To combat a lack of after-school day care options, the Jaffrey Recreation Department, backed by multiple community partners, has started the Youth Empowerment Program – a program for Jaffrey Grade School students who need care in the hours between school letting out and their parents getting off of work.

The program is meant to fill a hole left in the community after a former after-school program, initially run by the school district and then as a community program, went by the wayside several years ago.

“It was very popular, and it served our community very well,” said Jaffrey Town Manager Jon Frederick of the previous after-school program. “The loss of that after-school program has been felt by everyone, and we wanted to get this back up and running.”

New Hampshire has faced a growing need and shrinking amount of providers for child care. Since 2017, the number of licensed child care providers has dropped almost 17%, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, and the total capacity has dropped by about 2%. 

One of the main issues for families is affordability. When the Youth Empowerment Program was created, one of its main goals was to give families an option that wouldn’t break the bank.

When the first after-school program in Jaffrey began, it was paid for by a grant obtained by the school district and was held in the school buildings. When the grant ran out, the program switched gears, and the new issue was the need for a space. The program continued under the name Launch Point, and organizers moved it to the then-Monadnock Bible Conference, with the school district providing busing to the conference center at the end of the school day.

That program, too, eventually ended due to the property changing hands and COVID.

But the need persisted, and community stakeholders have been continuing to have the conversation about how to start the service again. What has resulted is a partnership between the Town of Jaffrey, the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District, the Jaffrey-Rindge Rotary Club and the Jaffrey Community Center.

Bringing together the pieces of the puzzle

The Jaffrey Recreation Department is the official administrator of the program. The employees are Jaffrey town employees, and the fees are paid to the Recreation Department.

The first issue to solve was where to hold the program. The neighboring Rindge Recreation Department also runs an extended-day program with before- and after-school options, at its building. But the Jaffrey Recreation Department building does not have the room for the 50 children the program is anticipated to host. In fact, there aren’t any town-owned spaces that have that kind of capacity available for a day-to-day program.

That’s where the school stepped in, offering to allow the program to run in the Jaffrey Grade School after-hours.

With the “where” figured out, next was the “how” – namely, how it would be paid for. When the Jaffrey Select Board approved the program, Frederick said, he was given a clear mandate – the program must be self-sustaining.

That’s where community partners like the Rotary and the Jaffrey Community Center Committee came in. Bob Schaumann, a past president of the Rotary Club, said he has been involved with talks to get the program off the ground since this fall, and said the Rotary Club is prepared to help provide volunteers and funds to support the program, particularly in the early days.

The program charges $10 per day, or $50 per week, per child. Under the grant structure, the program was free, and under Launch Point, it started at $5 per day. Schaumann said the Rotary wants to ensure the program is available for anyone who needs it, and is prepared to offer scholarships to those in need to cut the cost in half.

“It’s needed. It’s safe. It helps kids; it helps parents, and it’s a minimal cost investment,” Schaumann said.

The program will be for only Jaffrey Grade School students, and provide care from the end of the school day until 5:30 p.m., as well as a 30-minute pickup window from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The program does not provide before-school care, and only runs on days school is in session. Holidays and school vacations are not covered, although organizers say that may be an avenue for growth if there’s enough demand.

A need for after-school care

Parents of Jaffrey Grade School students have indicated that after-school care is something that they want.

In a survey sent out to every family at Jaffrey Grade School in the spring of 2024, 41 families responded with feedback about their likelihood of using after-school care, what they would be willing to pay for it and what they would want it to look like. 

Among respondents, even those who said they weren’t likely to use an after-school program acknowledged the need for one. Of the 41 families that responded to the survey, 83% said that an after-school care option should be offered, with other responses indicating “possibly” and no one indicating “no,” according to Superintendent Reuben Duncan.

Of those who answered the survey, 56% said they would be very likely to use the program, with 27% who said they were likely to use it, and 5% who said they would not use it. The majority of parents interested in after-school care have children in third or fourth grade, though there were parents of children in all grade levels who responded. About half of those who responded have more than one child currently enrolled in JGS.

Duncan said space is the best way the school can contribute to the after-school program, without increasing the district’s budget. Duncan said the program runs at the same time as other after-school clubs and athletic programs, meaning that lights, heat and janitorial services are already being provided during those hours. 

Kathy Batchelder, who ran the program both when it was under the grant and as Launch Point, said she knows that the need is there, and that this kind of program can be successful because both versions of the previous program were highly used.

When the program was housed in the school district, there were after-school programs for each of the district’s two elementary schools, as well as the middle school. There were between 40 and 50 students enrolled at Rindge Memorial School, between 60 to 80 at Jaffrey Grade School and between 30 and 35 children at the middle school.

“The numbers grew steadily over the five years,” Batchelder said. “We’re hoping that once kids get in, it will become more popular and grow exponentially.”

A slow start

The program officially launched in early November, and so far, has only had a handful of signups.

After School Program Coordinator Brenda Starr said one of the likely reasons for the initial slow start is that the program launched in the middle of the semester, rather than being available at the start of school. Some parents who might otherwise use the program may have already lined up their child care for the semester, and she said in a more-perfect world, the program would have launched at the start of the school year.

Rindge Program Coordinator Karen Chemello said that the Rindge Recreation Department was able to start its program off strong because youths in the grant-funded program were able to immediately join the new Recreation Department program.

When the Rindge Recreation Department took over the after-school program, she said it started with about 20 to 25 children. She said the program has since added a morning program, which is currently its more-popular offering – 19 children, compared to typically six to eight in the afternoon. She said afternoon care is down from last year, where about 13 or 14 children typically attended.

The Rindge program also offers a per-day cost of $8 from 7 a.m. to the start of school, $11 for 6:30 a.m. to the start of school and $16 for after-school care.

The Jaffrey program has some built-in resiliency against a slow start, due to the community partnerships that came together to make it happen. Rent is not a factor, since the school provides the space for the program. The Rotary Club’s donations are not specifically earmarked, and Schaumann said the club supports using the funds however they are most useful – whether that be filling the gaps of operational costs, or scholarships for families.

“That’s what it is – it takes a community, and several arms coming together that make it work. No one group could have done it on their own,” Starr said.

She said not having those signups shouldn’t be a deterrent from getting the ball rolling, if those financial supports are in place.

“I would do it for one child,” Starr said. “My advice – start it, even if it’s small. I have a big heart, and I’m ready for more to come in and join our program. My advice is, you have to start somewhere, and don’t be afraid to start. If you don’t take a chance, you won’t know your success.”

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.