Tuesday, April 06, 1999
Rec centers after-school 'home'
City program fills need for working parents
BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The number of children at the Cincinnati Recreation Commission's 30 centers has doubled to more than 9,000 in the last five years.
Open to children ages 12 and younger, just under half of the children are enrolled by their parents for the before- and after-school programs; the rest are “drop-ins” who just stop by to play or use the center.
For Doretha Sydnor, finding the program ended a tough search for safe and affordable after-school care for her two sons.
She found out about the Recreation Center in Bond Hill and there was no waiting list.
So, last fall, her boys — Robert Thompson, 7, and Denzel Sydnor, 6, — swapped classrooms at Taft Elementary School for ones at Bond Hill Academy.
“This was perfect for me. It's hard to find placement for older kids,” the 25-year-old Mount Auburn mother said.
At the end of the school day, Robert and Denzel walk across the schoolyard with other students to the adjoining recreation center.
At the center, they have plenty of choices: They can do homework, work on computers, play basketball or hang out in the game room.
“The whole goal is that when the parent registers their child, the parent knows that child is going to be there,” said Wayne Bain, acting director of the Cincinnati Recreation Commission.
“They know there is a safe place. They know they're being given instructions during the two to three hours they're at the facility.”
Nationally, 7 million latchkey kids under the age of 12 don't have a place to go after school, and federal funds only reach one in 10 latchkey kids, according to Fight Crime-Invest In Kids, an organization of 450 law enforcers and crime survivors based in Washington, D.C.
“There needs to be far more support for after-school programs,” said Sandy New man, president of the nonprofit organization.
When Cincinnati started its recreation program in the early 1970s, there were two or three recreation centers. Today, there are 30, which also serve teen-agers, adults and seniors.
And even more centers are on the way. One will open in Corryville in July or August. Others will open in Madisonville and College Hill in the next two years. Some of the centers also operate before-school and summer programs.
The recreation commission's weekly base fee for before- and after-school care is $15 to $30 per child, depending on sibling and other discounts.
Child care officials say they try to keep costs low. “I've talked to some parents who have said the (costs of private) care programs for their children are astronomical,” Mr. Bain said. “Basically, all we're trying to do is cover the costs of our staff. We're not trying to make a profit.”
Diane Rogers' children — Willie, 11, and Catherine, 10 — attend the Bond Hill after-school program about four hours a week.
The Rogers children say they enjoy the center because they can be around classmates from Eastern Hills Elementary School. The school bus drops them off at the center.
Mrs. Rogers, 41, of Bond Hill, says she likes the staff because they “really seem to care about the kids.”
“Basically, it's a safe environment for my kids,” said Mrs. Rogers, a purchasing agent at University Hospital. She said the child-care arrangements at Bond Hill are “the best thing that's happened to our family.”
Children need “a place to go, they need to know that someone cares for them when their parents aren't around. And in many cases, we're the only parent they have for a large period of time during the day,” Mr. Bain said.
“And we don't mind that. We feel we're there for a reason. We're their mentor, and we're their safe place.”
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