Past the middle of July, amid a bipartisan push to release the funds, the Trump administration decided to release part of the $6.8 billion allocated for before- and after-school programs, as well as summer programs.

Now, after-school organizations in the state are preparing for change aligning with Trump policies. And, while the Utah State Board of Education has secured the funding, questions about the future of the program that serves about 10,000 children in the state remain unanswered.

The board is currently reviewing any additional requirements that may be attached to the funding, said Ben Trentelman, executive director at Utah Afterschool Network. Then, the state will be able to reimburse summer and after-school programs for their operational costs.

“​​It was referred to by the administration as guardrails to ensure that the programs were not implementing programming or activities that are counter to the focus of the administration,” Trentelman said. “And so I think that that does pertain to some things like diversity, equity and inclusion and similar areas.”

Utah already has a law restricting DEI initiatives in public institutions, which has led programs overseen by the board of education to pivot to ensure compliance with state code.

Before the administration change and the freeze, the programs followed requirements to qualify for the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers Grants — maintaining an average daily attendance, serving a certain minimum number of students, and ensuring the programs aren’t used for political activities, among others, Trentelman said. Now, word from other states is that there may be additional anti-DEI and U.S. citizenship requirements.

The after-school program network hasn’t seen any official guidance from the board, Trentelman said. The board didn’t reply to an interview request from Utah News Dispatch.

“We still have a lot of questions about how programs are able to operate moving into the future,” Trentelman said. “We know that the funding is available, but we’re unsure about what guardrails may exist and how these programs are allowed to move forward.”

The programs don’t currently ask for students’ citizenship status, aside from demographic surveys which include a question on refugee status. The citizenship question hasn’t come up in Utah programs, but other states are already looking into the requirement’s legality.

“Something that I think is important is that when we think about inclusion, we’re really looking at ensuring that youth of all abilities have a place to go, that youth are able to participate in an after-school program,” he said, “regardless of their background, or ethnicity, or income, or any of those things.”

A challenging time

After-school and summer programs have been alternatives for families looking for safe spaces for their children while they are busy with work or other responsibilities.

Trentelman has watched how the stability and routine of the programs allow children to thrive in their educational paths. However, that stability was called into question with the funding unpredictability.

“A number of organizations were thrown into a bit of disarray as they were trying to navigate exactly how they could best move forward,” he said. “We did see some programs that did elect to reduce their staff size, or move staff to more limited hours. We did see some organizations that did shut down for the summer prematurely because they did not have the savings established to be able to support their operation without consistent payments on funds that they had been promised.”

The uncertainty is extending beyond this year, even if the funding has been released. It was already difficult to keep a full staff with typically low-paying, entry-level positions. Wages for after-school staff start between $13 to $15 an hour, and the work week is usually 20 to 30 hours.

“(Providers) are faced with the additional challenge of the uncertainty of the field, knowing that funds may have come out for this year, but we still don’t know what’s happening in the next year,” Trentelman said. “People are going to be questioning the stability of entering this work.”

In an informal survey of the programs, Trentelman heard about four organizations, which manage about 15 programs, planning to reduce staff and program hours. That may hit rural communities the hardest, where there are fewer child care or after-school options.

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.