Why Prime Time? 
The hours between 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. can be “crime time” or “Prime Time.” These are the hours when many children and youth engage in or are subject to at-risk behaviors such as violence, drug and alcohol use, and/or other potentially dangerous activities. These are the hours when millions of children go home alone or are left on their own without adult supervision. Palm Beach County views these hours as “Prime Time” for enrichment activities, extended learning opportunities, exposure to social, cultural, and arts experiences, and time for positive social development.

At issue are a number of factors: accessibility, affordability, and especially, quality of structured afterschool opportunities for children and youth.

School-age afterschool providers in Palm Beach County recognized this.  In 1996, the Palm Beach County Out-of-School Consortium was formed to share resources and enhance existing afterschool and summer programs for students K-12 in Palm Beach County.  Initial partners in this effort included the School District of Palm Beach County, the Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County, the Palm Beach County Department of Parks and Recreation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

During the Spring of 1997, members of the Consortium facilitated a planning process to share best practices in afterschool programming.  At that time, a Coordinating Council was established to help guide the work and continue to direct the activities of the Consortium.  

Over the course of two years, the Council developed a structure and implemented a work plan to form a new non-profit - Prime Time Palm Beach County, Inc. 

Prime Time has received funding from the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, The Picower Foundation, and the Sun Sentinel Children's Fund.  

Some of our Accomplishments:

• Convened school-age afterschool stakeholders to establish quality standards for Palm Beach County Afterschool programs.
• Launched a pilot quality improvement program with nearly 40 afterschool providers in Palm Beach County.
• Advocated for the Advancing Youth Development curriculum to be available to school-age providers as part of the 40-hour childcare requirement for licensing.
• Established and built capacity within local community resources organizations to support quality afterschool programs in western and central Palm Beach County.
• Engaged more than 20,000 children and youth in our program enhancements.
• Awarded more than 800 scholarships to afterschool professional staff for college course work, professional credentialing and to attend conferences.
• Provided access to more then 3,500 pieces of equipment though the Prime Time Lending Library to support program enhancements.