APRIL 16, 2009 ISSUE
Western Youth Network Could Face Significant Cut in State Funding
In 2008, the Western Youth Network served 133 students in its after-school program—the only organized middle school after-school program in Watauga County. That program could face significant cuts or changes, however, if the General Assembly dissolves funding for the statewide Support Our Students program.
Established in 1994, Support Our Students (SOS) programming ensures that students have a safe place to go in the after-school hours, when they are most typically at home, unsupervised. After-school programs aim to engage youth in supervised environments to increase academic performance, prevent them from dropping out of school and reduce juvenile crime.
According to the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs, Gov. Beverly Perdue’s proposed state budget includes the elimination of the Support Our Students program—a $5.9 million cut. The cut would result in more than 1,000 full- and part-time position layoffs, affecting 92 after-school programs serving about 14,000 middle school students, the center said.
While the SOS program has been successful in providing after-school programs to thousands of students, it has come under criticism for inconsistency in the programs offered and in local oversight from county to county, the center said.
Jennifer Grubb, executive director of Western Youth Network, said that SOS funding accounts for 16 percent of the organization’s total budget and 50 percent of its after-school program budget.
“Governor Perdue’s proposal, if passed, could cause WYN’s After School Program to face very challenging times,” a recent Western Youth Network newsletter stated.
A Senate proposal, however, looks more promising to after-school programs. The Senate proposal would eliminate the SOS program and the Governor’s One-on-One mentoring program but divert some funding—about $6 million—to Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils (JCPC), local commissions that would distribute the funding to programs that provide after-school and mentoring services.
“We are encouraged by the news that there still could be funding for the programs, just in a different format,” Grubb said. “Without that funding, our programs would certainly look different.” In fact, Western Youth Network would likely have to cut services and/or staff, she said.
One possible stipulation if funding goes through JCPCs could be that funds could only be used for court-involved youth—students who have already been involved in the justice system. Currently, SOS-funded after-school programs benefit all middle-school aged youth who would like to participate.
“It might limit who we can serve,” Grubb said. “Right now we don’t know any details of the funding. It would be interesting to see what rules come about.”
The Western Youth Network strives to serve adolescents who are in the process of determining who they will become, and crisis prevention is a major emphasis.
“In a budget crisis, it’s easy to cut out things that aren’t dealing with an immediate crisis, but all that does is create a crisis down the road,” Grubb said. The cost of serving a child in an after-school program is slightly over $1,000 a year, but it costs approximately $77,000 to send troubled youth to development and rehabilitation centers after multiple offenses, she said.
“If we don’t insulate the kids from those risk factors now, we either spend the money now or we spend a lot more later,” Grubb said.
Grubb encourages supporters of after-school programs to contact their local representatives, including Rep. Cullie Tarleton and Sen. Steve Goss, and request continued funding for after-school and mentoring programs in the state. For more information about the Western Youth Network, call 828-264-5174 or click to www.westernyouthnetwork.org.
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