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CENTER ON JUVENILE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PRESS ROOM | |
| http://www.cjcj.org/index.php |
| Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 54 Dore Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 | Tel: (415) 621-5661 | Fax: (415) 621-5466 |
The Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) stated that a funding decision would be made prior to July 1, the start of the new fiscal year and the day after the termination of JPD's current contracts with non-profit community-based organizations (CBOs). It struck many CBOs that the proposed schedule was a fantasy. CBOs complained amongst themselves that the process was failing. Without contingency planning, it became evident that the JPD leadership was not thinking first of the kids in its care when it started the RFP process. The kids certainly knew it, and several showed up at City Hall on July 3 to ask the local government who would help since the contracts had all ended.
Some CBOs feared that their programs would suffer simply from the delay, and not a denial of funds. For most non-profits in the city, continuing to staff and implement programs is nearly impossible when the money suddenly disappears. The JPD's omission in not providing emergency funds for continuing care signaled to the CBOs and the communities that neither the kids, nor the safety of the public were priorities for the head of the JPD. Because the CBOs generally provide services for kids at greatest risk of re-offending, these youth will be the first to return to juvenile hall on probation violations or new offenses if they lose the stability and support of their case managers.
According to CBOs still waiting for a funding decision, JPD failed to consider the possibility of delay. No mention was made about emergency funding should agencies have to continue operations under dead contracts, nor did the JPD discuss transition planning in the event that an agency with a full caseload of kids suddenly found itself outside of the funding pool.
At the meeting on June 28th, the local non-profits learned that the JPD's failure to think ahead would become their burden. Chief Siffermann's memo to the Commission said that JPD had selected 33 out of 54 applicants for funding. Adding greater confusion and complication to the process, Siffermann informed the Commission that he had made no final decisions as to funding, but had apportioned the $1.5 million available in a seemingly arbitrary manner never previously discussed with the Commission or any of the CBOs. Siffermann further instructed the Commission that he needed only their approval as the selection of CBOs, and he would handle the individual grant agreements and specific distribution of funds for each of the 33 selected agencies as he saw fit. Siffermann's demand prompted the Commission to object.
Based on Siffermann's initial explanation of his funding decision, the CBOs understood that they each would receive less than $40,000 for a year of programming. To many CBOs operating successful programs, this would entail a severe reduction in their services.
Over the past 20 years, local and state governments have come to rely on the work of CBOs to provide social services to the population recognizing the stronger connection and cultural understanding these organizations have to communities.
The final funding decision is now delayed pending ongoing negotiations that the JPD will pursue with the CBOs over the next two weeks. On July 7, JPD notified certain CBOs that the number of grants would be reduced by half. Of the 33 agencies told to expect some funding, an anonymous source has indicated that perhaps only half will actually receive contracts. On July 10, a list of the 16 CBOs who would receive funds was published online at this address (http://www.sfgov.org/site/juvprobation_page.asp?id=42542). Contracts with the 16 CBOs will be negotiated over the next month and the JPD will request another meeting of the Commission to gain approval. Many of the CBOs, funded or not, are asking how the JPD came up with the last 16. These CBOs form a community of their own, and when one organization must forego funding, it impacts the services available to the kids.
Brothers Against Guns is one of the organizations that stands to lose their funding. A group that provides intensive supervision for at-risk youth, their duties range from making sure they get to school on time to making sure they meet their curfew at night. According to the group's Executive Director and founder, Shawn Richard, many of these children will suffer greatly when their contract with JPD ends.
"Nobody will be there, telling them to do the right thing," said Richard.
For Richard, the main problem with the RFP process involved the lack of communication between the JPD and those working directly with the youth the funding is supposed help.
"They never did tell anybody what they were trying to accomplish," said Richard. "They didn't ask for anybody's input. I guess they thought it would be in the kids' best interest to make their decisions without talking to the community people who have been working with these kids for years and years."
While the JPD leadership struggles to determine how to distribute monies in a manner untested and unclear, the population at juvenile hall continues to rise and the CBOs continue to wait to determine whether they will continue to serve San Francisco's most at-risk kids.
The following is a list of the 16 CBOs chosen for the Juvenile Probation and Camps Funding:
Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco
CARACEN
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
Community Youth Center
Girls 2000
Inner City Adolescent Network
Instituto Familiar de la Raza
Mission Neighborhood Centers
Morrisania West
Northern California Service League
OTTP
Samoan Community Development Center
The Turning Heads Project
Vietnamese Youth Development
YGCIC
Young Community Developers
The following is a list of the 17 CBOs initially chosen for the Juvenile and Probation Camps Funding, but no longer under consideration:
Asian Neighborhood Design
Bayview Hunters Point Beacon
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
Brothers Against Guns
Center for Young Women's Development
Community Works
Each One Reach One
Family Restoration House
Huckleberry Youth Programs
OMI/Excelsior Beacon Center
Parents Who Care
Performing Arts Workshops
SAGE
Sunset Youth Services
United Way/Girls Justice Initiative
Vision Youth
YWCA/Come into the Sun
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