Afterschool or latchkey programs provide professional care for youngsters while building confidence among students and parents. This article describes three program options: site-based, centralized, and outsider programs. Before proceeding, principals must discover parents' expectations, consider available facilities, obtain trained staff, and…

Child care problems associated with latchkey children, teenage mothers continuing their education, and homeless families are discussed, and possible solutions are considered. The public library has been identified by many parents as a safe place for children to go after school and at other times when childcare is needed, and this has created a new…

The author documents development of the After-School Care Program in the Dade County School System and assesses the extent to which its clients agreed on the goals, staff, program, supplies, and facilities based on a survey of parents. Recommendations are included. (CH)

This background briefing paper synthesizes current thinking and practice on the issue of latchkey children and school-age child care (SACC). The paper defines the problem of latchkey children; reviews related literature and programmatic responses to the problem; reports responses of four southern states; and points out implications for policy…

Currently at least 5 million children--some estimates are as high as 15 million--are left unsupervised before or after school for 3 or more hours a day. In response to the problems of these latchkey children, many public schools are now developing some form of school-based or school-related before- and after-school child care programs. The purpose…

The conference proceedings presented in this report document successful strategies for meeting the child care needs of school-age children and stimulating new ways of thinking about the provision of school-age child care. The first part of the report gives a historical perspective of Maryland's activity in school-age child care. The second part…

The Mechanicsburg Area (Pennsylvania) Phone Pal Program is a telephone reassurance program in which an older volunteer calls a child who is home alone before or after school. Calls are made at the same time each day. These daily calls provide both younger and older persons with a safety verification, in addition to fellowship. Phone Pal is…

Noting the need for parents, schools, and community members to work together to meet the needs of unsupervised adolescents during after-school hours, this practicum was designed to address those needs in one middle school. Lack of adolescent after-school supervision was documented by means of a parent interest survey distributed to parents of…

This book for persons interested in setting up high quality school-age child care (SACC) programs: (1) provides background information and a rationale; (2) describes a collaborative model of program development; (3) discusses program funding and resources; (4) considers approaches to recognizing high quality school-age child care; and (5) offers…

The purpose of this practicum was to develop an on-site training program for latchkey family day care home providers. Practicum objectives were to (1) develop a pilot project involving three family day care homes in Pinellas County, Florida; (2) assist caregivers in meeting the annual training requirements; (3) design and implement, on-site, a…

To help families of latchkey children, school personnel must understand the problems they face; identify families in need of assistance through parent and student surveys and interviews; and provide services to assist them, such as parent education programs, networking, discussion groups, survival skills training, and student assessment and…

Evidence suggests that self-care among school-age children has significant costs to the children, in the form of increased fearfulness and loneliness, heightened vulnerability to peer pressure, and greater likelihood of substance abuse. In response to the need for quality school-age care, this book serves as a guide for anyone wanting to implement…

Information and materials are presented to aid in the development of an after school program for latchkey children. An introduction describes the program that served as the basis for this manual and that provided this community service while giving hands-on learning experience to high school vocational child development and child care students.…

The Madison Local School District offers guidelines for developing and implementing an independently financed, after-school enrichment program for latchkey children in rural areas. The district, located 40 miles from Cleveland, Ohio, borders on Lake Erie. Sections of the guide concern: (1) program development; (2) establishment of the environment;…

This manual details the events which led to the opening, in April, 1986, of the Cleveland (Ohio) Public Schools' Family Life After-School Program for urban latchkey children. Sections of the manual concern: (1) assessment of need; (2) resource inventory; (3) community input; (4) planning; (5) program design; (6) site selection; (7) program size;…