Description of support system:
A neighborhood network of at-home parents who can keep an eye on what the older kids are up to during the after school hours before dinner. (This is for kids in the 13 - 16 year age range.)

How it works:
Organize a network that includes all parents and other available adults to monitor a specific group of kids too old for regular after school programs during the after school/before dinner hours. Make a calendar and have each parent in the network sign up for responsibility as "adult on duty" for specific days. Make a contact sheet for use by the adults on duty to use in dealing with emergencies and other unexpected after school events. Include telephone numbers of the parents, doctor and other emergency information for each child. Each parent in the network gets a copy of the list of information and the calendar.

The adult on duty responsibilities moves from one family to the next on a daily basis, rotating throughout the week. The adult on duty is responsible for after school snacks and a check-in with the whole group of kids; the group of kids stays together throughout the after school hours until the working parents return home.

The kids are responsible to be at the appropriate house at their individual pick-up time, to do their homework or other after school chores (paper route, etc.), and get the opportunity to run about and have some fun after their school day.

If there is an emergency or other unexpected need, all contact information (parent as well as alternative care-giver, emergency info, etc.) is available for the adult on duty to use to deal with the situation, and the child's parent is contacted immediately so that the adult on duty has the information and assistance necessary to care for the need and remain available to the other kids in the group.

Other comments or suggestions:
If your network consists of 4 or 5 families, potentially each adult would only need to be home from work one afternoon every other week (more or less depending upon the number of families and the number of adults in each family). I have read that statistically crime is lower in neighborhoods where children feel that a responsible adult will step in to a situation whether it concerns their own children or not. This idea encourages a neighborhood network where the kids feel someone is always aware of what is going on, and where they feel if there is a problem they can't talk with their own parents about, there is another adult readily available.

Mechanisms for dealing with unruly/uncooperative kids in the group need to be worked out ahead of time so that no adult on duty ever feels they are being taken unfair advantage of.

When children are in this age range, it truly does take a village to help in the raising!