State Profile | Rhode Island

The Afterschool Investments project has developed profiles for each state to provide a snapshot of the "state of afterschool," as well as an opportunity to compare afterschool activities across the country. This profile provides key data and descriptions of the afterschool landscape, which includes a range of out-of-school time programming that can occur before and after school, on weekends, and during summer months. It is designed to serve as a resource for policymakers, administrators, and providers.

• Quick Facts
• Statewide Initiatives
• Notable Local Initiatives
• Statewide Organizations
• Additional Resources
• Notes and Sources

Quick Facts

Demographics

For more demographic information, visit http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/statedata/statepro/index.html

Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)

CCDF Administrative Overview

Settings

Where CCDF-Subsidy school age-children are served:

Uses of CCDF Targeted Funds and Quality Dollars for Afterschool

"Resource and referral and school-age" targeted funds:
Funds may support CHILDSPAN, Rhode Island’s professional development network. They may also support the School Age Action Team, which engages community input on improving quality in after school plus programs and on expanding and improving professional development opportunities for practitioners who work with school-age children. Additionally, the state has entered into an interagency agreement with the Department of Children, Youth and Families to provide technical assistance for school-age programs in centers and schools pursuing a school-age license. The agreement also licenses staff participation on committees aimed at improving quality and capacity for school age programs.

Other quality activities:
Funds may be used for comprehensive consumer education, increasing parental choice, and improving the availability of care.  They can also be used for professional development (including training, education, and technical assistance), activities to promote inclusive child care and activities in support of early language/math development. In addition, funds may also be used for activities which improve the quality of child care and health activities (including those designed to promote the social/emotional development of children.

Provider Reimbursement Rates

Tiered Reimbursement Rate System: 
Rhode Island has a tiered reimbursement rate system involving five priority areas.  Certified networks of community child care providers (both Centers and Family CC Homes) meet standards in five priority areas (including Early Childhood Education) that exceed licensing requirements and provide Head Start-like wrap around services to very low income preschoolers and their families.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care

Program Licensing and Accreditation Policies

21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC)

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Statewide Initiatives

• Article 31—Urban After School. Rhode Island’s 1997 school reform legislation, known as Article 31, includes a set aside of additional resources that allow urban school districts to dedicate a portion of their state funding to provide afterschool programs in the schools. In addition, The Rhode Island Department of Education has developed preliminary outcomes, indicators, and guidance to assist schools in developing programs and has worked with the state Department of Human Services to leverage more funds for these urban districts.                                                    

  For more information, see http://www.ride.ri.gov/commissioner/edpolicy/Article31.aspx

• SAMHSA State Incentive Grant (SIG). In 2001, Rhode Island received a three-year $3 million incentive grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to implement effective substance abuse prevention models targeted at youth. The goals of the program are to coordinate all substance abuse prevention funding streams within the state and to develop a comprehensive statewide strategy to reduce youth drug use. The Governor has given the lead responsibility for this effort to the state’s Children’s Cabinet, made up of department directors and responsible for addressing all cross-departmental issues that relate to children’s needs and services. They have used these funds to provide grants to communities supporting drug abuse prevention; some grantees are afterschool programs. Recently, the Youth Development Advisory Committee in the Governor’s cabinet merged with the SIG commission to form the Youth Success Cluster Committee. This committee includes a cross-section of stakeholders, including afterschool providers.
• Rhode Island AfterSchool Plus Alliance (RIASPA). RIASPA is the statewide afterschool advocacy organization funded by the Mott Foundation and the United Way of Rhode Island. RIASPA’s goals are to influence public policy to expand support for high quality afterschool programs, increase public awareness about the importance of afterschool programs, and foster program quality improvement. This diverse network consists of representatives from the Rhode Island Departments of Education, Human Services, Health, Mental Health, and Parks and Recreation, as well as provider groups, child advocacy groups, and community-based organizations.
  
