Correction: Little Rock’s Department of Community Programs plans to fund youth programs in 2014 at the same level it did last year, Communications and Marketing Manager Ben Thielemier said Wednesday. The department’s overall base budget is $5.5 million. Officials did not renew contracts for four of the programs this year, but said they plan to use money that would have operated them to fund similar ones through different providers later in the year. This article incorrectly stated the base budget amount and that the city would reduce funding to youth programs, some of which, but not all, target at-risk youths. The article also didn’t state that the city plans to restart similar programs later this year. Also, funding proposed for nFocus services is $30,000 less than last year. A number provided by the city and included in this article incorrectly stated the organization’s 2013 allotment.
Little Rock officials have recommended no longer funding four programs and lowering the amount given to others to decrease city assistance to prevention, intervention and community enhancement efforts for youths to about $3.1 million this year.
That’s down more than $352,000 from 2013’s funding cycle.
Major re commended changes include completely cutting support to two Pulaski County Youth Services after-school programs and the Ministry of Intercession’s two initiative programs for girls. Officials recommend continuing to fund the third Pulaski County after-school program and the ministry’s two programs for boys.
Proposed assistance to Our House homeless shelter, Sylvan Learning Centers and management information service provider nFocus were reduced by $117, $40,000 and $50,000, respectively.
The Little Rock Board of Directors agreed at a short agenda meeting Tuesday to discuss and vote on the recommendations at next Tuesday’s 6 p.m. board meeting at City Hall.
Over the past decade, city directors have continually questioned financial assistance to the programs, which focus on troubled youths and fall under the city’s Community Programs Department. Last year, city directors raised concerns about whether the efforts have actually helped troubled youths and how a program’s results are gauged.
At-large City Director Joan Adcock reiterated those concerns Tuesday.
“To just ask me to come up here and approve the programs for another year without any type of presentation or narrative about what the outcomes have been for these programs” is unacceptable, she said. “I would like to know the number [of participants] they have had and the outcomes they had and the measures they used for the outcomes.”
City staff members are expected to provide that information at next week’s board meeting.
Included in the proposed allocations is $160,000 for New Futures for Youth, a nonprofit that provides training on prevention and intervention programs. Ward 2 City Director Ken Richardson, who works at New Futures, was not at Tuesday’s meeting.
City directors didn’t mention his involvement with the group, but that was a point of concern during last year’s funding discussions. Richardson recused himself from prior votes on the topic.
If approved as written, nearly $2.2 million will be distributed to 15 agencies that operate 27 youth initiative or after-school and out-of-school programs for youths ages 6 to 17 in five targeted neighborhoods known as East, Central, Midtown, Southwest and West.
The agencies are three locations of the Little Rock Boys and Girls Clubs, St. John Baptist Church, the Family Development Center, Better Community Development, Greater Second Care, the Ministry of Intercession, Hunter United Methodist Church, Promiseland CDC, Pulaski County Youth Services, Guiding Others to Deliverance, Our House, Faith Care InnerCity Futurenet, In His Image Youth Development Center, Life Skills for Youth and Positive Impact for Youth.
Another $793,000 would fund 14 community enhancement programs or services run by 12 agencies for youths ages 6 to 19. Those agencies are Positive Images in Christ, Arkansas Community Dispute Resolution Centers, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Society, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the Museum of Discovery, Sylvan Learning Centers, Pulaski County Youth Services, Junior Achievement, the First Tee, the Little Rock School District, Arkansas Cradle to Prison Pipeline and nFocus.
The Community Programs Department’s $11 million base budget comes from 1994 and 2011 voter-approved citywide sales-tax increases.
The only other changes proposed to last year’s funding amounts is an additional $35,000 in aid to Positive Impact for Youth’s after-school program and an added $5,000 for the school district’s Computer 4 Kids program.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 03/12/2014