9 million in funding from the Florida Families First Budget for the Florida Alliance of the Boys and Girls Club.
Boys and Girls Clubs provide safe places where children learn, grow, get help with homework, and develop coping skills that help them avoid various destructive influences in a fast-paced, complex world.
According to Florida TaxWatch, taxpayers also benefit from Boys and Girls Club programs: for every youth who is diverted from criminal activities, $5,000 in public costs are avoided, and for every youth diverted from incarceration, the state saves $45,000.
The Florida Families First budget includes $4 million in education funding for the mentoring program and $5 million in juvenile justice funding for delinquency prevention programs.
“The Florida Families First Budget truly invests in our state’s future generations,” said Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walter, “By placing an emphasis on programs like Boys and Girls Clubs that help at-risk young people before they get in trouble, youth are less likely to ever become delinquent, which means safer, stronger communities more equipped to produce a generation of successful Floridians.”
Of Florida’s 235 Boys and Girls Clubs, 12 are in Broward County.
