In cities and towns across America, millions of children and youth get out of school by mid-afternoon but have neither a safe, supervised place to go nor a structured or engaging activity in which to participate. Because the hours between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. are when young people are most likely to be affected by crime or to engage in risky…

This analysis is the sixth of a series of seven reports on the ways that the urban fiscal crisis has affected children. Michigan's depressed economy, retrenchment of public finances, and attendant effects on local government have changed both the process of providing services to early adolescents and the nature of the services themselves. Despite…