This past fall, the Afterschool Alliance and Edge Research surveyed 1,016 afterschool program providers between October 24 and November 30, 2022, including 44 respondents who reported that their program is located in Kentucky. While on the surface the 2022-2023 school year looks like a return to normalcy, results from the survey reveal that afterschool programs in Kentucky and throughout the country have yet to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. While nearly all programs, both nationally (94%) and in Kentucky (93%), are open in person, a majority of providers in Kentucky still have families on a waiting list (68%), with staffing shortages cited as the top barrier to returning to full operational capacity.
Despite these lingering issues, there are also some bright spots in the data. More than half of Kentucky providers (68%) feel positive about the future of their programs, with fewer respondents in Kentucky (32%) than nationally (48%) reporting significant concerns about long-term funding and their program’s future. A complete list of Kentucky-specific takeaways from this survey are included below.
Programs are open and have high demand but face challenges
- Nearly all (93%) programs in Kentucky are open in-person, similar to 94% of programs nationally.
- Outside of the school year, 91% of Kentucky and 87% of providers nationally shared that they offered summer programming.
- Kentucky afterschool programs offer a wide range of activities, which include: academic enrichment (93%); physical activity opportunities (90%); opportunities to talk with peers or staff members about their feelings and emotions (76%); STEM learning opportunities (57%); access to technology, including computers, laptops, and/or broadband (43%); and connections with community resources (e.g., health or dental clinics, financial planning, mental health services, and more) (43%), to name a few.
- A majority of providers in Kentucky who are open in some capacity have families on a waiting list (68%), 15% more than programs nationally (53%).
- In Kentucky, nearly 2 in 5 (39%) of providers are extremely or very concerned about waitlists for students and/or being able to meet the demand for programs.
- Cost is another barrier facing providers across the country, with more than half (52%) nationwide and almost 2 in 5 (39%) providers in Kentucky sharing that their costs for in-person services have increased.
- Of those providers who said costs for in-person services had increased, nearly 3 in 5 (59%) of respondents in Kentucky cited that inflation was a key reason, 82% cited staffing costs and 76% said that supplies were causing the increase.
- Programs are struggling to maintain staff: two-thirds (66%) of providers across the country shared that they were extremely concerned about finding staff to hire and staffing shortages in their programs. In Kentucky, 59% of providers were extremely or very concerned, and 23% were somewhat concerned (82% total). Additionally, more than two-thirds of Kentucky providers (68%) shared that it has been somewhat or very difficult to hire and/or retain staff during fall 2022.
- When asked what their biggest concerns were during summer programming in 2022, 3 in 5 (63%) Kentucky providers said it was hiring enough staff.
- Kentucky providers have been employing various strategies to recruit and retain staff, including increasing hourly wages and/or salaries (64%), providing more paid time off (16%), and providing additional professional development opportunities (9%).
- However, 20% of respondents shared that they were not doing anything new to attract or retain staff, on par with 19% nationally.
COVID’s long-term impact on programs
- More than 1 in 10 (11%) of providers in Kentucky reported worries about whether families will feel safe sending their child to an afterschool program, compared to more than 3 in 10 (31%) in summer 2021.
- Nationally, 48% of providers (and 32% in Kentucky) are either extremely or very concerned about long-term funding and their program’s future, and 30% of providers in Kentucky reported they were extremely or very concerned about the loss of funding to their programs this year.
- Public funding for COVID relief, such as American Rescue Plan, Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER), or Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding was 43% of Kentucky providers’ funding sources, compared to 19% nationally.
Student well-being remains a big concern
- Providers in Kentucky remain highly concerned about the impacts the pandemic has had on students throughout their communities. For instance, providers are extremely or very concerned about students experiencing learning loss (55%), adverse childhood experiences (including abuse, neglect, and other household dysfunctions) (36%), and food insecurity (34%).
- In Kentucky, students’ mental and emotional health is top of mind, with more than 2 in 5 providers (43%) sharing they were extremely or very concerned, compared to the national average of 71%. Furthermore, 39% of Kentucky providers were extremely or very concerned about students missing opportunities for social connections with peers and caring adults.
- Additionally, providers expressed worries around barriers to programming, with 4 in 10 (41%) sharing that they are extremely or very concerned that “there are children in our community who need afterschool programming and are not able to access it.”
Looking to the future
- When asked what resources would be most helpful to their program, providers in Kentucky shared that they would like advice on: staff burnout and keeping teams engaged (54%), online trainings for direct-service staff (30%), communication tools and training to help families learn about the supports and benefits of afterschool and summer learning programs (25%), and funding streams and securing foundation funds (18%).
- Kentucky program providers feel positive about the future of their programs, with 68% reporting optimism, a decrease from 73% in fall 2021. More than half of Kentucky providers (61%) said that they feel that the worst is over, and providers reported the same (61%) in spring 2022.
View national-level findings from the provider survey in this full brief published by the Afterschool Alliance.