Politics & Government

Youth In Need Will Likely Have to Cut Services Next Year

Cuts in funding force program directors to trim already tight budgets.

Therapist Brittanie Gellings counsels children and youth ages 4 to 21 who have parents who are divorcing, others may have been abused or just need someone to talk to. 

Youth In Need, a regional nonprofit organization that serves families throughout the St. Louis area, offers the counseling free of charge to "anyone who lives in St. Charles County and calls," Gellings said. 

But in the coming year, Youth In Need may not be able to help as many people as it has in the past because of recent cuts in local and federal funding sources.  

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In December, the St. Charles County Council voted to trim the budget for Community Assistance Board funding to $40,000 for 2011. Nonprofit organizations have traditionally been able to apply for the funding which must be used to help homeless or near homeless individuals. 

Last year, Youth In Need received $38,000 in CAB funds. 

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"It's pretty devastating," said Pat Holterman-Hommes, Youth In Need's chief program officer. 

The money provided a local match for federal grant programs and went toward the Youth Shelter that the program has for teens and children who are in trouble.

"We get a lot of bang for our buck," she said. "But the bottom line is it equates to essentially one full time equivalent salary." 

Youth In Need had already budgeted to get about what it received last year from Community Assistance Funding, said Holterman-Hommes. Applications for part of the $40,000 available in Community Assistance Board funding were due Dec. 30.  Nonprofit organizations should learn of their award in the spring of 2011. 

"I feel like we've cut everything we possibly can," she said. "We had to already reduce by several other (positions) we don't know where to reduce other than staff."

The positions that were cut were simply jobs that were open that Youth In Need kept unfilled, although a few people have lost their jobs, said Jim Braun, president of Youth In Need.

Each year, the cost of running the myriad programs the group provides increases as the grant and state money remains flat or decreases, he said.

"When you lose local funding and your private fundraising is holding steady at best ... the only alternative is to cut services," Braun said. 

The need for the youth shelter has gone up during the past two years, with more than 300 youth staying there. As the number of teens using the shelter has gone up, Youth In Need has hired additional counselors to try to counsel children more intensively to resolve family conflict more quickly and free space in the shelter. 

"If we don't have the resources for those counselors and case managers, it ends up meaning less kids served, is what it means," he said. "It's kind of inevitable."

Braun said he understands that local governments face difficult decisions with the budget, but he believes helping the most vulnerable citizens is a function and a form of local government. It's as important for the public good as roads, bridges, fire departments and police departments, he said. 

"I think in the end, it's just ironic," he siad. "There's nothing we can do about it when economic conditions create more poeple in need. There's less resources, that's just the way it is." 


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