DCYF and First 5 outline youth-service spending plan as Prop 10 revenue declines

Maria Su, director of the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families, told the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee on April 27 that DCYF’s two largest expenditure lines are grants to community-based organizations and work orders to other city departments, and that DCYF allocated approximately $60,000,000 in direct grants in fiscal year 2014–15. "We will we are looking at almost $80,000,000 of unprogrammed funds over the next 2 years," Su said, citing scheduled charter growth in the Children and Youth Fund.

Why it matters: DCYF said the additional funds will be guided by stakeholders and an oversight and advisory committee created under the renewed Children and Families First Initiative, a voter-approved measure that extended services up to age 24 and set a five-year planning cycle. Su said DCYF has already allocated additional dollars to expand summer programming and to fund transitional-age-youth (TAY) services after releasing an RFP for that population, which she called "high need, high risk."

First 5 San Francisco presented a related, separate budget. "For this year, our funding was 5.8," Ingrid Mesquite said, describing Prop 10 tobacco-tax allocations and projections. Mesquite (First 5 San Francisco) told the committee she expects Prop 10 revenue to decline with projections of 5.8 in 2015–16, 5.3 in 2016–17 and 5.1 in 2017–18, and that First 5 has established a reserve set aside more than a decade ago that it is using incrementally to smooth funding as the tax base declines.

First 5 also described a shift in strategy: Mesquite said the commission has completed a strategic plan and will focus investments where they can have the most impact, including quality-rating and improvement systems and early-childhood health and mental-health consultation. Mesquite told the committee First 5’s total budget for FY2016–17 is "a little bit over 28,000,000," reflecting changes tied to the Preschool for All transition to the Mayor’s Office of Early Care and Education.

What was asked: Supervisors asked for clarification on specific allocations — Supervisor Yee confirmed that the Human Services Agency funding figure referenced by First 5 was for the Family Resource Center — and pushed for continued conversation on how unprogrammed Children and Youth Fund dollars will be prioritized.

Next steps: Chair Farrell and the committee continued Items 1–3 to the call of the chair for follow-up budget hearings.

Ending: DCYF and First 5 staff said they would continue to work with the board and stakeholders to finalize grant allocations and implementation details.