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Council presses OCA on out-of-school time cuts, contract capacity and youth workforce roles
Summary
Council members raised concerns that OCA cuts to after-school and summer program lines, combined with fewer contract compliance staff, could reduce program spots and strain providers. OCA and budget staff said some funding was reallocated or transferred and described partnerships for youth workforce pay and administration.
Denver (Consolidated County and City) — Council members asked whether cuts to after-school and summer program lines and reductions in OCA contract staff will reduce program capacity for children, and how youth workforce programs are administered and paid.
At the hearing, a council member said it appeared after-school and summer programs had a roughly $2.5 million reduction and 4.5 fewer employees; OCA staff responded that budget presentation lines are reorganized and some dollars were administratively shifted into a unified youth development and engagement cost center. Budget Management Office Director Justin Sykes told the committee that the net reduction on a specific general-fund after-school line was about $500,000 and that other dollars were moved between cost centers.
Contract monitoring capacity Jess Ridgeway said OCA currently has one contract compliance staff member and that the office previously had one contract administrator and two contract compliance associates (one of whom resigned about a year earlier). Ridgeway said OCA is working with General Services and Accounting Services to streamline contracting and monitoring processes.
Workforce and My Denver / 5-by-5 partnerships Council members asked about the youth workforce program and which agency pays youth wages. Ridgeway said OCA helps connect youth to opportunities and partnerships but does not operate payroll: Employment administration (paying youth) is handled by Denver Economic Development & Opportunity (DEDO/DETO), which runs administrative and payment systems; OCA provides outreach to youth and engages community partners. Ridgeway said some workforce dollars have come from the Broncos Fund and one-time governor or grant dollars in prior years.
On cultural access and My Denver cards, Ridgeway said the My Denver program is administered by Denver Parks and Recreation and that OCA has historically helped connect cultural institutions to the card. On the 5-by-5 program (a Head Start cultural-partner program), Ridgeway reported about $3,600,000 in in-kind services to Head Start families and said partners sometimes extend benefits to mixed classrooms beyond Head Start enrollees.
Why it matters: Committee members warned that reduced contract staff and funding shifts could slow procurement, delay awards and constrain providers who plan annual summer and school-year programming. OCA and budget staff committed to provide more detail to council members and to work with General Services on contracting efficiency.
Ending note Council members asked for provider-level impacts (how many program spots may be lost) and OCA/BMO said they would follow up. The committee also requested OSCI to brief the committee on youth violence prevention transfers and grant cycles.
