20041202 Youth Service Bureau Support Letter from Carroll
CARROLL
Maryland Municipal League, Inc.
Kevin E. Dayhoff, Westminster Mayor, Secretary – Treasurer, Carroll Co. MML Chapter
Governor of the State of
State House
The Honorable Michael Steele
Lt. Governor of the State of
State House
Re: Request that the State increase the funding of the 21 Youth Services Bureaus by $2.1 million, or $100,000 for each existing youth Services Bureau. This request is in line with the State’s and local governments’ priority goals of positive youth development and creating communities where families thrive.
Dear Governor Ehrlich:
I have spoken with my fellow Mayors in
Youth Services Bureaus provide our communities with a great strategy to address juvenile crime. Youth Services Bureaus help expand access to mental health and substance abuse services, and to address the factors in each young person's life that inhibit them from reaching their potential as productive members of our community, thereby saving our cities and towns untold amounts of money should our communities have to address the results of their unproductive behavior.
As Mayors of cities who benefit from the important services of Youth Services Bureaus, we ask for your support in future funding of these important community resources. State statute mandates that Youth Services Bureaus provide counseling and community outreach services. These services are designed to prevent juvenile delinquency, minimize family disruption while promoting positive youth development. Ultimately, these services divert youth from the more costly juvenile and criminal justice system.
In our cities, Youth Services Bureaus are often the first resource for troubled youth and families. Their strong connection to local schools, law enforcement, and community agencies means they work with youth facing multiple problems such as substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse, chronic family conflict, teen pregnancy, and school problems. Without places to address these issues, youth often spiral out of control and become involved in delinquent behaviors. When youth are identified early and diverted from future problems, they become assets to our communities rather than liabilities.
Youth Services Bureaus consistently evaluate their services to ensure quality. They have impressed both local leadership and the state legislature with their proven outcomes. The most recent study found 93% of youth who had completed formal counseling had not been adjudicated delinquent two years later.
In recognition of the cost effective success of existing Youth Services Bureaus and their potential for replication in other counties, the Joint Chairmen of the Budget and Taxation and Appropriations Committees requested that by October 1, 2004, the Office of Children, Youth and Families report its plan to expand the services of Youth Services Bureaus throughout the State.
Since 1990, $2.1 million State dollars annually have been allocated to Youth Services Bureaus to provide extensive unique programming in 21 areas of the state aimed at improved youth and family functioning and diversion from the more costly Juvenile Justice System.
In fiscal year 2003 Youth Services Bureaus generated $7.6 million additional funds from local governments, grants, fees and donations, increasing the $1.2 million annual investment to over $9 million dollars. Despite their ability to raise these additional funds, many Bureaus have waitlists and are unable to serve all youth and families in need of their services. Appropriate State funding is now necessary to strengthen existing Bureaus’ capability to provide needed services in their communities and allow the development of new Bureaus in unserved areas.
We ask that the State increase the funding of the 21 Youth Services Bureaus by $2.1 million, or $100,000 for each existing youth Services Bureau. This additional funding will achieve two outcomes: First, it will increase the number of youth and their families receiving counseling, decreasing the likelihood of their involvement in the more costly juvenile Justice system. Second, it will increase the provision of more community specific services, such as truancy prevention or substance abuse assessment and treatment by agencies with established relationships and reputations in their communities
These outcomes are in line with the State’s and local governments’ priority goals of positive youth development and creating communities where families thrive.
In addition, we support the proposal to expand the number of bureaus and suggest that over the upcoming three years, six new Youth services Bureaus be established in rural areas of the State, which are (1) currently unserved and (2) reflect the greatest unmet need. To effectively establish these Bureaus in their communities, a minimum of $200,000 new state funding per new Bureau would be required.
Additional Bureaus can be modeled after existing bureaus that serve a similar rural community. This will allow new Bureaus to utilize existing models to creatively access other funding sources to maximize the State appropriations.
Our vision is a State where each and every child has the opportunity to grow into a healthy and productive adult who in turn, will serve to benefit our future generations. Guaranteeing that all our children can access these valued services will help insure this aim.
Sincerely,
Kevin E. Dayhoff, Westminster Mayor
Secretary – Treasurer, Carroll Co. MML Chapter
CC:
Carroll
Members - Carroll Co. MML Chapter
Ms. Lynn Davis, LCPC, Exe. Director, Carroll Co. Youth Service Bureau
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