  For more information, see http://www.afterschoolri.org
• Community Schools Rhode Island. Community Schools Rhode Island is an initiative sponsored by the United Way of Rhode Island to develop community schools in Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, West Warwick, and Central Falls. Its primary strategy has been to support the creation of high quality, enriching programs for middle school youth during school and during the out-of-school hours. The initiative stresses collaboration between schools and community-based organizations with the goal of supporting academic achievement and positive youth development. The United Way has committed over $1 million to this initiative, which was matched by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. The Rhode Island Department of Education, the Department of Human Services, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, and Brooks Pharmacy have also committed resources to this initiative.

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Notable Local Initiatives

• Learning in Communities. Providence currently operates youth violence prevention programs in the Capital City Community Centers for the students of Esek Hopkins and Samuel Bridgham Middle Schools. At Hopkins, the program is called VIBE (Violence Is Bad Education); at Bridgham, the program is called ITV (I’m Tired of Violence). Through a mixture of established national curricula (such as LifeSkills and Project Adventure) and projects initiated by the students themselves, the programs are geared to help students curb issues such as youth violence and substance abuse while, at the same time, build competency in vital life/social skills (such as cooperation, leadership, self-esteem, problem-solving, responsibility, and assertiveness). Students involved in the program have participated in a number of activities, such as the creation of a school-wide newsletter, anti-bullying posters, anti-violence poetry, and original storybooks for younger children. The program’s intended goal is to have students assert themselves as leaders in the nationwide campaign against youth violence.
• Since its creation in 2004, the Providence After School Alliance (PASA), an initiative of the Mayor, has built a network of public and private community partners, after school providers, city departments and neighborhoods to work together to increase and expand quality after school programming, strengthen the capacity of after school providers, and leverage resources to create better programs for the city’s youth.  Funded through an initial five-year $5 million grant from the Wallace Foundation and a $1 million donation from the Bank of America, PASA’s mission is to expand and improve afterschool opportunities for the youth of Providence by organizing a system of afterschool supports. This system will ensure access for all Providence youth to high quality afterschool programs and learning opportunities. PASA focuses on quality improvement and capacity building, the development of coordinated programming for middle school youth through AfterZones and increasing access to quality arts, recreation and academic programming.

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Statewide Organizations

National AfterSchool Association Affiliate:

Rhode Island School Age Child Care Association
Boys and Girls Clubs of Providence
90 Ives St.
Providence, RI 02906
Phone: 401-444-0750, Ext. 102
Email: cboudreau@bgcprov.org

Statewide Child Care Resource & Referral Network:

Options for Working Parents
1441 Park Avenue, Suite B
Cranston, RI 02920
Phone: 401-946-2300
Toll Free: 800-516-2055
Fax: 401-946-2301
Web: www.optionsforworkingparents.com

Statewide Afterschool Network:

Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance
229 Waterman St.
Providence, RI 02906
Phone: 401-331-2869
Fax: 401-331-2914
Email: sarah.cahill@afterschoolri.org
Web: www.afterschoolri.org

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Additional Resources

State Child Care Administrators:
http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/statedata/dirs/display.cfm?title=ccdf

State TANF Contacts:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/states/tanf-dr.htm

21st Century Community Learning Centers Contacts:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/contacts.html

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Notes and Sources

Demographics

Total population: Annual Estimates of the Population for the United States, Regions, States, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007, U.S. Census Bureau.

Number of children ages 5-12: Estimates of the Resident Population by Single-Year of Age and Sex for the United States and States: July 1, 2007, U.S. Census Bureau.

Percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch rate: Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

Percent of K-12 students in Title I "schoolwide" schools: Numbers and Types of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools from the Common Core of Data: School Year 2005-06. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. The federal Title I program provides funding to local school districts and schools with high percentages of poor children to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards. Schools enrolling at least 40 percent of students from poor families are eligible to use Title I funds for schoolwide programs that serve all children in the school.

