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Committee delays $2.4M juvenile-justice supplemental to Dec. 6 while approving partial reserves
Summary
The committee approved partial releases and held off on approving the full $2.4 million supplemental appropriation for juvenile probation and violence-prevention contracts, asking the Budget Analyst and three departments to provide a program-level analysis by Dec. 6.
The Budget and Finance Committee on Nov. 15 moved to continue consideration of a roughly $2.4 million supplemental appropriation for juvenile probation and violence-prevention contracts until Dec. 6, while approving partial, immediate actions to address staffing pressures.
Clerk-read Item 3 sought appropriations for six deputy probation officers, two juvenile counselors and approximately $1.978 million in violence-prevention contracts administered through the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families (DCYF). Committee members and the Budget Analyst’s Office said the item requires cross-departmental analysis because funds shifted among the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ), Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) and DCYF have left program gaps. Deborah Newman of the Budget Analyst’s Office said updated projections showed higher-than-expected juvenile-hall populations and overtime use, recommending that hiring of certain positions be treated as a policy decision with reserve language attached.
Chief Bill Sifferman of Juvenile Probation described an 90% increase in admissions over the previous year and pleaded for staffing flexibility to avoid unsafe overtime and workers’ compensation risks. Provider groups and juvenile-hall staff, including the Juvenile Justice Providers Association and a senior juvenile-hall counselor, urged the committee to approve positions and funds to restore leadership development, case management and other prevention services they say were cut.
Committee members agreed not to approve the full supplemental without the requested program-level accounting but indicated flexibility: departments may use existing funded vacant positions to begin hiring immediately if those positions are in the same job classes. The committee set a Dec. 6 deadline for the Budget Analyst and departments to provide a coordinated analysis of which services were cut and where DCYF funding could fill gaps. The committee also agreed to put a committee reserve on undetermined portions of the proposed appropriation to avoid premature full release.
Next steps: the Budget Analyst, JPD, MOCJ and DCYF will reconcile program-level changes and present their findings at the Dec. 6 committee meeting.
