CITY HALL — The Pico Youth & Family Center has at least another year of funding if the City Council signs off on the proposed budget Tuesday night.
Officials had recommended that the City Council pull funding from the youth center twice in the past year, citing poor management practices and an inability to produce documentation that its efforts in reaching out to disaffected youth had worked.
PYFC was given the opportunity to compete with other organizations for the over $300,000 of city funds it had received each year for the past decade. Three organizations went out for the money and none submitted a proposal that met all of city officials' requirements, according to the report.
Officials recommend continuing to fund the PYFC through its administrative overseer, Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, or SEE, for another year, however, because of a series of shootings that have taken place in Santa Monica over the past two weeks.
The shootings, one of which involved a 23-year-old man with mental health issues and at least one that was gang related, showed the great need of the community to continue to support young people between 16 and 24 years of age.
"[…] in light of the recent series of tragic events in the community, staff feel that this is not the time to reduce youth services or close doors," the report reads.
If approved by the City Council, PYFC would operate on reduced funding, only $225,000, and officials would "accelerate" the work of the Cradle to Career initiative and its Youth Resource Team, two groups that include multiple agencies aimed at supporting youth.
ashley@www.smdp.com
