a critical mass of quality after-school programs with demonstrable benefits that would lead public officials to accept responsibility for providing after-school services. TASC uses research and evaluation as a basis to raise awareness of after-school as a fundamental need of communities and families, and as a system of programs worthy of public support. We inform and educate policy-makers and elected officials. We support and promote the expansion of high quality after-school programs in New York City, New York State and around the country. We work to shape policy to assure that publicly-funded after-school initiatives are high quality.

As one of the longest-running, large-scale after-school organizations in New York and the nation, TASC has developed a broad network of relationships with federal, state, and local government officials. TASC serves as a trusted advisor on policy; as an advocate for quality programs that have real benefits for kids; and as a coalition builder among local, state and national agencies and organizations that share common missions.

TASC maintains strong working relationships with community-based organizations and key government agencies including the New York City Department of Education; the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development; and the New York State agencies which administer services to schools and families.

Through its policy and advocacy work, TASC has contributed significantly to the dramatic increase in the availability of comprehensive after-school programs since TASC was founded in 1998. Both New York City and New York State have established dedicated funding streams for after-school services. Standards for the quality of after-school programs are far more prominent and wide-ranging than they were just a decade ago.