Council President offers plan to invest $31 million of new funding in Baltimore's children

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Contact: Lester Davis

Monday, September 21, 2015       
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Council President offers plan to invest $31 million of new funding in Baltimore's children

Children and Youth Investment Act kicks off broad conversation about government's role in improving outcomes for children and youth
BALTIMORE, MD – City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young joined a cross-section of Baltimore Monday morning to announce new legislation aimed at improving outcomes for children and youth. 

Standing with members from the Baltimore City Council, state legislators, nonprofit and business leaders, and parents, Council President Young unveiled his Children and Youth Investment Act of 2015.

A charter amendment modeled after successful initiatives in Oakland, Miami and San Francisco, the legislation would invest in Baltimore’s children by doing the following:

Earmark three percent of the city’s budget – an amount currently equal to $31 million – to be placed annually in a non-lapsing fund.
Establish a framework for assessing the needs of Baltimore’s youth population.
Outline the types of programs eligible for funding, spell out the limits of the usage of dollars, and collect data on programs that receive awards.

Young said he drew inspiration for his charter amendment from the many private citizens who have sacrificed time, money, and comfort for the sake of improving the lives of young people most at risk of falling through society’s cracks.

“I believe that combining the ingenuity of the private sector, with audaciousness from the public sector offers the perfect prescription to help Baltimore heal and thrive during its post-riot resurgence,” Council President Young said.

A number of cities have successfully pursued a similar approach.

In 1991, San Francisco became a national model by creating “a dedicated Children’s Fund, and making ‘San Francisco’ the first city in the country to guarantee funding for children each year in the city budget, while preventing any cuts in previously funded services.”

In 1996, residents in Oakland, Calif., voted overwhelmingly to amend the city charter in order to invest millions of dollars in programs and services proven to benefit children and young adults.

And in 2002, voters in Miami’s Dade County passed a ballot initiative that has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into similar programming. Residents - in the face of a crippling recession – confirmed their commitment six years later by approving a 10-year, $1 billion tax hike to avoid a planned sunset of the fund.

If approved by the council, and signed by the mayor, the Children and Youth Investment Act would appear before voters on the ballot during the November 2016 general election. The citizens of Baltimore, rather than elected officials and their staffs, would be the ultimate deciders about how the city commits dollars to improving the lives of our children.

Neva Walker, executive director of Coleman Advocates for Youth, which spearheaded the creation of San Francisco Children’s Fund, the nation’s first locally dedicated funding stream for children’s services, said that Baltimore should be commended for taking steps to increase its investment in young people.

“In the 20 years since San Francisco Children’s Fund was created, hundreds of thousands of children have been served, kept safe, and kept out of trouble,” Walker said. “These kinds of local, public funding streams are essential to ensuring our country’s future economic well-being and social stability.”

Junious Williams, chief executive officer of the Urban Strategies Council – an Oakland-based organization that was instrumental in the city’s successful 1996 ballot initiative to dedicate revenue toward children and youth – said elected officials are wise to “rethink how government supports families to produce better outcomes for kids.”

Charles M. Auslander, president and chief executive officer at The Children’s Trust in Miami, said that the price tag of Baltimore City Council President Young’s proposal should not deter city officials, who face a number of expected big-ticket expenditures.

“I truly believe that while there are many problems facing our cities, a critical component that needs to be addressed is supporting the healthy development of our children,” Auslander said. “Regardless of the infrastructure around them, if we can’t build a healthy social services network that supplies the soft skills and academic support, then all of the other efforts are really for naught.”

Andrew Coy, executive director of the Digital Harbor Foundation, a nationally-recognized leader in using technology as a teaching and recreational tool, said he was happy to open his foundation for Council President Young's kickoff announcment.

"We were honored to host this announcement and stand alongside so many other organizations committed to working everyday for Baltimore City youth," Coy said. "We believe that partnerships, like this one, between the public and private sectors can sustainably scale high-quality and innovative programs to benefit even more youth in our city. It takes an entire community."

With Baltimore’s City Council expected to spend the coming weeks and months engaged in extended conversation about Young’s plan, the Council President said he was hopeful that his Children and Youth Investment Act would serve as a turning point in Baltimore’s continued recovery.

“I believe our city is capable of grand ideas and concrete solutions,” Young said. “I’m offering an opportunity for us all to debate the scale and scope of government’s financial participation in the transformation of the lives of our children.”

Council President Young’s legislation will be introduced Monday evening during the council’s regularly-scheduled meeting.

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