All material in Library Files is copyright. Currently across the United States and Canada, school-age child care is a patchwork of programs run by community groups, parents, school boards, associations, and recreation programs.
Quality is as varied as the number of programs.
Availability is also a problem resulting in a grave shortage of care options for children aged 5-12 or simply falling short of meeting the needs of children and their parents. There are an estimated 2 million children in the U.S. who look after themselves both before and after school. Canadian children fair no better. A good school-age program is designed to meet the developmental needs of older children. There should be access to community resources such as ice-skating, swimming, libraries, youth organizations and centres.