A LETTER FROM OUR PARTNERS AT RHODE ISLAND AFTERSCHOOL NETWORK (RIAN):
Dear RIAN Members and Partners,
We want to make you aware of an important development that could create a significant new investment in youth mental health and out-of-school time programming across Rhode Island.
Rhode Island is participating in a multistate settlement with Meta related to the effects of Facebook and Instagram on children and teens. Subject to court approval and the agreement’s conditions, Rhode Island is slated to receive approximately $4.5 million annually in guaranteed installments over ten years, along with a separate payment of approximately $4.36 million. The Rhode Island-specific terms direct the funds toward youth mental health programming, and the broader settlement expressly identifies afterschool and summer programs as allowable uses.
RIAN is leading efforts to ensure that the out-of-school time field has a strong and coordinated voice as Rhode Island determines how these funds will be used.
This work builds on several months of collaboration with our national partner, Fund IRL, as well as conversations RIAN began with the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office before the settlement was reached. In those conversations, we emphasized the essential role OST programs play in supporting youth mental health by creating belonging, trusted relationships, meaningful activities, and healthy alternatives to excessive social media use.
RIAN is now engaging Senator Alana DiMario and Representative Mary Ann Shallcross Smith, the legislative sponsors of the BOOST Bill, to consider how the bill could provide a framework for a meaningful and sustained investment in community-based youth mental health supports through afterschool and summer programs.
No Rhode Island funding or grant process has been established yet. RIAN’s immediate priorities are to:
- Advocate for a dedicated and transparent allocation of settlement funds for youth mental health.
- Ensure that before-school, afterschool and summer programs are explicitly included in Rhode Island’s funding priorities.
- Bring OST providers, young people, mental health partners, policymakers, and state leaders into the planning process.
- Develop a statewide approach that includes direct program support, workforce training, technical assistance, youth voice, and evaluation.
- Ensure that this opportunity results in a clear and measurable commitment to Rhode Island’s young people.
We will keep the field informed as the court process and state-level discussions move forward. We will also create opportunities for providers to share program examples, data, youth perspectives, and community needs that can strengthen the case for investment in OST.
This is still an emerging opportunity, and many decisions remain to be made. RIAN will continue leading and coordinating this work on behalf of the field, in partnership with our members and allies.
Thank you for being part of this effort.
Michael Dunican
Statewide Director, RIAN
www.riafterschool.org