Little Rock, AR – U.S. Representative Vic Snyder announced today that the Pulaski County Council for Children and Youth Services’ Our Club program, which provides prevention and intervention services to young people aged 12 to 18, has been awarded a grant in the amount of $345,530.

Our Club aims to decrease youth involvement in gangs, crime, violence, and substance abuse by coordinating prevention efforts and juvenile services and at-risk youth programs throughout Pulaski County.

“The Our Club program is great for kids….and great for us,” Congressman Vic Snyder said.

Last June Congressman Snyder requested and received funding for the Our Club program in the Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The grant announced this week is awarded through the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Our Club will provide educational, health, and academic programs to 300 young people aged 12 to 18 in five structured community-based after-school settings in Pulaski County.  The programs target high school youth exposed to community risk factors of unemployment and crime. The goal of the program is to enhance the protection of these young people, and to increase their commitment to education and reduce their exposure to the juvenile justice system. The program also seeks to increase the accessibility of after-school programs and enrichment activities, and to provide ACT preparation classes.