Washington, D.C.– KABOOM!, the national nonprofit dedicated to ending playspace inequity, applauds Representatives Don Bacon (R-NE) and Nikema Williams (D-GA) for introducing the Prioritizing Lifestyle and Activity for Youth (PLAY) Act. This bipartisan legislation establishes a federal interagency task force to identify and reduce barriers to creating and improving playspaces, ensuring a more efficient and community-focused use of federal resources to promote children’s health and well-being.
Crucially, the PLAY Act directs the task force to identify barriers to “close-to-home, community-driven” outdoor spaces and promote “scalable models, such as public-private partnerships” —the community-led model KABOOM! has championed for nearly 30 years.
Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM!, said, “Kids are facing multiple crises on many different fronts, from higher risks of diet related diseases due to poor nutrition and lack of physical exercise to higher feelings of anxiety and social isolation contributing to the youth mental health epidemic. Play – especially on inclusive, kid and community-designed, high-quality, and safe playspaces – has been proven to help address many of these issues. Unfortunately, not enough kids have access to these kinds of playspaces and that is why we support the PLAY Act. This legislation will help bring all of the federal agencies involved in building outdoor recreational facilities together to help eliminate bureaucratic barriers and streamline funding processes to make it easier to access and braid public resources with private ones. Thank you Representatives Bacon and Williams for introducing this critical legislation.”
When only 1 in 4 kids in the U.S. gets the 60 minutes of recommended daily physical activity by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is a crisis that demands whole-government collaborative action. And one of those areas needing urgent action is the amount and quality of our playspaces. According to the Physical Activity Alliance’s 2024 Report Card, the United States received a D+ score for children’s physical activity, due in large part to inadequate access to outdoor recreation.
The PLAY Act directly addresses this by creating a federal “Task Force on Child Wellness and Physical Activity Infrastructure,” to formalize the needed coordinated federal response. It will be co-chaired by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Interior and include the following agencies:
- Department of Health and Human Services (Co-Chair)
- Department of the Interior (Co-Chair)
- Department of Education
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Transportation
- Council on Environmental Quality
- Department of Defense
- Army Corps of Engineers
- Corporation for National and Community Service
The task force will submit final recommendations to Congress within one year of its initial meeting on how to streamline funding, foster cooperation across agencies, and encourage public-private partnerships which help local municipalities and school districts leverage additional resources and help stretch existing federal funding to help communities build the playspaces kids need.
Over the course of KABOOM!’s history, we have partnered with communities to build or improve thousands of playspaces across the nation. In the past year alone, we built or renovated nearly 70 new playgrounds in over a dozen different states. But that is not enough.
KABOOM! strongly urges Congress to pass this legislation. The PLAY Act will help unlock the resources and coordination needed to address the playspace inequity crisis and build the infrastructure kids and families need to lead healthier, more active lives.
“At Parks & People, we believe every child deserves access to vibrant outdoor spaces that spark wonder, inspire discovery, and invoke awe. We believe such spaces encourage healthy and active lives holistically. The PLAY Act is a critical step toward removing barriers and ensuring communities—especially those historically underserved—can create and sustain these spaces. We applaud Representatives Bacon and Williams for championing legislation that prioritizes play as a cornerstone of child wellness and community health,” said Dr. Franklin Lance, President and CEO of Parks & People.
“Play is what helps kids feel safe and connected. Communities like ours know the transformational power of a simple playground. The PLAY Act recognizes that power and provides the federal coordination needed to help communities build more of it. We are honored to support legislation that brings more play, more belonging, and more opportunity to children and families everywhere,” said Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country.
About KABOOM!
KABOOM! is the national nonprofit committed to ending playspace inequity – the reality that quality places to play are not available to every child, especially in communities of color. Since 1996, KABOOM! has partnered with kids and communities to create or transform 17,000+ playspaces and ensure that more than 12 million kids have equitable access to the critical benefits and opportunities that playspaces offer. KABOOM! continues to make progress on its 25 in 5 Initiative to End Playspace Inequity through new partnerships with a goal of accelerating efforts in 25 municipal systems toward achieving their mission at scale across the United States. Learn more at kaboom.org or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.