Publications and Toolkits

Corporate Voices and Business Roundtable are calling for a renewed emphasis on high-quality early care and education in a policy paper, "Why America Needs High-Quality Early Care and Education."

Afterschool programs need the support of their whole community to thrive, and businesses are always a big part of the community. These are the companies that employ the working parents whose children need a safe place to learn and grow after school.

This toolkit has been designed by Corporate Voices for Working Families to serve as a resource that will direct and inspire proactive business engagement in afterschool policies and programs at the community level and will lead to policies and community outreach that garner widespread public support.

Afterschool programs keep kids safe, increase academic success and help working families. So what does all that do for the business community? Plenty.

There is and has been a significant interest and investment in after school by corporations for over a decade. The amount spent by companies interviewed totaled $136.6 million invested in after school initiatives for 2005. Over the last five years, the total investment reaches over $1 billion invested in afterschool and related youth development and parent education programs and resources.

While many businesses understand the important effects that high-quality afterschool programs and services can have on their bottom line and productivity, they are unsure how to become involved.

Over the past decade, the business community has been a leader in supporting quality afterschool programs for young people through the creation of innovative public-private initiatives as well as through private philanthropic efforts.

Over the past two decades business leaders have invested time, expertise and resources in efforts to improve K-12 education in the United States. What we have learned leads us to conclude that America’s continuing efforts to improve education and develop a world-class workforce will be hampered without a federal and state commitment to early childhood education for 3- and 4-year-old children.