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Budget committee backs $2 million supplemental to restore violence-prevention funding, blends Children's Fund and general fund
Summary
The Budget & Finance Committee moved a $2,006,473 supplemental package to restore violence-prevention contracts and add juvenile probation positions, proposing a mix of Children's Fund balance and General Fund reserve to spread funding over a multi-year plan.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget and Finance Committee voted Tuesday to advance a supplemental appropriation intended to restore funding cut from community-based violence-prevention contracts and to add juvenile probation staffing.
The ordinance before the committee would appropriate $2,006,473 in total, including $1,000,000 from the Children's Fund balance, $779,370 from the General Fund Reserve and $227,103 from Title IV-E foster care funds, according to a staff summary reported to the committee.
Margaret Brodkin, identified in committee discussion as the department head overseeing the program area, and Budget Analyst staff described a prior reduction in contract spending of $916,785 and recommended backfilling that gap. "We came up with an amount of $916,785 in actual reductions in funding," the budget analyst told the committee. The committee's approach was to provide one year of General Fund backfill while using the Children's Fund to help sustain a three-year program cycle.
Community providers urged the committee to annualize funding and favored a three-year cycle to avoid one-time starts and subsequent cuts. Jessica Azard of the Juvenile Justice Providers Association said the group supports hiring the six additional probation officers if the department submits a comprehensive plan for girls' probation services and program design input from community stakeholders.
Chief Sifferman of the Juvenile Probation Department responded that the department supports enhanced, gender-specific programming and is "looking forward to increasing those services to young women," and that several meetings with providers have already occurred.
Committee members debated funding sources and mechanics: Noel Simmons of the Mayor's Budget Office explained that the Children's Fund is charter-established and limited to services for those under 18, and that carry-forward or multi-year appropriation strategies are possible. Supervisors proposed an amendment allocating approximately $333,333 per year over three years from the Children's Fund while using General Fund reserve for an initial one-year backfill.
The committee moved the amended package to the full Board of Supervisors with recommendation.
Next steps: The measure will be considered by the full board; implementation details, including the distribution across community-based organizations and the three-year programming plan, will be worked out between DCYF, the Mayor's Budget Office and contract administrators.
