Testifying before the Senate committee considering funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers -- the major federal program for funding after-school programs -- Arnold Schwartzenegger said he used to feel that, "Everybody should pull themselves up by their bootstraps just like I did" but when he toured schools across the country he learned that "not everybody has boots. Many of our children are not getting the same foundation I did as a child."

The National Collaboration for Youth is collecting organizational sign-ons for a letter to urge the Senate to fully fund the 21st Century Community Learning Center after school programs, at the level authorized in the No Child Left Behind act.

Finding resources for after-school programs is only part of the problem; getting them running where they're most needed is also important. Philadelphia is using data mapping to get the right programs in the right place.

A steady paycheck and a career track are great; but some low-income school children dream of something different, like starting their own businesses and being their own bosses. Connect for Kids intern Kate Ashford looks at a national program designed to give these kids the tools they need to succeed.

Many teens' after-school schedules are full with work, school and family responsibilities, but in some neighborhoods far too many have no place to go, nothing to do and no one to be with. The Forum for Youth Investment takes a look at a neglected frontier for after-school advocates in this January 2003 report.

Almost 7 million young boys and girls take part in the activities of 4-H clubs around the country. Aline Newman talks about the special role that 4-H (for Head, Heart, Hands and Health) played in her family and her rural New York community.

The most recent Afterschool Alliance poll finds that nine out of ten voters support out-of-school programs because they provide safe environments and educational opportunities for kids.

Even if your youth program can't afford a full-fledged independent evaluation, you can still set up systems to assess how well you are reaching your objectives. This "Promising Practices" article is one of several on ways to measure your impact through "reflective evaluation" in the Fall 2002 issue of the Harvard Evaluation Exchange.

Young people in the rural Upper Peninsula area of Michigan are taking on the roles of both learners and leaders through their work with 8-18 Media, a youth journalism project based in Marquette. Learn about their efforts, and read an example of 8-18 Media's work.

In this story adapted from What Kids Can Do, unleashed teen power is driving change in a small Maine town, once a center of the sardine canning industry—now an innovator in aquaculture.