By Rebecca Bowe
Representatives from a host of youth-services organizations gathered on the steps of San Francisco city hall Thursday afternoon to sound off on proposed budget cuts to the Department of Children, Youth and their Families. DCYF faces a proposed $11 million in cuts for the 2009-10 fiscal year, according to NTanya Lee, executive director of Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth. Add to that cuts to juvenile probation and Human Services Agency programs, and the total annual reductions to youth-related causes could be some $15 million, Lee estimates.
“This is the worst we’ve seen it in our entire organization’s history,” said Lee, whose nonprofit organization has been speaking up for kids on budget issues for 30 years. DCYF is hardly the only city department facing funding reductions: To address a staggering $576 million budget deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year, the mayor has asked all city departments to find ways to dramatically reduce spending. But in the case of DCYF, the announcement of funding reductions came as a second blow. Mayor Gavin Newsom’s firing of former DCYF Director Margaret Brodkin, who was widely respected for expanding the department’s services to reach more kids and especially disadvantaged children, recently drew the ire of youth advocates.