Thousands of Brooklyn families desperate for help as afterschool programs lose state funding

With just weeks until the start of school, families in southern Brooklyn are scrambling to find free after-school options , after the state unceremoniously pulled funding from multiple neighborhood programs.

Now, elected officials are sounding the alarm at least 1,300 students across about a dozen public schools may be left with no alternatives.

“We’ve received a deluge of panicked calls from parents and school administrators fearing the worst,” six area lawmakers — State Sens. Andrew Gounardes, Iwen Chu, Jessica Scarcella-Spanton and Simcha Felder, and City Council Members Justin Brannan and Alexa Avilés — said in a joint statement Thursday.

“Without state support, families could be on the hook for thousands of dollars in fees for after-school programs . For the many families who can’t afford that, losing access to after-school care could throw their routines and lives into chaos,” they continued.

The Brooklynites’ woes date back to at least the start of this summer, when local programs learned they had been approved but would not receive public funds.

According to the elected officials, the state’s Office of Children and Family Services had recently consolidated two funding programs into a streamlined initiative known as the New York State Learning and Enrichment After-School Program Supports , or “LEAPS” — forcing providers to reapply.

OCFS did not immediately return a request for comment.

At least two providers the lawmakers know of — NIA Community Services Network and the Federation of Italian American Organizations — were not picked again through a request for proposals, leaving upward of 11 schools without access to the programs they’d partnered with for years, according to the statement.

The number of schools is likely even higher, with at least three more programs identified by a local education council.

“We just learned that we’re going to be losing our funding for after-school,” a Bensonhurst mom told Community Education Council 20 earlier this month.

“For about eight years, I have applied for the after-school. I have four children, and they never got in. That’s how tight the seats are. It’s by a lottery. So what happened previously was teachers would have to walk my children home because I couldn’t go out to get them. That’s how important after-school is,” she continued. “For anyone not to see that, and support our family and our children, I’m sorry, that’s so disappointing.”

The PTA at P.S. 247 The New York City College Partnership Elementary School told the council the board expects to lose 80 after-school seats. Another school, P.S. 185 Walter Kassenbrock School in Bay Ridge, is expected to charge $3,200 this school year to keep the program going, flyers show.

While OCFS has told elected officials there are other program slots available to students, the agency has yet to share with the public where this year’s sites are located — or whether southern Brooklyn families will have access to them at all.

The cutbacks in southern Brooklyn come despite an overall increase of $17.7 million in state grants for after-school, announced by Gov. Hochul in February, spurring confusion among parents.

“This is a public organization, but they’re acting in an extremely opaque manner in an issue that’s of a lot of concern to a lot of families,” said Stephen Stowe, president of CEC 20.

“I’ve heard from lots of parents directly on this. They don’t have any options. They’re scrambling,” he added. “Mostly what I’ve heard is ‘help us.’ I’ve heard this from parents, I’ve heard this from principals. There’s really not a good solution right now, if you can’t afford to fork over the money for a full year of after-school.”