The Cawood Ledford Boys and Girls Club (File Photo)

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The federal budget proposed by the White House for the 2026 fiscal year has aspects that could negatively impact local Boys and Girls Clubs of Appalachia (BGCA) services, putting many of the organization’s services in jeopardy should the budget go into effect.

According to a press release from the Boy and Girls Clubs of Appalachia, the budget proposal eliminates completely the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. The 21CCLC program is the sole federal funding source dedicated to supporting after-school and summer learning programs.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Appalachia CEO Kateena Haynes provided some details about the situation during a recent interview.

“One of the ways we’ve been able to grow is through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers,” Haynes said. “We’ve been able to open Boys and Girls Clubs at five local schools; we’re getting ready to move into the sixth school in the fall.”

She explained if the proposed budget passes as is, the 21CCLC clubs located in the schools will likely cease.

“Our 21st Century programs run very similar to our traditional Boys and Girls Clubs,” Haynes said. “We do a lot of the same enrichment activities, we feed the kids, we give them a safe place to go, we have a staff that becomes like family to the kids. We do homework help. We hire teachers at that school to tutor the kids, and then we have development professionals and a coordinator at each site.”

Programs such as life skills programs, drug abuse prevention and others are included.

“The kids come in, get a snack, do their homework, and they receive tutoring,” Haynes said. “Then, they get enrichment programs. It could be STEM programs, robotics, things like that. The main difference between our traditional clubs and our 21st Century Clubs is the 21st Century clubs do have a more academic focus because we are able to hire teachers with that funding and have them on site tutoring the kids.”

Haynes noted there are more than 600 children who regularly take part in the afterschool programs.

“Truly, every child in the school benefits from it because we do outreach and we might give snacks to all the kids or different support,” Haynes said. “It’s really going to affect every child at each school that’s affected, but we have around 600 kids who will be directly affected by losing the afterschool program.”

Haynes pointed out loss of funding would result in loss of jobs.

“If Congress does not intervene, we will be forced to shutter programs that offer homework help, tutoring, mental health support, meals, and a safe place to be during the most vulnerable hours of the day,” states the release. “Hundreds of children and teens could lose access to life-changing services. Fifteen staff members will lose their jobs. Seventeen teachers will lose the supplemental income they earn by supporting our students after school. And working parents will be left without a safety net.”

Haynes mentioned most of the clubs are for elementary and middle school students, however there is a club for high school students at Harlan Independent.

Should the 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding be cut, it is probable all clubs located in the schools will close.

“Unless we have some amazing benefactor pop up, we will have to close six clubs,” Haynes said.

Hynes noted that if the six school-based clubs close, three Boys and Girls Clubs of Appalachia locations will remain in operation, one each in Harlan, Hazard, and Union County.

Haynes is asking for concerned citizens to reach out to their congressmen to express their opinion on the matter.

“On our Facebook page, there’s a link on there and it’s very easy,” Haynes said. “You just go on there and put in your name and email address, it’s already got the letter formatted, you just have to hit submit and it will send it to your congressman.”

The link for contacting your congressman concerning this issue is:

https://bgca.quorum.us/campaign/119396/

“When I did it, I immediately got a response back from (Senator) Rand Paul,” Haynes said. “So, I know that it works. So just go on our website or just reach out to your congressmen. Call them, send them a letter, whatever you can do to help save these programs.”