First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan Announces Expansion of Teen REACH Program

SPRINGFIELD -- First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan today announced the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) will provide nearly $20 million in Fiscal Year 2003 for the Teen REACH after-school program. Teen REACH serves youth in low-income communities.

"Young people need a safe place to go after school," said Mrs. Ryan, whose Futures for Kids initiative coordinates the state's youth prevention programs. "The Teen REACH program provides alternatives to drugs and gangs and gives young people the opportunity to succeed in school and as adults."

Teen REACH stands for Responsibility, Education, Achievement, Caring and Hope. The program, which began in 1998, is aimed at preventing teen pregnancy, alcohol and other drug use and teen violence. Last year, Teen REACH served more than 50,000 children throughout the state.

"Teen REACH is effective in helping youth stay on the right track," said DHS Secretary Linda Reneé Baker. "These grants will provide funding for existing successful Teen REACH programs and enable more communities to develop quality after-school programs."

The number of funded Teen REACH programs now totals 109. In addition, the Illinois Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs received $5 million to continue to provide Teen REACH services through an additional 56 Boys and Girls Clubs throughout the state. Although the appropriation for Teen REACH remained the same from FY2002, the number of agencies that were funded rose from 83 to 109, allowing services to be expanded into previously uncovered areas.

More than two out of three school-age children are in households where both parents, or the only parent, is in the workforce. In Illinois that translates to more than 1.4 million children, many of whom are left unsupervised in the hours after school. Studies have shown that risky behaviors and juvenile crime increase significantly between the hours of 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Since taking office and initiating Futures for Kids in 1999, Governor Ryan has increased funding for Teen REACH by more than $11 million--a 141% boost in funding that enabled more than 100 communities throughout the state to establish programs that help young people make their after-school hours positive and rewarding.

Illinois is one of the few states in the country to address these issues by implementing such a comprehensive after-school program, and also is one of the first to look at the effectiveness of after-school programs. The Center for Prevention Research and Development at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana will continue to work with DHS to evaluate the program. Past evaluations have shown that the more involved a young person is in a Teen REACH Program, the better their problem-solving skills, the more positive their self concept, and the stronger their connections to peers and caring adults in their communities.

The general goal of Teen REACH is to increase academic success while reducing risk-taking behaviors such as substance abuse, criminal activities and premature sexual behavior. The program seeks specifically to address the following five core elements:

• Improving academic performance, which encompasses time to do homework, tutoring in basic skills and enrichment programs that encourage creativity.

• Recreation, sports and activities that provide safe outlets for the participants to try new skills and interests, build friendships, find their place in a group and gain developmentally relevant experiences.

• Positive adult mentors, who allow opportunities for participants to develop and maintain positive, sustained relationships with adults through mentoring and other programs that emphasize one-on-one interactions.

• Life skills education that provides abstinence education from a range of risky-behaviors, such as substance use, criminal involvement, violence and sexual activity.

• Parental involvement so that parents and guardians have opportunities to meet with staff to discuss their children's activities and to participate in events that strengthen parent/child bonds and community involvement.