After the school day ends in Mississippi, 1 in 6 kids are alone and unsupervised. These hours—from 2 to 6 p.m.—are the peak time for juvenile crime in Mississippi according to the latest report by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national organization of law enforcement leaders. Afterschool programs turn that time of risk into opportunity. They keep kids safe and help them realize their full potential. Nationwide, 9 in 10 adults say afterschool programs are important to their community, yet more than 19 million kids are waiting to get in.
Fortunately for the 82,754 children in afterschool programs in Mississippi, the hours after school are a time when programs help kids get excited about learning, attend school more often, get better grades, and build foundational skills, like communication, teamwork, and problem solving.