Latest news with #youthservices
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sacramento residents: We need you to fight against proposed parks department cuts
The City of Sacramento faces a $44 million city budget structural deficit. As commissioners for the City of Sacramento's Department of Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment, we have heard from neighbors who have expressed to us their fears about how Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment's staffing, programming and services will be impacted. The current city budget proposes to eliminate 70 vacant full-time equivalent positions, with 54 of those coming from the Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment department. Any and every cut to the Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment budget will severely impact the essential services our department provides to the City of Sacramento and its ability to add and expand programming. Each cut to our budget means less maintenance in our 237 city parks, less programming at our 15 community centers and fewer operating hours at our 17 aquatic centers. The Department of Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment serves and represents our neighbors by creating beautification projects across the city with community partners and volunteer groups. Most importantly, as commissioners, we advocate for our neighbors and community groups with department staff and with our city council members. At our monthly public meetings, community groups have shared how rising rental costs affect their programs. Sadly, this is a direct result of previous cuts to Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment to balance the city budget. Budget negotiations are always difficult. Neighbors love their parks and also don't want to see staff cuts in public safety, public works or the other imperative city services across the near 20 city departments. It is our job as commissioners to rally park advocates and users across the city, and let the Sacramento City Council know that the final city budget they pass must preserve Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment's proposed investments for quality recreation facilities and community livability and deliver core services through a diversity and equity lens. And it's not just parks services that are at stake: In the last budget year, Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment invested $1.1 million dollars in youth employment, providing job opportunities for 300 youth, completing 30,000 hours of work at various parks, community centers, local businesses and schools. Additionally, the Older Adult Services Division provided respite for family caregivers through the Triple-R Adult Day Program, and Older Adult Services staff answered 9,872 calls or visits for Resource and Referral services at the Hart Senior Center, gave out more than 8,000 Meals on Wheels meals and delivered 58,680 units of service with in-person and virtual activities. This is just a small glimpse of the vast array of services provided through the city's Department of Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment. We believe in balancing the city budget. Too often, however, our youth, parks and community enrichment bear the brunt of budget eliminations. We have to do better. Jeanine Gaines is a District 8 parks commissioner and chair of the City of Sacramento's Department of Youth, Parks and Community Development. Joe Flores is a District 7 parks commissioner for the City of Sacramento's Department of Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
NSW regional youth crime inquiry calls for stronger early intervention programs
A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry into regional youth crime has called for more early intervention projects as the cost of incarcerating a single young offender soars to more than $1 million per year. Stronger investment in regional youth hubs and better access to drug and alcohol rehabilitation were among the 19 recommendations made in the interim report tabled today. In his forward to the report, committee chair Edmond Atalla said youth offending was a "deeply complex social issue" that could not be solved through policing alone. "Tough-on-crime approaches may seem appealing, but they won't deliver lasting change for communities – smart, evidence-based strategies will," he wrote. Mr Atalla said the evidence showed early intervention was the most effective way to prevent young offending. He said there were gaps in support for young people, with barely any services available to young people after dark. "There's plenty of good services out there for young people, but those services end at 5pm," Mr Atalla said. The report comes after the inquiry into youth crime received nearly 200 written submissions and four public hearings across regional towns like Kempsey, Bourke and Broken Hill. It found regional crimes like car theft exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 20 per cent in 2023, driven by an increase in youth offending. Mental illness, drug and alcohol use and prior contact with the criminal justice system were found to be some of the "complex" drivers behind youth crime. Meanwhile, the costs of detaining young people were found to have doubled in five years, jumping to $2,700 a day or more than $1,000,000 per year. The report stated this figure did not include "the cost of policing, courts or the cost of the crime itself". Outreach manager Deb Tougher for the Kempsey youth homelessness service YP Space said the report showed punitive measures for young offenders were ineffective. Longer employment contracts for youth service providers were another key recommendation of the report. It found irregular funding cycles were rife across the sector, leading to staff being routinely offered contracts spanning up to a year. Ms Tough said while YP Space had recently secured funding for five years, unstable funding had previously hampered the efforts of social workers. "Sometimes if it's a government-funded program, they'll reshuffle it, rejig it and then bring it out as something else," Ms Tougher said. "By the time all of that happens, any sort of trust in that particular program by the young people or the community is lost." Mr Atalla said the committee would review policing strategies and justice diversion programs before the final report was delivered by November this year. "We need the policing, we need all of the other services that are available to divert young kids from engaging in the justice system," he said.
