District Of Columbia 2025-2026 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill B26-0068 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version Filed 01/22/2025

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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  2 
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  3 
“(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  4 
(4) Paragraph (9) is amended by striking the phr	ase “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  5 
 (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  6 
“(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  7 
“(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  8 
 “(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  9 
 “(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  10 
(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  11 
“(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  12 
“(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  13 
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  14 
“(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  15 
“(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  16 
(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  17 
“(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  18 
“(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  19 
“(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