Tarrant County won’t renew its contract with a youth justice nonprofit because of concerns over initiatives the program mentions on its website.
The county’s juvenile board voted Wednesday not to renew its contract with Youth Advocate Programs, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram first reported. Tarrant County has partnered with the local branch of the Pennsylvania-based, nonpartisan nonprofit since 1992.
County Judge Tim O’Hare and Judge Chris Wolfe put forth the motion to stop the contract. They raised concerns of language on YAP’s website such as “policy and advocacy” and “systemic racism.” Wolfe said their efforts reflected “hot topics and controversy politically,” the Star-Telegram reported.
YAP President and CEO Gary Ivory said he tried to address various board members’ concerns that the organization is soft on crime, left-leaning or partisan.
“We are not soft on crime,” he told KERA News. “We are here to help to rehabilitate young people and families. And that's what we do, and that's what we do well.”
The payout for the annual contract with Youth Advocate Programs would have increased from $250,000 to $312,500, if approved by the board. The contract will now end Aug. 31.
This move, Ivory said, would eliminate services for nearly 70% of youth referred to Tarrant County Juvenile Services, including substance use counseling and probation work. He and O’Hare plan to meet next week to discuss another way forward. O’Hare’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The organization also clarified some answers to questions on its website about YAP’s nonpartisan stance, addressing potential concerns about being a social justice organization or anti-law enforcement. Ivory said some of that information has been on YAP's website for a while, but it was clarified after Wednesday's meeting. He could not point to exactly what changes were made.
Eliminating the YAP contract could impact the work of advocacy organizations like Community Frontline in Fort Worth. Ben Travis, the group’s director of development, said the board’s decision seemed ill-informed.
“It felt like a lot of it was really just Google searches of websites and different Facebook posts and things like that that are really kind of outward facing content, as opposed to on the ground what YAP is doing in the community and the impact that they are having,” he said.
YAP mentors help kids figure out their interests, apply for jobs, get to and from school and more, Travis said. Ending the contract would also take away the tools courts and probation officers use to rehabilitate youth offenders.
“We really need to watch if there's an increase in detention based on kids not meeting their probation requirements or otherwise,” Travis said. “And I think that if that's the case, it could almost one-for-one be tied to cutting this program based on how much of an impact they have and how far their reach is.”
The Tarrant County Juvenile Board’s next meeting is Aug. 21.
Correction: The question and answer section of YAP's home page about the organization's nonpartisan position was not on its website before the Tarrant County Juvenile Board's meeting on July 17, 2024.
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