RENO — U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, R-Carson City, made an appearance at Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Northern Nevada’s Apple Street offices Tuesday to hear the organization’s concerns about funding for recruitment and programming to put at-risk youth back on track academically and socially.

BBBS president and CEO Pat Fling said it was an opportunity for the congressman to hear how important it is to level the playing field in the local area.

“He’s visited us before and he’s been very receptive,” Fling said. “He understands how critical it is for the community to get involved in what I call a tale of two cities. Some kids do well and go to Stanford (University) while others are not doing well and they’re unprepared for jobs and with this economy that’s hard enough.”

The program that pairs adult mentors with children most impacted by poverty is pursuing federal grant money, so it received Heller Tuesday as a possible ally to spur government action to bring funding into Nevada for BBBS’ needs.

Heller commended the organization’s efforts as he discussed the nature of the economy being the single most important impact to helping children affected by broken families, whether their parents are incarcerated, unemployed or underemployed.

“As I listen, it makes me feel better as a father that what I try to teach my children – and I have two boys and two girls – you’re teaching the same to your littles,” Heller said.

Beverly Lassiter, grant writer for BBBS, reported to Heller that there are 15,000 children in northern Nevada between Washoe and Douglas counties and Carson City who live in poverty, with poverty being defined as families of at least three living on less than $18,000 a year. Other BBBS board members provided sobering statistics teens have reported from past surveys. One statistic stated that 52.5 percent of high school youth have reported having sexual intercourse at least once.

Heller also heard that to help improve its programming for at-risk youth, BBBS has applied for six federal grants this year for a grand total of nearly $5.5 million. Four of the grants are from the U.S. Department of Justice and two from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Grants include training big brothers and sisters to become advocates for children at school, providing mentoring services for youth crime offenders so they will not reoffend, partnering with the Second Judicial District Court’s Juvenile Drug Court for integrated case management and transition services for youth as well as providing outreach to the tribal youth of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and others.

Heller said it was important to seek out better opportunities for disadvantaged youth.

“When I grew up, it was always expected you’d do better than your parents,” he said.

Sparks Police Chief Steve Keefer also attended the meeting. He recently joined the organization’s think tank group to discuss areas of concern for BBBS. He said the Sparks Police Department recently has been impacted by the recruiting efforts BBBS has made. He said that from a law enforcement perspective and seeking to prevent crime, children who come from struggling or incarcerated families often end up repeating their parents’ behaviors.

“It’s a vicious cycle,” Keefer said of those children his patrol officers and detectives frequently encounter on the streets. “We’re creatures of habit and the kids watch if their parents get involved with controlled substances or if they’re experiencing domestic violence.”

Fling said one recent recruiting day produced eight officers from the Sparks Police Department who volunteered.

Heller said after the meeting that the message for organizations like BBBS is to find ways to help children stay in school and provide prevention and intervention measures to encourage their success.

“We have been helping,” Heller said. “We’ve been finding out what their needs are and we write letters to federal agencies and we talk about the success with these programs. We also look at appropriations and how we can maintain them. … Big Brothers Big Sisters knows how important it is and developing these kinds of related services is critically important.”