Message from the Co-Chairs

Children and youth across the Commonwealth need our help and support to become caring and productive members of our society. Massachusetts has nearly 1.3 million children and youth; more than 850,000 are ages 5-14 and more than 400,000 are ages 15-19. Nearly 14% of them live at or below the poverty level and over 80% are without access to safe and enriching opportunities when they are out of school.

So our work could not be more timely or urgent. As we continue to debate what children and youth need to become productive adults, it is clear that we need to closely examine how we support their healthy development in and out of school.

As Co-Chairs of this Special Commission, we welcome your input as we work together with our 36 members to craft proposals on how best to support the future success of our children and youth.

Full message from the Co-Chairs

Purpose of the Special Commission

The Massachusetts Special Commission on After School and Out of School Time was created by the Massachusetts Legislature to "study and recommend how to' define and 'better coordinate, expand, finance and improve accessible, affordable, and quality out-of-school time programming for school age children in all settings in Massachusetts."

Learn more about Special Commission vision and purpose.

Special Commission Leadership and Members

The Special Commission is co-chaired by Senator Thomas McGee, the Chair of the Senate Labor and Workforce Development Committee and by Representative Marie St. Fleur, the Vice-Chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means. The Commission has 36 members representing community-based and faith-based organizations, public and private schools, child care organizations, advocacy, and parent-teacher organizations.

Working Groups

The Special Commission is convening three working groups that will develop recommendations in three key areas:

  1. Information and Access
  2. Quality, Workforce and Professional Development
  3. Sustainability.

Learn more about how Special Commission works.

Special Commission Fact Sheet

Download this fact sheet about the Special Commission to learn more. The PDF will open in a new window.

After School Special Commission Fact Sheet (in PDF)