Bill would order statewide assessment of after‑school and youth programs

Representative Frasier presented House File 1660, which would require the Department of Children, Youth and Families to conduct a statewide needs assessment of out‑of‑school time programming, including after‑school, summer and other youth services. The committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill.

"House File 16 60 is about making sure Minnesota's youth have access to safe, enriching and supportive spaces outside of school hours," Rep. Frasier said. He described gaps in program availability and affordability and said the bill would engage communities to collect data and produce recommendations for expanding access equitably and sustainably.

The bill directs the department to inventory current state, county and city programs, complete a financial assessment and use community engagement to identify barriers to participation and access. Testifiers included community leaders and advocates who described firsthand how after‑school and summer programs provide safe supervised time, enrichment, mentoring and help working families remain employed.

Mira Allen, a community health worker with the Barbershop and Black Congregation Cooperative and a mother, said park‑based and community programming were essential supports for families who cannot afford private programs. Alexandra Fitzsimmons, senior policy director with Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota, told the committee that out‑of‑school programming supports academics, social‑emotional development and identity, citing local CDF Freedom Schools that serve roughly 2,000 Minnesota students and reporting that 85% of scholars maintain or improve reading levels over the summer.

Members asked questions about scope and implementation. Representative Nadeau and others raised concerns about the complexity of cataloging programs across large counties and whether community engagement would surface useful barriers. Rep. Frasier said that the point of an assessment is to identify exactly how successful jurisdictions removed barriers so that those approaches can be scaled statewide. He also said the department had not indicated it could absorb the work without additional funds and that the bill seeks to ensure the assessment is thorough and inclusive.

The committee laid House File 1660 over for possible inclusion in the omnibus package. No formal roll‑call vote was recorded in the transcript.

Representative Frasier noted the assessment should be accessible to working families (for example, by addressing enrollment timing and outreach) and emphasized that the resulting recommendations would be used to draft follow‑up legislation and engage agency leadership in implementation.