Universal Out of School Time Amendment Act of 2025

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Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau Councilmember Matthew Frumin 4
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Councilmember Trayon White Councilmember Robert C White Jr. 8
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Councilmember Zachary Parker Councilmember Brooke Pinto 12
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Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 16
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Councilmember Anita Bonds Councilmember Charles Allen 20
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Councilmember Wendell Felder 24
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A BILL 29
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 34
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To amend the Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes Establishment Act of 39
2016 to require the Office and Commission to develop, coordinate, fund, and implement 40
a plan to guarantee universal access to out-of-school-time programming for all youth 41
enrolled in a public school in the District by 2036. 42
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 43
act may be cited as the “Universal Out of School Time Amendment Act of 2025”. 44

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Sec. 2. The Office of Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes Establishment Act 45
of 2016, effective April 7, 2017 (D.C. Law 21-261; D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.01 et seq.) is 46
amended as follows: 47
(a) Section 2(a) (D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.01(a)) is amended as follows: 48
(1) New paragraphs (1A) (2A), (2B), (2C), (2D), (6A), (6B), and (6C) are added 49
to read as follows: 50
“(1A) “Child with a disability” shall have the same meaning as provided in 51
section 602(3) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, approved April 13, 1970, (84 52
Stat. 175; 20 U.S.C. § 1401(3)). 53
“(2A) “Community-based organization” or “CBO” means an out-of-school-time 54
service provider that is a nonprofit entity, faith-based organization, or other entity, excluding the 55
District or a Local Education Agency, that provides out-of-school time programming to District 56
youth. 57
“(2B) “Deduplicated” means the elimination of data that double counts enrollment 58
or capacity of an out-of-school-time program across more than one session such that the total 59
number of youth an out-of-school-time service provider serves reflects their true capacity and 60
enrollment at any one time. 61
“(2C) “Equitable access” means a strategic approach to increasing District-wide 62
availability of out-of-school-time program seats that prioritize at-risk youth and closing gaps of 63
geographic distribution of programming relative to youth residency and school enrollment 64
identified by the Commission’s needs assessment and strategic plan issued pursuant to section 8 65
of this act. 66
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“(2D) “Low-income" means having a household income that is less than 60% of 67
the area median family income for the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area according to the 68
statistics of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. 69
“(6A) “Out-of-school-time service provider” means a youth development program 70
provider, including the District, that is publicly funded, in-part or in-whole, to facilitate one or 71
more out-of-school programs. A single organization, LEA, or entity may operate multiple out-of-72
school-time programs in different locations. 73
“(6B) “Program session” means an out-of-school-time program that is provided 74
on a continuous basis, and that a youth may enroll in for a discrete number of weeks, either 75
before school, after school, or during summer break. An out-of-school-time service provider may 76
offer more than one program session consecutively or at more than one location. 77
“(6C) “Universal access” means a high-quality out-of-school-time program seat is 78
available to all youth enrolled in a Local Education Agency, relative to demand, and the program 79
seat is available on a free or affordable sliding-scale basis relative to household income.”. 80
(2) Paragraph (3) is amended by striking the phrase “Agency” means” and 81
inserting the phrase “Agency” or “LEA” means” in its place. 82
(3) Paragraph (7) is amended to read as follows: 83
“(7) "Youth" means an individual of 21 years of age or less who is enrolled in a 84
District primary or secondary school of a Local Education Agency, or an individual of 22 years 85
of age or less who is enrolled in special education services from an LEA. 86
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(4) Paragraph (9) is amended by striking the phrase “educational, and 87
recreational” and inserting the phrase “educational, enrichment, or recreational” in its place. 88
(b) Section 3 (D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.02) is amended as follows: 89
(1) Subsection (b) is amended to read as follows: 90
“(b) The mission of the Office is to facilitate universal access to out-of-school-time 91
programs by: 92
“(1) Coordinating, promoting, and improving out-of-school-time program 93
offerings across out-of-school-time service providers; 94
“(2) Administering out-of-school-time funding pursuant to section 5 of this act; 95
