State adds $4 million to city’s after-school push

The state is providing more than $4 million in additional funds to organizations providing after-school programs in the city over the next five years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced Friday.

That funding adds to what the city has already budgeted for the programs in middle schools next year, as Mayor Bill de Blasio pushes for all middle school students to have access to after-school activities. The new state funds will support programs for all ages, though, and go directly to the organizations, which include the Children’s Aid Society, NIA Community Services Network, and the Police Athletic League.

The Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation was awarded $193,875 for its programs in Manhattan and Queens, one of the 25 organizations given funding for programs in the city. De Blasio stopped by one of its chess-based summer programs this week.

State officials are awarding $10.9 million to organizations statewide, and organizations in New York City were awarded $4,359,778 altogether.

Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for the state’s Office of Children and Family Services, said the funding is awarded for five-year cycle and is made up of state funds and $500,000 from the federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program.

For next school year, the city is already planning to spend $145 million in state funding to provide 34,000 new seats in middle school after-school programs. Many of the organizations getting the state funding announced Friday were already planning to offer some after-school programs in the city next year.