Testimony of Matthew Hanson: New Bill Would Enable District Government to Offer Out-of-School-Time Programs to All DC Youth

Good afternoon Chairman Mendelson, Councilmember Frumin, and members of the Committee of the Whole. My name is Matthew Hanson. I am a Ward 7 resident, a member of the OST Commission, a proud parent, and the Chief of Staff at DC Action. I’m here today to urge the council to pass and fully fund the Universal Out of School Time Amendment Act of 2023 so all District youth will have access to the free, safe, supportive, and enriching opportunities and programs they want and deserve, both when the school day ends and during summer time. 

As a member of the Out-of-School Time Commission, I want to call attention to the fact that our commission set a goal in our most recent strategic plan to achieve universal out-of-school time and close the gaps identified by the DC Policy Center in their recent needs based assessment. This is an ambitious but achievable goal. I also want to appreciate the thoughtfulness and hard work that the Office of Out of School Time and the commission put into this effort every day. However, without the backing of this legislation and increased funding, we won’t be able to achieve this important and necessary goal, leaving tens of thousands of families critically underserved unless policy makers take action. 

When the council passed the The Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes Establishment Act of 2016, it created both the Out-of-School-Time Office, within the office of the Deputy Mayor for Education, and the Out-of-School-Time Commission. The OST Commission was created to ensure that members of the wider community had a voice in the development of OST policy. While this is important, we need to remember that the commission does not have the power to facilitate collaboration among government agencies, uniformly collect and analyze all of the data we need to truly assess youth, family, and programming needs, much less allocate or raise revenue to increase funding for programs to meet the demand for them. 

The OST Office must take responsibility for all of this work. This legislation would transform the OST Office from an entity that provides funding and collects data to a robust hub that would coordinate, promote, and improve OST funding and offerings across District agencies, conduct and publish OST program analysis, and support OST providers in expanding their programming; as well as administer funding. The OST Office would provide technical assistance to OST providers to enable organizations to increase accessibility to students with special needs, English language learners, and youth who have been involved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. 

The OST Commission would continue to have an important role to play in the District’s OST sector, but one that better recognizes our volunteer membership and authority. The OST Commission would still be responsible for the ongoing development of strategic plans, while expanding our purview to ensure future strategic plans provide guidance to the OST Office on removing barriers to OST programming (e.g. transportation, enrollment hurdles, etc.), ensuring program quality and content that meets youth interest, and guaranteeing accessibility to youth with special needs. This bill would help the commission do this by expanding its membership to add two dedicated seats for youth members, two parent members, an additional OST policy or research organization, and a representative of the Office of the Attorney General, providing a more meaningful stakeholder perspective on the commission. 

We know that out-of-school-time programs are instrumental in bolstering young people’s social and emotional health, academic achievement, and attendance, as well as community safety. I have seen my own kid thrive in them as he gets to explore his interests and find his way in life, but unless we take action and invest in these critical programs to meet the needs of all families, the inequities in access and opportunity that exist today will only continue to grow. It’s imperative to build and fund coordinated systems that will make OST programs accessible to all District youth.

Just as we are taking steps to build the best early childhood education system in the country, we can and must do the same for out-of-school time and build the best system imaginable, not just compared to how we stack up against other cities and states, but when measured against the wants and needs of families and young people.

I will be available for questions.