SPRINGFIELD – Youth relying on after-school, employment and violence prevention programs are one step closer to having their needs met thanks to legislation that passed out of the Senate today.

Sen. Mattie Hunter of Chicago voted in favor of a budget plan to fund youth-targeted programs and reduce violence.

"Keeping our after-school programs and pipelines to employment open for teens keeps them off of the street," said Hunter, a member of the Senate Human Services Committee. 'Illinois' youth can no longer be used a bargaining chips in distracting debate over the governor's turnaround agenda. In Chicago, having a safe place to go and access to jobs is a matter of life and death for too many of our young people."

Senate Bill 2046 would provide money for after-schools, violence prevention, youth jobs and Redeploy Illinois, a program that stops teens from entering the criminal justice system.

In December 2015, students of After School Matters' TechKno Camp interviewed Hunter about reducing violence during a tour of the after-school program's facility.

In 2014, teens and young adults across Illinois expressed how state-funded programs saved their lives, took them off the street and prepared them for entering the workforce.

The funding proposal also allows the governor to restore MAP grants and prevent public universities from closing.

Senate Bill 2046 passed 38-17 and now goes to the governor's desk.