Three contracts with a local nonprofit that helps at-risk Tarrant County kids ended Saturday, more than a week after the organization’s last failed plea to the county’s juvenile board for continued funding.
The Tarrant County Juvenile Board voted July 17 not to renew contracts with the local branch of Youth Advocate Programs, also known as Tarrant County Advocate Programs, a nationwide nonprofit that provides rehabilitative services for kids involved in the juvenile justice system and other at-risk children.
The vote against those contracts came after judges and County Judge Tim O'Hare raised concerns about language on the group's website about things like diversity and systemic racism.
The contracts for three programs under Santa Fe Youth Services, a division of YAP, expired Aug. 31. That means a counseling program and two other programs for at-risk high schoolers and middle schoolers, respectively, will lose thousands of dollars in funding from the county.
The board’s next meeting is Sept. 18, during which YAP employees and supporters are expected to once again ask for the renewal of those contracts. Meanwhile, the organization says it will look for ways to fund its local programs through philanthropic groups and other means.
“We may not be able to deliver it in the same way with the same target population, but we're still going to exist in Tarrant County,” said YAP President and CEO Gary Ivory. “And no juvenile board and no judge is going to prevent that from happening.”
The Tarrant County Juvenile Board was originally tasked with voting on whether to increase funding for YAP and continue the county’s partnership with the organization. O’Hare and 213th District Court Judge Chris Wolfe led the vote to end the contracts.
YAP leaders have told the board the organization is nonpartisan and doesn’t do any political advocacy locally, but the board still voted against renewing the contracts. Ivory said a conversation with O’Hare after the July meeting didn’t change that. O’Hare’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
During the board’s following meeting Aug. 21, public comment was abruptly cut short more than an hour into the meeting. Some board members had left, and board vice chair Judge Elizabeth Beach adjourned the meeting because there was no longer a quorum.
“We thought that we were going to be able to get a better outcome by clarifying our stance on a whole host of issues, and the juvenile board was not evidently open to hearing what we had to say,” Ivory said about the meeting.
Leaders with Tarrant County Juvenile Services could not be reached for comment.
As of this weekend, the county no longer gets services through the Santa Fe Youth Services’ Family in Transition program, which provides substance abuse support as well as counseling on family conflict, life skills and dealing with crises, according to the organization’s website.
The contract for another YAP program that provides alternatives to incarceration for kids and teens is set to expire Sept. 30 if the board takes no further action. It primarily serves kids on probation, said program director Alex Alvear.
Program activities include the Peaceful Alternatives to Tough Situations class on Mondays, in which leaders address behavior in kids that may lead to crime and provide them with tools to get jobs, do well in school and participate in recreational activities, Alvear said.
“If you give them an opportunity, they can learn these pre-employment job readiness skills, and they can be a contributing member to not only their neighborhood, but to society,” he said. “And if they're working, guess what they're not doing? They're not in the streets, they're not getting in trouble.”
In addition to trying to secure new funding options, the juvenile justice team is also working with school districts like Arlington ISD and other community organizations that support YAP financially, Alvear said.
But there are about 19 staff members working in Alvear’s program, and he said they're wondering if they’ll still have jobs after September.
“I don't know what's going to happen,” Alvear said. “Where are the kids going to go? Who's going to service these kids in the event that this contract does get terminated? Is the crime rate going to go up? These are questions that I have myself. I honestly don't know the answer to that.”
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