“(3) Conducting and publicly publishing out-of-school-time program analysis 96
pursuant to section 9 of this act; and 97
“(4) Supporting out-of-school-time service providers in scaling up programming 98
to close gaps in out-of-school-time program seat capacity and geographic location consistent 99
with the strategic plan recommendations of the Commission.”. 100
(2) A new subsection (d) is added to read as follows 101
“(d) The Office shall spend not more than 7% of its annual budget appropriations 102
on Office overhead.”. 103
(c) Section 4(a) (D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.03(a)) is amended as follows: 104
(1) Paragraph (1) is amended by striking the phrase “Guide” and inserting the 105
phrase “Facilitate” in its place. 106
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(2) Paragraph (3) is amended to read as follows: 107
“(3)(A) Gather, analyze, and publish data from out-of-school-time service 108
providers funded in part or in whole by the District or by federal funds administered through the 109
District pursuant to section 9 of this act; 110
“(B) Utilize data to implement programmatic and funding improvements 111
that increase equitable access to high-quality, evidence-based out-of-school-time programs by 112
not less than a 10% year-over-year growth in seat capacity;”. 113
(3) Paragraph (4) is amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the phrase “, 114
including by widely promoting program offerings, educating stakeholders about the benefits of 115
out-of-school-time programming, and assisting with program enrollment;” in its place. 116
(4) Paragraph (5) is amended by striking the phrase “on out-of-school-time” and 117
inserting the phrase “on universal access to out-of-school-time” in its place. 118
(5) Paragraph (7) is amended by striking the phrase “development and other” and 119
inserting the phrase “development, navigating and managing organizational growth to grow seat 120
capacity and programmatic accessibility, and other” in its place. 121
(6) A new paragraph (7A) is added to read as follows: 122
“(7A) Provide in-house technical assistance to: 123
“(A) Out-of-school-time-service providers on improving program 124
accessibility and meeting local and federal guidelines for serving children with a disability; 125
“(B) Staff of out-of-school-time-service providers on supporting physical, 126
emotional, and behavioral needs of children with a disability; 127
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“(C) Parents of a child with a disability on finding out-of-school-time 128
service providers able to meet the unique needs of their child.”. 129
(7) Paragraph (8) is amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the phrase 130
“on universal access to out-of-school-time programs;” in its place. 131
(8) Paragraph (9) is amended to read as follows: 132
“(9)(A) In coordination with the Commission, lead collaboration, coordination, 133
and problem-solving across District agencies, LEAs, and CBO out-of-school-time service 134
providers to strengthen program offerings, funding, accessibility, and outcomes and build a 135
system that promotes and achieves universal access to out-of-school-time programming in 136
accordance with the strategic plan; 137
“(B) The Office shall engage the following District agencies to ensure a 138
whole-of-government approach to collaboration, coordination, and problem-solving related to 139
youth development: 140
“(i) The Office and Commission of Out of School Time Grants and 141
Youth Outcomes; 142
“(ii) The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education, including 143
representation from the Office for Students in the Care of DC; 144
“(iii) The Office of the State Superintendent of Education; 145
“(iv) District of Columbia Public Schools; 146
“(v) District of Columbia Public Charter School Board; 147
“(vi) The Department of Parks and Recreation; 148
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“(vii) The Department of Employment Services; 149
“(viii) The Department of Behavioral Health; 150
“(ix) The Department of Human Services; 151
“(x) Child and Family Services Agency; 152
“(xi) The Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services; 153
“(xii) The Office of the Attorney General; 154
“(xiii) The Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement; 155
“(xiv) The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and 156
Justice, including representation from the Safe Passage program; 157
"(xv) The Office of Disability Rights; 158
“(xvi) District of Columbia Public Library; and 159
“(xvii) The Council;”. 160
(9) Paragraph 10 is amended to read as follows: 161
“(10)(A) Develop, in collaboration with the Commission, plans for measuring and 162
assessing the quality of out-of-school-time programs; 163
“(B) Create and implement a plan to improve the quality, accessibility, 164
and inclusivity of out-of-school-time programs funded in part or in whole by the District; and”. 165
(10) A new paragraph (11) is added to read as follows: 166
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“(11)(A) Obtain, disperse, and administer funding for out-of-school-time 167
programs consistent with the strategic plan’s requirement to prioritize equitable access in scaling 168
up programming to achieve universal access to out-of-school-time programs by 2036; 169
“(B) Not less than 90% of Office grant funds shall be awarded to CBOs 170
that provide or coordinate out-of-school-time programs.”. 171
