Street's funding of nonprofit reversed
Mayor Nutter canceled a shift of $21 million from other social services to Safe and Sound.
Mayor Nutter has reversed a controversial move by the Street administration to send $21 million to a prominent city-funded nonprofit that runs programs aimed at reducing truancy and teen violence.
"The money that is in discussion here was never included in the last administration's original budget," Nutter spokesman Doug Oliver said yesterday, explaining why Nutter made the drastic funding cut to Philadelphia Safe and Sound.
In July, the Street administration, through the Department of Human Services, awarded a $75 million contract to the nonprofit - even though just $54 million was set aside in the budget for that purpose.
Street intended on closing the gap by having City Council add the additional money by transferring it from another fund.
But in the waning days of his administration, Council twice refused to do so, partially influenced by criticism about the transfer from Nutter, who was then the Democratic nominee for mayor.
In December, though, Street managed to obtain the dollars by shifting other money around within the budget of the Department of Human Services, in some cases cutting funds to 200 social-services providers, many of whose work relates to foster care, group-home situations, and residential treatment centers.
But in recent days, the Nutter administration told Safe and Sound it won't be receiving the $21 million after all, and the nonprofit has revised its budget, eliminating or canceling million of dollars worth of programs designed to reduce youth violence.
Under Safe and Sound's new plans, as of March 1, it will shut down 11 curfew centers, close 10 "Beacon Programs" (school-based community centers), and eliminate a mix of other after-school programs that now serve up to 1,482 children.
Among other cutbacks, the nonprofit also anticipates ending Street's parent/truant officer program, which currently employs 300 people who assist the school district in returning students to classrooms.
"We believe this is very serious," Mary Anne Smith, a spokeswoman for Safe and Sound, said yesterday.
She emphasized that the planned cutbacks were not final yet, saying that depended on whether the new administration wanted to fund some of the same programs.
Those decisions might be made as early as today.
Nutter's aides are expected to meet to discuss which prevention programs fit into the mayor's spending priorities.
"It may be there are some programs that get even more funding than they were originally authorized for. Other programs may not get above where they were," Nutter spokesman Doug Oliver said.
Safe and Sound functions largely as an intermediary, channeling city dollars to hundreds of social services providers that run programs aimed at reducting truancy and teen violence. It was once led by Street's wife, Naomi Post, a well-known child-care advocate.
According to Safe and Sound budget documents adjusted to reflect the decreased dollars, after-school programs would take the greatest hit, cut by $7 million. Parenting programs would be slashed by $5.4 million, and truancy/curfew initiatives would be reduced by a total of $6 million. Most of the rest would come from administrative cutbacks.
Safe and Sound experienced significant growth during Street's eight-year tenure as it evolved into a home for several antiviolence programs he championed. With the added money, its budget this year of $75 million is $40 million more than it was two years earlier - and more than twice the budget of the city Recreation Department.
