Chair Stevens delivers opening statement on DYCD budget and Compass RFP
Stevens details DYCD's $1.6B FY27 budget, $14.8M for CMS expansion, $8.8M for Advance and Earn, and $3M savings from 27 vacant positions. She raises concerns about RHY funding not being baselined and praises the new Compass RFP release after 10 years.
And now I want to turn it over to my co-chair for the hearing, Chair Stevens.
Good afternoon and welcome to our second half of the fiscal 2027 executive budget hearing for the Department of Youth and Community Development.
I am Councilman Rautia Stevens, Chair of the Committee on Children and Youth.
Today we will be hearing from DYCD, our new Commissioner, Sandra Escudiz, along with our first deputy.
And our financial officers.
Thank you for joining us today.
We're here to discuss the agency's recent release of executive plan, which includes a budget of $1.6 billion for fiscal 2027.
This funding includes $66.2 million in personnel services to support and a budget headcount of 704 positions and a total of $1.55 billion other than personnel.
The current fiscal 2027 budget is $105.3 million, or 7% more than the fiscal 26th adopted budget.
However, DYCD's fiscal 2027 budget decreased by $14.2 million from the $1.63 billion budgeted in the fiscal 2027 preliminary financial plan.
To note a few changes in the executive plan, there's an additional $14.8 million to expand services for the crisis management, CMS programs, and supporting wraparound services in fiscal 2027.
In fiscal 2028, in the outer years, the plan includes a baseline funding of $19.6 million in the Office of Community Safety.
So for this is a...
support the programs in the new office.
A plan also added $8.8 million for the Office of Economic Opportunity Adjustments for the Advance and Earn program that helps train and employ young people ages 16 through 24.
The plan also includes the savings agencies found to meet the targets set by the Office of Management and Budget.
That included $6.3 million for over-budgeting in the Community Resources for Employment and Development, CRED, and ONS programs.
A surplus cost of...
Cost of living adjustment resulting in a 31 million after assessing that providers distribution funding needed to provide the 3% increase for human service contract.
I want to ensure that the COLA adjustment does not impact programming and provides adequate funding to the providers.
I'm concerned that the executive plan
includes baseline city fund savings of $3 million from the elimination of 27 vacant positions beginning in fiscal 2026.
Again, I want to ensure that actions don't impact programming for youth.