Colorado families know that what happens after the last school bell matters as much as what happens before it. The hours between 3 and 6 p.m. — and throughout the summer — are when a child finds a coach, discovers robotics, explores the arts, or comes home to an empty house and a screen. That difference has become one of Colorado’s biggest opportunity gaps, and now we have a rare chance to close it.

Like us, Colorado parents know the value of after-school and summer enrichment. These are not nice-to-haves; they’re must-haves for positive youth development. Kids who have trusted adults and supportive peers engage in less risky behavior, have stronger academic outcomes and feel more hopeful about the future.

But we’re also not naive. Simply having this information doesn’t change parents’ abilities to sign their kids up for additional tutoring, soccer or theater camp. Having access to financial resources makes all the difference.

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The problem is that these opportunities remain out of reach for too many Colorado kids.

Families in the highest income bracket spend nine times more on enrichment than families in the lowest income bracket. Three out of every four kids who want to participate in an after-school program are missing out. Often these are kids attending public schools. That’s not a choice gap. It’s a geography gap, an access gap and a resource gap.

For years, advocates for afterschool and summer enrichment have explored ways to provide more opportunities to kids from low-income backgrounds. Building on their work, Gary Community Ventures, in partnership with the City and County of Denver and Mile High United Way, decided to test what would happen if parents were given the resources — and the agency — to choose the best opportunities for their kids.

We gave parents a $1,000 debit card, vetted more than 200 quality providers and let families decide. Known as My Spark, the program helped more than 4,000 Denver middle schoolers pursue their passion, find purpose and develop resilience. A third-party evaluation revealed 8 in 10 kids felt more connected to peers and trusted adults, had higher self-esteem and stronger ties to their neighborhoods.

These insights, when fueled with public dollars invested in our own backyard, could be one of the most valuable ways to support our public school kids outside of the school day. But, we need greater public investment, especially following the recent cuts state lawmakers made to the modest $25 million Colorado allocates to out-of-school programming annually.

While regulations are due this summer, the new federal tax-credit scholarship program could provide an additional funding source to expand after-school and enrichment programming to kids in public schools. Beginning in 2027, taxpayers can donate up to $1,700 to a Scholarship Granting Organization and receive a dollar-for-dollar credit on their federal taxes. Estimates suggest millions could flow into Colorado annually. Governor Jared Polis made Colorado the first Democratic state to opt in, and he anchored our participation around after-school and summer programs for kids furthest from opportunity.

This opportunity will be defined by what Colorado does next. If we do nothing, we’ll leave precious federal dollars on the table while our kids fall behind those in other states. If we lead, we can expand opportunities for public school kids, build on the choice-driven model My Spark proved over two years, and do it with the community collaboration that has long made our state an outlier in American policymaking.

While some funds may support private school tuition, Colorado also has an opportunity to direct significant resources toward after-school and enrichment programs serving public school students from the Eastern Plains to the Western Slope. We know those concerned about this tax credit share our commitment to helping public school students thrive, and we support this effort only if it advances that goal. We have an unprecedented opportunity to put the well-being of public school kids above adult politics, and we should take it.

But we need partners across philanthropy, education, after-school providers, employers, and policy to come to the table with fresh ideas and questions. We have a proven model. We have the moment. What we need is the will to meet it, together, for the kids who have been waiting the longest.