(d) Section 5 (D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.04) is amended as follows: 172
(1) Subsection (b)(3) is amended by striking the period and inserting the phrase “, 173
including training to enable out-of-school-time service providers and staff to accommodate the 174
needs of a child with a disability.” in its place. 175
(2) A new subsection (b-1) is added to read as follows: 176
“(b-1) The Office shall award not less than 90% of competitive grants authorized under 177
subsection (b) of this section to CBOs that provide or coordinate out-of-school-time programs.”. 178
(3) Subsection (c) is amended by striking the phrase “and program quality.” and 179
inserting the phrase “program quality, and achieving an annual 10% year-over-year growth of 180
out-of-school-time program seats until the Commission determines the District has achieved 181
universal access.” in its place. 182
(4) A new subsection (e1) is added to read as follows: 183
“(e-1)(1) The Office shall provide public notice of not less than 4 months before any 184
revisions take effect to grant application processes, grant award amounts, or grantee program 185
offering requirements. 186
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“(2) The Office shall consult the Commission, out-of-school-time service 187
providers, and other public stakeholders to solicit feedback in advance of posting intended grant 188
revisions pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.”. 189
(5) Subsection (g) is amended to read as follows: 190
“(g) In addition to the reporting requirements in § 1-328.16, on or before January 1 of 191
each year, the Office shall submit to the Council and make publicly available on its website 192
reports detailing grant awards and activity required pursuant to the requirements of section 9 of 193
this subchapter.” 194
(e) Section 6 (D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.05) is amended as follows: 195
(1) Subsection (a) is amended to read as follows: 196
“(a) There is established a Commission on Out of School Time Grants and Youth 197
Outcomes to develop a District-wide strategic plan for creating and funding universal access to 198
out-of-school-time programs, with a focus to geographic and socioeconomic equity in program 199
capacity expansion.”. 200
(2) Subsection (b) is amended by adding a new paragraph (7A) to read as follows: 201
“(7A) The Attorney General of the District of Columbia.”. 202
(f) Section 7(b) (D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.06(b)) is amended as follows: 203
(1) Paragraph (1) is amended to read as follows: 204
“At least 2 members are consumers of out-of-school-time programs in the 205
District;”. 206
(2) Paragraph (2) is amended by striking the period and inserting a semicolon in 207
its place. 208
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(3) A new paragraph (3) is added to read as follows: 209
“(3) At least 2 members are parents or guardians of a youth enrolled in an out-of-210
school-time program in the District; and”. 211
(3) A new paragraph (4) is added to read as follows: 212
“(4) At least one member who is a subject matter expert in advocacy or data 213
analysis for out-of-school-time programs.”. 214
(g) Section 8(a) (D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.07(a)) is amended as follows: 215
(1) Paragraph (1) is amended to read as follows: 216
“(1) Set the goals and scope of a biennial, community-wide needs assessment, 217
which the Office shall conduct, to: 218
“(A) Assess the number of program seats needed to guarantee universal 219
access to out-of-school-time programs relative to demand for enrollment in programming; 220
“(B) Identify programmatic growth needs and trends, and benchmark city-221
wide progress toward achieving universal access to out-of-school-time programs, relative to 222
demand, including assessments of geographic, demographic, socioeconomic, and program 223
offering metrics; 224
“(C) Identify met and unmet programmatic capacity, training, and quality 225
improvement needs of youth identified as: 226
“(i) At-risk; 227
“(ii) A child with a disability; 228
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“(iii) English language learners; 229
“(iv) Justice system-involved; or 230
“(v) Low-income; 231
“(D) Determine barriers to program participation, including: 232
“(i) Program costs and what families determine make a program 233
affordable for households at different income levels of different family sizes; 234
“(ii) Transportation access, modes, and distance; 235
“(iii) Ability of programs to meet and staff the needs of children 236
with a disability; or 237
“(iv) Alignment with youth-identified interests and preferences in 238
program content or offerings; and 239
“(E) Identify professional development and organizational growth 240
management support needs for out-of-school-time service providers to enable them to 241
successfully scale up operations to achieve universal access to programming.”. 242
(2) A new paragraph (1A) is added to read as follows: 243
“(1A)(A) The Commission shall collaborate with the Mayor’s Office of Racial 244
Equity to ensure the community-wide needs assessment scope of work is developed with a racial 245
equity lens. 246
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“(B) The needs assessment shall be reviewed by the Mayor’s Office of 247
Racial Equity prior to finalization to identify and remedy deficiencies in findings or data analysis 248
