Testimony of Njeri Jenkins, OST Advocacy Manager, before the DC Council Committee of the Whole

April 23, 2026

Good Morning Chairman Mendelson, members, and staff of the Committee of the Whole. My name is Njeri Jenkins, and I am the OST Advocacy Manager at DC Action. I support the Out-of-School-Time (OST) Coalition, which represents over 100 community-based organizations delivering high-quality youth development and enrichment OST programming to thousands of young people across all eight wards of the District. 

Sustaining Funding and Addressing Inflation

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and thank you to Mayor Bowser for preserving FY27 funding for out-of-school time (OST) programs in the proposed budget. While we appreciate that OST funding has been sustained at FY26 levels, it is important to recognize that these levels do not account for inflation and that out year cuts pose real threats to the sector. After three years without any increase, programs are being asked to do more with less—at a time when youth and families are relying on them the most.

OST is a Public Safety Investment & Create Transformative Youth Experiences

This is not just an education issue—it is a public safety investment. High-quality OST programs provide safe, enriching environments during critical afterschool hours. OST programs reduce opportunities for youth involvement in unsafe situations while promoting positive youth development where young people can learn, grow, and thrive beyond the school day.

OST programs have provided young people access to transformative experiences such as:

• Tech Turn Up who hosts hackathons across the city and leads programming where students design and build projects while developing skills in coding and computer science, digital media and design thinking, audio engineering and podcasting, and visual storytelling and creative arts. Through these experiences, students build future-ready skills while learning to solve real-world challenges through exploration, invention, and empathy.
• Children’s Legacy Theater, who engages young people primarily in Wards 7 & 8 in dynamic theater-based programming and productions. Participants develop creative skills in a supportive theater environment while building confidence, collaboration, and communication skills through acting, storytelling, and stage production. Through these experiences, students learn to express themselves, work as a team, and bring ideas to life on stage in ways that are engaging, meaningful, and empowering.
• Lastly, 826DC who encourages students to develop creative writing and literacy skills through partnerships with schools, workshops, and other afterschool programs across the city. In a supportive, student-centered environment, where students explore storytelling, poetry, journalism, and personal narrative in ways that directly bolster academic skills such as reading comprehension, writing proficiency, and critical thinking. Through these experiences, young people build confidence, strengthen their voice, and learn to express themselves through writing that is imaginative, powerful, and their own.

OST programs are not extras—they are essential supports that keep young people engaged in learning, strengthen academic outcomes, build critical skills for long-term success, and ensure students are connected to safe, supportive environments during the hours when they are most in need of opportunity.

Impact and Opportunity for Growth 

In FY25, the Deputy Mayor for Education Office reported Learn24 served approximately 18,921 youth across the District. With just a 10% increase in grant funding (~$3 million) to keep pace with inflation and demand, as many as an additional 1,892 young people could have access to safe, enriching opportunities next year.

To meet this need, the OST Office needs reliable, recurring, and growing funding. If public investments are drying up next year (FY28), it makes it hard for OST operators to enroll and hire new students and staff this year (FY27) youth know these opportunities will only be temporary. Learn24 must also be able to preserve and maintain strong staffing capacity for grantmaking, program oversight, and quality support. These functions are essential to ensuring that funding is distributed effectively, programs remain high-quality, and providers can continue to deliver meaningful outcomes for youth.

Additionally, DC Public Schools (DCPS) recently announced it would dedicate an additional $8.1 million in afterschool funding through the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF), largely to support teacher-led sports and extracurricular activities. We recommend the Committee of the Whole consider requiring DCPS partner with and to subgrant a significant share of its OST funding to community-based providers, building on similar to the model already required of LEAs receiving afterschool funding through the Deputy Mayor for Education’s OST Office. Establishing such a requirement would bring greater transparency to afterschool programming and ensure students, particularly those with the highest need, have access to high-quality, engaging programming with a track record of proven results. CBOs operate with strong curriculums and are held accountable through grant reporting through Learn24, while there is limited public data on the outcomes of DCPS-run programs. Parents have similarly shared with us that they believe their kids have better experiences in CBO-led afterschool and summer programs, citing more engaging programming, lower student:staff ratios, and better overall youth development quality.

As you consider the FY27 budget, we respectfully urge you to:

• Sustain OST funding through the financial plan to ensure continuity of programs youth and families depend on every day.
• Adjust funding upward to account for inflation and increase OST grants.
• Require DCPS to dedicate a portion of its afterschool funding to partnerships with community-based organizations to expand access to high-quality programming
• Support the infrastructure, including staffing, needed to effectively administer and grow OST opportunities across The District.

Thank you again for your continued commitment to young people and families in the District. I am happy to answer any questions.