Today, school-age children say they do not feel safe in their neighborhoods or even in their homes. Gangs, street violence, easy access to drugs, and other dangers threaten their health and safety. Common sense tells us that these children are also safer when trained and caring adults are close by and responsible for children's safety. The empty hours they have each day also represent a wasted opportunity, so well described in the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development's report A Matter of Time. These activities can introduce youth to new interests, support emotional growth, improve their academic performance, build and maintain healthy bodies, and develop healthy relationships with their peers and caring adults.
Children can build their capacity for responsible and successful adulthood.
However, the major message of A Matter of Time is that there are not enough opportunities available for all children. Millions of school-age children are on their own when not in school. Many parents face great difficulty finding childcare options they can afford and feel good about leaving their children in. But the supply of center-based child care does not increase to meet the demand because the revenues earned by providers are too little and the capital investment needed is often too great. S. 2173 begins to address this aspect of the problem.