You asked for information about New Jersey's after-school program, including how it is funded.

SUMMARY

New Jersey's after school program is called New Jersey After 3, Inc. It is a nonprofit corporation formed in 2004 as a statewide public-private partnership to expand and fund high quality after-school programs. New Jersey After 3 is funded by state, local, and private contributions. The program received a $ 15 million state appropriation FY 05. In FY 06, its appropriation was reduced to $ 7. 5 million as a result of New Jersey's budget problems, but the appropriation was restored to $ 15 million for FY 07. In FY 07, New Jersey After 3 issued 66 grants to programs providing services to nearly 14,000 students.

NEW JERSEY AFTER 3

New Jersey After 3 is a nonprofit corporation that funds after-school programs in New Jersey. Formed in 2004, it is governed by a board of trustees drawn from business, education, and other nonprofit organizations. Its purpose is to identify and provide public and private funding for high-quality after-school programs. New Jersey After 3 is modeled on The After-School Corporation, a public-private nonprofit corporation started in 1998 that supports after-school programs in New York City.

To be eligible for funding from New Jersey After 3, a program must (1) be a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and (2) have a written memorandum of understanding with the principal of the school where its activities will take place. Local school districts and for-profit corporations are not eligible for funding, but local school districts must participate with the nonprofit grantees in the funded programs. New Jersey After 3 also encourages partnerships between grantees and hospitals, universities, foundations, for-profit corporations, faith-based organizations, and cultural institutions in order to expand the resources available for after-school programming.

Funded programs are expected to include nine core elements.

• They must be operated in public schools by community-based nonprofit organizations working with the public schools.

• They must operate at least three hours a day every day school is in session. The programs are not intended to serve as drop-in centers and it is expected that participating students will attend every day.

• Programs must be open to every student in grades K-8 who attends the school where the program is located. Typical programs serve about 200 students, or about 30% to 40% of the school's population.

• Programs must offer a comprehensive and balanced set of activities, including academic support and enrichment, visual and performing arts, sports, and community service.

• Program activities must be aligned with the school's academic standards, but they must complement rather than duplicate school day instruction.

• Each program must be staffed by a full-time, year-round site coordinator who works at the school. Other staff must include a mixture of parents, college students, teaching artists, youth workers, certified teachers, and other school staff.

• Programs are expected to have an adult-student ratio of 1 to 10 for grades K-6 and 1 to 12 for grades 7 and 8.

• Programs should engage students' parents and families in all aspects of their operation.

• Program costs should be between $ 1,000 and $ 1,500 per student. Programs must demonstrate local support through matching funds.

FUNDING

The state appropriated $ 15 million for New Jersey After 3 in FY 05 and FY 06, but the original FY 06 appropriation was reduced by 50% to $ 7. 5 million. For FY 07, the state appropriation has been restored to $ 15 million.

New Jersey After 3 awards grants ranging from $ 50,000 to $ 500,000 with a typical grant of between $ 150,000 and $ 300,000. Grant amounts are based on the number of students a program will serve. We attach two lists of grantees. One, included in the analysis of the FY 07 state budget published in May 2006 by New Jersey's Office of Legislative Services, shows 38 grants totaling $ 12,992,382 for programs serving 10,690 students. The average grant is $ 1,215 per student. The other is a list of programs published on New Jersey After 3's website. That list shows 66 programs providing services to 13,882 students as of December 6, 2006.

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