Today, the Afterschool Alliance released The Summer Struggle, a state-by-state series of report cards examining the challenges families face in accessing summertime programming. The report includes findings for all 50 states and the District of Columbia and draws on surveys of families with children, with the DC findings based on more than 200 online surveys and phone interviews. The findings offer valuable insight into the barriers families encounter as they work to find safe, engaging, and affordable summer opportunities for their children.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, affordability emerged as the most common barrier for District families. At a time when the cost of living continues to rise and many households are feeling the effects of budget cuts and layoffs impacting federal workers, and trickling down to the many jobs and services connected to a fully functioning and staffed federal government, with the District now having the highest unemployment rate in the country, more families are concerned about how they will afford the basics, including the summertime programs they depend on when the school year ends. More than a quarter (27%) of surveyed families cited cost as a major obstacle to accessing programs. For families who do not have access to the limited number of publicly funded or subsidized summertime program seats, private programs can cost hundreds of dollars per week, an expense that is simply out of reach for many households.
The second most common barrier identified by families was location and transportation. Nearly a quarter (23%) of respondents said that transportation challenges or the location of programs were an issue. And we know from local analysis that these issues are especially pronounced for residents east of the river, where transportation options are more limited and accessing programs can be more difficult.
While the District has a robust offering of Department of Parks and Recreation camps compared to many other jurisdictions and has made important investments in afterschool and summer programming over the years, many families still do not have access to the programs they want and need. At the same time, the demand and public support for these programs remains steadfast. The District’s report card found that 89% percent of surveyed families supported public funding for summer programs and 91% of
families who find programs are satisfied with them, underscoring the broad recognition that these programs are essential for children’s safety, enrichment, and development. As the DC Council considers the mayor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget, this report card should make clear that families want policymakers to protect investments in care and education opportunities for children and youth across the District.
While the report card produces important findings, it is worth underscoring a key difference in two recent estimates of unmet need. The Afterschool Alliance’s report card indicates that 56,670 children want summer programs and that 12,535 do not currently have access. These numbers differ significantly from the “Needs Assessment of Out-of-School Time Programs in the District of Columbia,” commissioned by the Deputy Mayor for Education and produced by the DC Policy Center in 2023, which found that the District had only 31,478 publicly funded summer program seats (including 8,354 seats in the Marion Barry Summer Youth Employment Program) and a need for 57,428 additional seats for District children in pre K–12 if we were to achieve universal access.
The difference between these estimates is largely due to methodology. The Afterschool Alliance report does not distinguish between publicly supported and private programs and takes an expansive view of summer programming by including jobs and internships, meaning that a teenager working a part-time job without the help of a public program could still be counted as participating. The report card focuses on students in kindergarten through grade 12 which may overlook the needs of many three- and four-year-olds who attend school during the academic year and need alternative care during the summer. Finally, the DC Policy Center’s report relied on administrative data from the 2021–22 school year, while the Alliance’s report is based on survey responses from 209 households in 2025 that were then used to project participation citywide. Since the DC Policy Center completed its analysis, investments in afterschool and summertime programming have increased, thanks in large part to the sustained advocacy efforts of families and programs themselves, but a clear gap remains that is not fully captured by the Summer Struggle report card.
While we do not yet have an updated estimate for the total number of children and youth who need access to programming, we believe the number is likely closer to the DC Policy Center’s findings, despite increased investments in afterschool and summertime programming. This underscores the need for the District to produce updated needs assessments and interim reports so that advocates and policymakers have timely and accurate data to inform budget and policy decisions and better align public resources with the needs of children, youth, and families.
What remains clear from both analyses is that thousands of District families continue to struggle to find affordable, accessible afterschool and summertime programming for their children and that the need for continued investment remains urgent. That is why legislative solutions like the Universal Out of School Time Amendment Act are so important, because once passed and fully funded, it will put the District on a path to guaranteeing families access to the programs they want and need, without worrying about cost.