Child Care and Development Fund

The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is the largest federal funding source for child care. States receive a funding allocation determined by formula and have broad flexibility to design programs that provide child care subsidies for low-income children under the age of 13 and to enhance the quality of child care for all children. Federal CCDF funding consists of mandatory, matching, and discretionary funds. Federal law requires that states spend at least 4 percent of their CCDF funds as well as additional targeted funds on activities to improve the quality and availability of child care. CCDF administrative data in this and the following sections is from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Child Care Bureau, as reported by States, unless otherwise noted.

FFY08 state MOE plus match: In order to receive Federal matching funds, a state must expend Maintenance of Effort funds. Note that this does not capture actual expenditures, only the minimum required to draw down all available federal funds.

FFY08 Tribal CCDF Allocation: Federal CCDF Funds are awarded directly to Federally-recognized Indian Tribes.

FFY06 total quality expenditures: This data includes FY06 and prior year funds expended for quality from each of the CCDF funding streams (mandatory, matching, and discretionary) and expenditures under targeted funds for infant and toddler, school-age care and resource and referral. This figure provides information obtained from state financial reports submitted for FY06.

Uses of CCDF Targeted Funds and Quality Dollars for Afterschool: Portions of CCDF discretionary funds are targeted specifically for resource and referral and school-age child care activities as well as for quality expansion. (These funds are in addition to the required 4 percent minimum quality expenditure.)

Maximum rate for school-age category: Rate listed applies to center-based care; where rates vary by region or county, the rate for the most populated urban area is given.

Standardized monthly school-age rate: Monthly rate for a child, in school-age care at a center in the largest urban area of the state at four hours per day, 20 days per month. Calculated using information from the FY2008-2009 State CCDF Plan, including payment rate structures, as submitted to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Separate subsidy rates for part-time vs. full time and Tiered Reimbursement Rate Systems: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Child Care Bureau. Report of State Plans FY2008-2009.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Child Care

In addition to spending TANF funds directly on child care, a state may transfer up to 30 percent of its TANF grant to CCDF. Expenditures represent TANF funds spent in FY06 that were awarded in FY06 and prior years. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.

Program Licensing and Accreditation Policies

States with separate school-age licensing standards and states with specialized requirements for child care centers serving school-age children: National Association for Regulatory Administration, 2005 Child Care Licensing Study, available at http://www.nara.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=104.

Ratio of children to adults in school-age setting: Data from the National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC), available at: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov.

Number of NAA-accredited programs: from the National AfterSchool Association, June 2008, available at: http://www.naaweb.org.

21st Century Community Learning Centers

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 converted the 21st Century Community Learning Centers’ authority to a state formula grant. In past years, the U.S. Department of Education made competitive awards directly to school districts. Under the reauthorized law, funds flow to states based on their share of Title I, Part A funds. States use their allocations to make competitive awards to eligible entities. Data from the U.S. Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Centers Office and the 21st CCLC Profile and Performance Information Collection System as of August 2008.

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The Child Care Bureau awarded a technical assistance contract to The Finance Project for the Afterschool Investments project. The goals of the Afterschool Investments project include:

• Identifying ways that state and communities are using Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) subsidy and quality dollars to support out-of-school time programs, and sharing these practices and approaches with other states;
• Identifying administrative and implementation issues related to CCDF investments in out-of-school time programs, and providing information and context (about barriers, problems, opportunities) as well as practical tools that will help CCDF administrators make decisions; and
• Identifying other major programs and sectors that are potential partners for CCDF in supporting out-of-school time programs and providing models, strategies, and tools for coordination with other programs and sectors.

Contact Us:

Email:
afterschool@financeproject.org

Web:
http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/afterschool/

The Finance Project
1401 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-587-1000
Web: www.financeproject.org

The Afterschool Investments project's State Profiles are designed to provide a comprehensive overview of noteworthy State and local initiatives across the country. Inclusion of an initiative in the Profiles does not represent an endorsement of a particular policy or practice.