from a racial equity perspective. 249
“(C) The Office shall facilitate the collaboration required of subparagraphs 250
(B) and (C) of this paragraph.”. 251
(3) A new paragraph (1B) is added to read as follows: 252
“(1B) At such time as the Commission determines the District has added 253
sufficient out-of-school-time program seat capacity to meet the participation demands and 254
specialized program content needs of all youth enrolled in an LEA, the Commission shall issue a 255
written determination to the Mayor and the Council demonstrating success achieving universal 256
access and providing recommendations on steps the District must take to maintain, or further 257
improve, programmatic enrollment, quality, and youth interest in service provider offerings. 258
(4) A new paragraph (2A) is added to read as follows: 259
“(2A) Beginning January 1, 2027, the strategic plan shall require the District to 260
implement a system for achieving universal access to out-of-school-time programs by 2036. The 261
Commission shall work with the Mayor’s Office of Racial Equity to apply a racial equity lens to 262
the plan and the Commission shall solicit ongoing youth input to develop the strategic plan, 263
taking into account and instructing the Office on steps to take to address: 264
“(A) District government agency, LEA, and CBO service provider 265
collaborations needed to achieve at least a 10% year-over-year expansion in seat capacity until 266
the Commission determines the District has achieved universal access pursuant to paragraph 267
(1B) of this subsection, or until the Commission issues a written determination demonstrating 268
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that a 10% growth rate is no longer needed or feasible to meet remaining demand for out-of-269
school-time programming; 270
“(B) Closing existing service and enrollment gaps in out-of-school-time 271
programs with a focus on equitable access in expanding OST programming; 272
“(C) Program capacity expansion that prioritizes creating new seats for 273
youth who are: 274
“(i) Designated at-risk; 275
“(ii) Designated as a child with a disability; 276
“(iii) English language learners; 277
“(iv) Justice system involved; or 278
“(v) Low-income; 279
“(D) Funding needs, gaps, targets, and opportunities necessary to achieve 280
universal access to programming; 281
“(E) Removing barriers to program participation, including: 282
“(i) Program participation and supply costs to families; 283
“(ii) Geographic convenience; 284
“(iii) Transportation access and costs; 285
“(iv) Quality; 286
“(v) Accessibility of programs for children with a disability; 287
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“(vi) Public awareness of programs and registration hurdles; and 288
“(vii) Youth interest and priorities in program offerings; 289
“(F) Improving the quality of programs, including ways the Office can 290
support the capacity building and professional development needs of out-of-school-time service 291
providers; 292
“(G) Office personnel growth and skills needed to improve the Office’s 293
efficiency, external communication, grant administration, and data tracking and sharing as out-294
of-school-time programming scales up; and 295
“(H) Facilitating mutually beneficial partnerships across out-of-school-296
time service providers in order to maximize quality, quantity, accessibility, and availability of 297
programming for all youth.”. 298
(h) Section 9 (D.C. Official Code § 2-1555.08) is amended as follows: 299
(1) Subsection (a) is amended to read as follows: 300
“(a) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Office, in collaboration with the Commission, 301
shall coordinate with the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Office of the State 302
Superintendent of Education, LEAs, and Department of Employment Services to: 303
“(1) Align out-of-school-time funding priorities, promotion strategies, and agency 304
capacity building needs to increase the number of youth served by out-of-school-time programs 305
and improve equitable access to program opportunities pursuant to priorities identified by the 306
Commission’s strategic plan; 307
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“(2) Streamline and standardize, where appropriate, the grant application, grant 308
payments, and grant reporting processes for out-of-school time service providers seeking funding 309
from the District; 310
“(3) Share, standardize, and publish deduplicated data pursuant to subsection (c) 311
of this section to improve the District’s per-youth tracking of out-of-school-time program 312
capacity and enrollment; 313
“(4) Make public on the Office’s website all copies of federally mandated grant 314
reports related to 21st Century Community Learning Center grants, Workforce Innovation and 315
Opportunity Act (WIOA) youth funding, and other federal sources of out-of-school-time 316
funding; and 317
“(5)(A) Create, collect, and make public on the Office’s website summaries of 318
annual youth evaluations of out-of-school-time programs; 319
“(B) Evaluations may aggregate responses per-program offering per- 320
service provider to protect the anonymity of respondents; and 321
“(C) The Office shall publish anonymized responses to the District’s 322
annual Out-of-School-Time Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes (DC OST SAYO-Y) 323
collected as of 2017.”. 324
(2) Subsection (b) is amended as follows: 325
