New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced a $12 million commitment from the New York City-based Wallace Foundation to help strengthen out-of-school programs for city school children.

The grant, which was announced by Bloomberg at his annual State of the City address, will be paid over five years to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit organization. The foundation has been instrumental in supporting the gathering of data that shows gaps in neighborhood provision of out-of-school-time programs and what New York City children and parents want from them, as well as planning efforts based on that data. The new grant will help the city coordinate its out-of-school-time services, set quality standards, support pilot programs, and inform parents and kids of what services are available. Wallace is supporting a similar effort in Providence, Rhode Island.

"Kids spend two-thirds of their time outside of the classroom, so quality out-of-school-time programs play an important role in kids' lives," said Wallace Foundation president Christine DeVita. "We're pleased to join the city's effort to build a more effective system to ensure that New York City kids can find safe, high-quality, and engaging out-of-school-time opportunities."