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Committee accepts several proposed contract reductions and probes one‑time funding for replacements
Summary
The committee reviewed executive-proposed reductions to underperforming youth contracts and heard that DHHS intends to replace some services through a RecMode pilot funded with JUUL settlement funds and by restructuring other contracts. Members accepted reductions but requested assurances about continuity and future operating funding.
Council staff presented a series of proposed executive reductions for underperforming or mismatched contracts: Lead for Life (significant reduction cited due to low client numbers), therapeutic recreation contracts (restructured as therapeutic mentoring but narrowed), Play Ball Academy (reduced due to low enrollment), and a reduction to expansion funding for the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) with a plan to pilot RecMode using JUUL settlement funds.
"This is more of a kind of an outreach in finding the youth, but they are not actually providing any of the services anticipating any impact by eliminating this contract," a DHHS presenter said about the Lead for Life contract while explaining anticipated mitigations.
Council members pressed DHHS and OMB on the decision to use one‑time JUUL settlement funds to stand up replacement services (RecMode) for an ongoing operating need. Several members warned that shifting recurring services to one‑time funds risks gaps in FY27 and beyond unless the county plans to include permanent operating dollars later; DHHS and OMB said RecMode is a pilot and may be continued in future years if successful. The committee accepted the executive reductions and asked DHHS to return to full council with follow-up on continuity, metrics, and the plan for sustaining effective pilots beyond one‑time funding.
On several contracts deemed underperforming, DHHS said services are being absorbed into other county programs or restructured. Committee members asked for clearer language in packet materials to reflect that an LAYC reduction was being replaced in FY26 by one‑time RecMode funding with the “intention to continue” pending an evaluation. The committee recorded acceptance of the reductions with those clarifying notes for the full-council packet.
