subtitle "Subtitle 11 8. Maryland After-School Opportunity Fund
Program"

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1997 Replacement Volume and 1998 Supplement)

Preamble

WHEREAS, Maryland has the opportunity to rise to the forefront of the nation
by fully investing in a well designed system of after-school opportunities for its youth;
and

WHEREAS, All children in the State should have the opportunity to engage in
productive, supervised activity when not in school; and

WHEREAS, Eighty percent of school children across the nation need
nonparental supervision because their parents work and at least one-third of these
students are left unsupervised; and

WHEREAS, Almost half of juvenile crime takes place between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
each day and the after-school hours also are the most frequent time when students
are victims of crime and accidents; and

WHEREAS, Many parents need advice and financial assistance if they are to
locate and afford quality after-school programs; and

WHEREAS, A State fund of $10 million in fiscal year 2001 can largely begin to
address the problem of children who are unsupervised after school in Maryland; and

WHEREAS, Some local governments need time to make effective plans to invest
State funding for after-school programs and may benefit from training grants; and

WHEREAS, The long-term financial viability of after-school programs depends
on continued State investment, combined with local, private, and parental support;
now, therefore,

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That the Laws of Maryland read as follows:

Article —Education 41 - Governor - Executive and Administrative

Departments

SUBTITLE 11. 8. MARYLAND AFTER-SCHOOL OPPORTUNITY FUND PROGRAM.
7-1101. 6-801.

(A) IN THIS SUBTITLE THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE MEANINGS
INDICATED.

(B) "ADVISORY BOARD" MEANS THE ADVISORY BOARD ON AFTER-SCHOOL
OPPORTUNITY PROGRAMS.