Four years ago, Los Angeles City Councilman Monica Rodriguez stood on the stairs of city hall to celebrate the creation of the Youth Development Division.
Since 2018, she has oversaw programs aimed at youth, including the Youth Council and overseeing educating them about city government.
On Tuesday, with the city in a budget crisis, Rodriguez begged Mayor Karen Bass not to remove the department.
Bass proposed a budget for next year to fold the youth development sector and fold it into a large community investment for families, along with the Bureau of Aging and Economic Workforce Development.
The youth development department no longer exists, but some of its functions are preserved. Bass’ proposal will reduce budgets specialized for these features from $2.3 million to less than $1.6 million. Eight employees have been fired, with 10 remaining.
“Don’t undermine and wipe out all of these years’ jobs,” Rodriguez said at a press conference at City Hall on Wednesday.
She called the mayor’s proposed budget “hatch hatch to so many programs that Angelenos relies on,” and said there was no “rhyme or reason” in some of the proposed cuts.
Matt Hale, the city’s deputy mayor of finance, innovation and operations, said the three departments absorbed into community investment for families are sometimes responsible for overlapping responsibility.
“Like most things in town, we divided them into silos, and those who pass through our doors saying, ‘I need help’ are given a scavenger hunt to play,” Hale said.
At a meeting of the City Council Budget Committee on Tuesday, Hale said the merger would save $5 million, “to bring about better results and more effective services.”
Base spokesman Zach Seidl said the mayor’s office has not considered a reversal course for the merger.
Bass’ proposed budget, which has been reviewed by the Budget Committee during a few weeks of hearing, attempts to close the $100 million shortfall, largely caused by rising labor costs, rising legal payments and slowing down the local economy. The mayor’s budget eliminates more than 2,700 city positions. Of these, about 1,650 people were through layoffs.
In addition to running a 30-person Youth Council, the Youth Development Department hosts youth summits and youth expositions, hosting annual events that help youths get jobs and internships. The department is also reviewing its urban programmes to determine whether it is reaching youth and meeting the needs of youth.
If the cuts proposed by the mayor were made, the youth development department would reach a component of about 6,900 from about 10,000 last year.
“take [the department] Not only will the distance be backwards, it will be a betrayal of young people… those who deserve to be invested without being ignored,” said Monica Rodriguez, who has no connection to the councillor who was a member of the first Youth Council.
Councillor Rodriguez said the department should grow instead of being integrated, suggesting that gang reduction and youth development programs should be within that range. The program, which offers gang intervention and preventive services and community engagement programs, is under the mayor’s office and has a budget of around $40 million proposed.
“The department doesn’t have to leave. The department can maintain itself,” the councillor said. “This budget document needs to reflect the values of the city and what is being communicated at this point is that the voices of young people are subordinate to other priorities. That’s not ok.”
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