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Sacramento's nearly $18 million for child and youth services funding in limbo
SACRAMENTO -- Nearly $18 million in child and youth services funding is in limbo as the Sacramento City Council has not voted to approve how the funding is given out. The money comes from voter-approved Measure L in 2022 to establish the Sacramento Children's Fund. The measure requires the city to divert 40% of its local cannabis tax revenues to child and youth services, prioritizing those most impacted by poverty, violence and trauma. It was approved three years ago, but in 2025, nonprofits are still waiting to receive the funding promised as part of this initiative. The council is considering two options: one would fund a total of 24 programs and projects that address all five fund goals; the second would fund 16 programs and projects that address 4/5 fund goals. The total funding is $17.9 million. Mónica Ruelas Mares, the chair of the Sacramento Children's Fund Planning and Oversight Commission, said the continued delays "undermine the public's trust in the process" and come at the expense of the city's youth. Mares said: "Just in the past week there have been two incidents of youth firearm violence, one of which resulted in the death of a 15 year old. Even more since the fund was passed. When we think of the future we want for our kids I hope that the city council sees investing in youth programs and services as a priority and not an afterthought, this is what the voters asked our city to do! We must deliver on that promise. We need to keep our kids in mind as we move along this process, they do not have the luxury of time." Mares references the death of a 15-year-old boy on Tuesday night in Sacramento's Meadowview neighborhood. The teen was shot and died at the hospital, Sacramento police confirmed on Wednesday. "If the city is ours, anytime something happens, we should all take responsibility," said Darrell Roberts, CEO and co-founder of the Roberts Family Development Center. Roberts has decades of experience in youth violence prevention and the community organization has been selected to receive some of the Sacramento children's funding. The nonprofit provides wrap-around services for more than 500 students, families, and their communities in at least seven high-risk neighborhoods in Sacramento. The nonprofit provides academic and social support to students from economically disadvantaged families. These students often struggle to keep up in school, leading to a widening achievement gap that is intensified by summer learning loss. Without intervention, many face a future marked by limited education, poverty, involvement with the justice system, chronic health problems, and persistent stress. The added funding from the city, along with school district and private sector support, will allow their organization to grow the mission and serve more students, Roberts said. "Equity requires us to spend more in the neighborhoods where more is needed," said Roberts. In the summer, the services offered by Roberts Family Development Center expand to five days a week. Monday through Friday, students are given positive opportunities, Roberts said, where their families know they are safe and learning. He notes, however, that while hundreds of Sacramento's youth benefit from the program, there are thousands more who do not have the opportunity when school is out. "Anybody who wants to talk about the budget, our priority is not on young people, our priority is in other places. Which at the end of the day is why we have so many challenges in our neighborhoods, and why the summer becomes a hotbed of activities that are not always positive," said Roberts. Discussion on this issue at the city council level has been split amongst some council members, specifically, on whether to delay the vote from the May 20th City Council meeting to June. "I just want more information and make sure we can make a sound decision for our kids," said Councilmember Karina Talamantes. "We're spending all this time when we can really be talking about making sure that we're fighting more for young people in the general budget," said Councilmember Mai Vang. On June 10, the Sacramento City Council is expected to take up the issue of Sacramento Children's Funding once again. If they vote to pass the program, contract negotiations will begin, according to Mares. Any contracts that are more than $249,999 a year require city council approval. Ultimately, after a passing vote, the organizations could still have four to eight weeks until they receive the funding.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Centre revamp to create more SEND school places in Nottingham
A centre for young people in Nottingham is set to be refurbished as part of a plan to create more school places for special needs City Council has approved a £675,000 revamp of Clifton Young Person's Centre, which will then become the new home of the sixth form for special needs school Nethergate Academy. The sixth form move will free up space at Nethergate's Swansdowne Drive site, which will be used to create 16 special school places in the 2025/26 academic year and a further eight places in 2026/ council says as well as providing more special school places, the plan should cut costs of both paying for places elsewhere and the associated transport. The refurbished young person's centre will also be used to provide youth club activities for members of the community in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays. A report issued by the council says: "Nottingham is experiencing considerable growth in the number of young people identified as having special educational needs and disabilities and there is an urgent, significant and increasing need for additional capacity to meet this demand."By developing the SEND estate within the city, rather than sending children out of the city, there will be an increased volume of placements available."By having more placements within the city, we avoid the cost of more expensive independent and non-maintained special school placements, additional SEND transport costs and allow pupils to be taught in their own city and closer to home."
