Sacramento to restore $1. 3 million for youth. Advocates say more is needed
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- Sacramento City Council faces calls for sustained youth violence prevention funding.
- $1.3 million restored for youth programs, but advocates push for long-term support.
- Advocates called violence prevention an extension of public safety.
On the eve of Sacramento’s final budget vote, youth advocates and some council members urged the city to create a long-term funding strategy for youth violence prevention.
The request comes one day before the City Council will vote on a finalized $1.67 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. The latest spending plan restores $1.3 million of one-time funding to youth events, though some community leaders believe a larger commitment is needed.
“We have to ensure that this is not a one-time fix,” said Councilmember Mai Vang in front of City Hall at the Monday morning press conference. “We need a multi-year, sustainable commitment.”
Vang declined to specify if she would formally request the city provide multi-year funding for youth violence prevention at Tuesday’s council meeting. Such a proposal would face an uphill battle given the lack of majority council support for diverting money from other departments, including police.
At previous council meetings, Vang’s suggestions to eliminate police officer vacancies to fund other programs have not received enough backing to move forward.
Still, advocates were adamant on Monday that more money for violence prevention is crucial to protect the city’s youth. They called it an extension of public safety that is rooted in tangible and cost-efficient solutions.
Matt Cervantes, associate vice president of programs at Sierra Health Foundation, said in 2019 the city partnered with his organization to reduce violence. The initiative led to 28 months without youth homicides.
“They say a budget reflects what we care about, and let’s show we care about the lives and the futures of all young people,” Cervantes said.
Last month, the City Council agreed to reinstate one-time funding for the city’s Youth & Family Investments program, which is designed to engage youth on the weekends with events. The program would have been cut under the proposed budget released in April.
These services keep youth active and help address root causes of violence for vulnerable populations, said Jackie Rose, director of the Rose Family Creative Empowerment Center. Rose noted the recent shooting of a 15-year-old boy in Sacramento’s Meadowview neighborhood, saying “families are grieving and need more than short-term responses.”
“For us, community safety means investing in young people’s futures, not policing their failures,” Rose said.
Aside from the $1.3 million, Measure U — a full cent sales tax approved in 2018 — will fund about $493,000 in violence prevention, according to the latest proposed budget. The city’s office of violence prevention will have a budget of about $170,000 per the budget.
The City Council will vote on the budget during its 5 p.m. meeting Tuesday. The vote will culminate a monthslong process to address the city’s $62 million budget deficit with a mix of fee increases and eliminations in vacancies across departments.
Though the initial proposed budget included layoffs, those employees have since transitioned to other positions. The city’s budget deficit is estimated to only increase in the coming years.
