An estimated eight million school children between the ages of five and 14 go home to an empty house on a regular basis. Many of these children are left alone for as many as four hours a day. For communities across America, these unsupervised hours after school ends mean both heightened risks and missed opportunities.

This action kit illustrates the many ways in which municipal leaders can craft a strategy to expand afterschool opportunities, and in the process, advance the goals of public safety, academic achievement, and youth development in their communities.