P.A.L. Program Has Postive Impact After First Year

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Contact: Greg Bayor, 301-217- 6820
For Immediate Release: August 11, 1998

P.A.L. PROGRAM
HAS POSTIVE IMPACT
AFTER FIRST YEAR

One year after the County's first Police Activities League (P.A.L.) Recreation Center was opened at the Good Hope Community Center, officials are calling it a success.

Introduced last July, the program provides recreational and educational opportunities for local youth, ages seven through 18, after school and during the summer. Free activities -- including sports, arts, crafts, games, and tutoring - are conducted by police officers. The center is part of a P.A.L. pilot program conducted cooperatively by the County's Recreation and Police departments and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Park Police. The program was designed so it could be instituted at other community centers throughout the county.

According to a survey of participants, parents and two local schools, the youths generally have shown improved grades and decreased use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Sixty of the 100 students who regularly attend the P.A.L. program were surveyed.

ACADEMICS
Of the P.A.L. participants who attended Briggs Chaney Middle School, one-third showed improved grades and one-third maintained honor-roll grades throughout the year. Only one student had declining grades.

Of those who attended Francis Scott Key Middle School, each showed "marked improvement in academic achievement," according to their counselor, Sandra Sue Tuttle.

"I have noticed great strides in their willingness to work, [in] adult and peer relationships and overall attitude regarding school," Tuttle reported. "As a group, there has been a reduction in referrals and detention time served. In particular, I have seen a greater willing ness to accept adult direction and help in resolving conflicts peacefully."

Ninety-eight percent of the students surveyed reported that the Homework Club offered at the center helped them to understand their homework assignments.

Ninety-five percent reported that the Homework Club helped them complete their homework accurately.

Ninety-eight percent said they feel P.A.L. staff cares about their grades.

All students surveyed said it was important to them that they at least finish high school.

All of the parents surveyed felt their children benefited from the Homework Club and that the staff has a genuine interest in their children's academic careers.

TOBACCO/ALCOHOL/DRUG USE
Thirty-four percent of the participants surveyed reported having smoked cigarettes; less than six percent reported having smoked since joining P.A.L.

Sixty percent reported having drunk alcohol; less than two percent reported drinking since becoming a member of P.A.L.

Eight and a half percent reported they had used illegal substances; none reported any drug use since joining the P.A.L. program.

JUVENILE CRIME
Since the P.A.L. program began in July 1997, there have been only two juvenile arrests in the police reporting area covering the vicinity of the Good Hope Community Center.

Recreation Department Director Greg Bayor calls P.A.L. "a perfect example of a program providing educational opportunities and positive role models for kids while allowing them to have fun."

For more information about the P.A.L. Center program, call the Good Hope Community Center at 301-989-1210.

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