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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Illinois After-School Programs Get Jumpstart

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Monday, April 12, 2010   

CHICAGO - Chicago's first lady, Maggie Daley, hosts a forum at the Cultural Center today on the future of after-school programming in Illinois. That future looks hopeful, according to experts who work with Illinois students, because legislation aimed at providing access to quality after-school programs for all Illinois students between the ages of six and 19 has passed both houses of the state legislature with bipartisan support.

Voices for Illinois Children president Kathy Ryg says that with more than a half-million Illinois students unsupervised after school every day, the need is great.

"We know that 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. is the prime time for juvenile crime, and all kinds of risky behaviors can occur."

Ryg says many lawmakers who at first objected to the bill, because of the state's budget problems, signed on once an option for public/private funding was included.

"We would anticipate that there are many, many private funders, including sponsors in the business community who recognize that this is an important element of developing a qualified work force."

Ryg adds that access to good after-school programs saves taxpayer money.

"Every dollar invested pays off dividends - probably to the tune of $7 - in terms of reducing longer-term costs of juvenile crime, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy.

The legislation creates a council to examine pilot programs and determine what works, Ryg adds.

"We don't want to just have a line item in a department that says, 'Here's a bunch of money, pay it to a bunch of after-school providers,' and then not be able to know if it's working for the kids."

Students who participate in after-school programs are less likely to drop out, less likely to wind up in jail and more likely to to succeed, Ryg says.







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