(A) Paragraph (1) is amended as follows: 326
(i) Strike the phrase “Within 36 months of April 17, 2017, the 327
Commission” and insert the phrase “Not later than January 1, 2027, the Office, in coordination 328
with the Commission,” in its place. 329
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(ii) Strike the phrase “the feasibility of expanding” and insert the 330
phrase “steps the Office and Commission shall take to expand” in its place. 331
(iii) Strike the phrase “Department of Employment Services,”. 332
(B) Paragraph (2) is amended to read as follows: 333
“(2) The Office shall publicize its recommendations, the rationale for the 334
recommendations, and the concrete steps it shall take, in partnership with the Commission, to 335
increase coordination.”. 336
(3) A new subsection (c) is added to read as follows: 337
“(c)(1) To facilitate the accurate tracking of progress toward universal access of out-of-338
school-time programs, the Office shall publish on its website an annual report on all program 339
seats, funded in part or in whole through the District or federal funding sources, detailing: 340
“(A) Out-of-school-time funding source or sources and amount allocated 341
or awarded per: 342
“(i) Out-of-school-time service provider; 343
“(ii) Program session per location, if applicable; and 344
“(iii) Per grade-range of program per location, if the same or 345
substantially similar program is offered for different aged youth during simultaneous sessions; 346
“(B) Specific services provided to youth including: 347
“(i) Out-of-school-time service provider name or name of 348
subgrantee providing services, 349
“(ii) Programmatic content and youth development goals; 350
“(iii) Location or locations of programs offered; 351
“(iv) Youth-to-staff ratio; 352
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“(v) Transportation services, if any; and 353
“(vi) How the program or service provider meets the needs of at-354
risk youth, children with disabilities, English language learners, or justice involved youth; 355
“(C) Demographic profile of youth served per program session, per 356
location, if applicable, aggregating total youth served by: 357
“(i) Grade range; 358
“(ii) Home Ward; 359
“(iii) School Ward; 360
“(iv) Designation as: 361
“(I) At-risk; 362
“(II) Child with a disability; or 363
“(III) Justice involved; 364
“(v) Race and ethnic identity; and 365
“(vi) Gender or gender identity; 366
“(D) Deduplicated per program session capacity, enrollment, and 367
attendance numbers; 368
“(E) Annual program seat capacity and enrollment numbers per out-of-369
school-time service provider, deduplicated to count the total number of youth served by provider 370
per program location, if provider operates in multiple program locations; 371
“(F) Length of program, including: 372
“(i) Number of weeks program session operates; 373
“(ii) Days and hours per week program operates per session; and 374
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“(iii) Number of sessions offered annually per location and grade 375
level served, if multiple sessions are simultaneously offered; and 376
“(G) Program operating expenses, program overhead or indirect cost 377
expenses, and program participation or supply costs charged to families, if any. 378
“(2) The Mayor shall make available to the Office data sets from subordinate 379
agencies necessary to comply with the reporting requirements of paragraph (1) of this subsection. 380
The Office may initiate data sharing agreements to facilitate reporting requirements.”. 381
(4) A new subsection (d) is added to read as follows: 382
“(d)(1) The Office shall publish on its website an annual report summarizing anonymized 383
grant requests that did not receive Office funding detailing per applicant: 384
“(A) The funding amount requested; 385
“(B) The anticipated number of youth served, per grade range, if funded; 386
“(C) The Ward location or locations of programming would be offered; 387
“(D) The anticipated days and hours per week of programming, if funded; 388
“(E) A summary of program offerings or services including how the 389
program planned to meet the needs of at-risk youth, children with a disability, English language 390
learners, or justice involved youth; 391
“(F) Program enrollment or supply costs charged to families, if any; 392
“(G) Overall grant application score awarded by review committee; and 393
“(H) Other programming and funding metrics determined by the Office 394
and reflective of data requests made by the Commission. 395
“(2) The Office shall publish the names and District government or organizational 396
affiliation, if any, of the members of the grant review committee. 397
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“(3) The report shall include a summary of recommendations of how prospective 398
grantees can strengthen their application or program services to increase their likelihood of 399
receiving future funding”. 400
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 401
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 402
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 403
approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 404
Sec. 4. Effective date. 405
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 406
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as 407
provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 408
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 409
Columbia Register. 410