BreakingNews.ie
15-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Young people want to break down community barriers, research finds
Young people in Northern Ireland want to break down community barriers but do not expect it to happen for them, according to new research. The findings from think tank Pivotal suggest that young people believe greater integration is something that will happen 'for future generations'. Advertisement It also indicates that investing in youth services that allow young people to mix regularly should be a focus for those seeking change, and be part of a new vision for what an integrated future, with the right leadership, could achieve. Published today, Achieving greater integration in Northern Ireland: young people's voices, is based on focus group conversations with young people from different parts of the region. It follows on from a previous Pivotal paper published in March that examined segregation in both schools and housing, and the relationship between the two. Both reports highlighted the extent of division still experienced in schools and communities, as well as the need for realism about what can be achieved when there are so many other competing priorities facing the Executive and communities themselves. Advertisement Overall, participants in this study believe that Northern Ireland's segregated school system helps perpetuate division, with the mandatory teaching of religious education a particular concern for many of the young people. However, while there was significant support for integrated education, this was not universal – and it was not seen as a cure all for current social division. The young people also said that integration is about more than the traditional green/orange divide, and highlighted concern around bullying based on skin colour or cultural differences. A significant number of the young people said they attend events on both St Patrick's Day and the Twelfth of July although there were mixed feelings on how inclusive those days actually are. Advertisement Ann Watt, director of Pivotal, said the research shows that young people have a 'keen sense of our divided society and how that has shaped their own experiences'. 'There is a clear consensus in favour of more integration and building understanding between different communities,' she said. 'This goes beyond the traditional sectarian divisions within local society, with young people very aware of the challenges facing ethnic minorities and newcomer families. 'However, there is a lack of confidence that significant changes will happen soon. The young people we spoke to feel that integration will ultimately be something for future generations.' Advertisement She said many of the findings echo the first report. 'This project highlights needs for leadership and a fresh vision of how a more integrated society could be achieved and what more integration, mixing and sharing of resources could offer socially, economically and culturally,' she said. 'In terms of schooling, while there was quite broad support for integrated education, this was not the young people's top priority for change. 'Instead, they would like to see more investment in raising awareness of different cultures and religions, with a focus on learning together about the differences between communities. Advertisement 'In the wider community, while many young people say they have taken part in cross-community events, including through schools, they were sceptical about whether these had any real legacy of change. Ireland BBC journalist exercised 'utmost caution' in repor... Read More Instead, they feel that more regular, local opportunities for mixing are what really break down barriers – spending sustained time with people from a different background and building friendships. 'This suggests that greater investment in local youth services as well as the creation of more truly shared spaces – and, in the case of many rural areas, better public transport to access those spaces – could be the best way to make a difference right now.' Pivotal's report was based on conversations with 48 young people aged 15-25 years within five focus groups that took place between September and November 2024 in Belfast, Derry, Enniskillen and South Armagh.
