Youth Social Services

Mission Statement

The Youth Social Services Department is devoted to ensuring the health, safety, and future success of Hopetopia’s at-risk and underserved youth. Through support services, educational programs, recreational activities, and job development initiatives, we work to promote the wellbeing of children and teens across the community and provide them the skills and resources needed to succeed as adults. The Department aims to enhance the livelihoods of Hopetopia’s youth through increased investment and manpower. Our programs not only improve the health and safety of our youth, but give them the skills and experience necessary to feel competent and confident in their future.

Recent News

Note

10/3/2023 In conjunction with city-wide efforts to improve services, Youth Social Services has identified three performance goals that it will begin tracking and reporting publicly. 1. Increase retention in our youth Recreational Sports Program by 10% (currently only 53% of eligible, participating youth return between seasons). 2. Reach 100% of Child Safety Unit calls within 24 hrs. 3. Increase participation in Future Readiness Program internships - which serves teens in foster care - by 10% (currently only 38% of eligible teens participate).

Note

9/27/2023 Youth Social Services provides foster care services and responds to and investigates reports of abuse (child protection services below). In addition, the youth services side of the department operates summer learning programs and early childhood education programs in coordination with the school district, an internship and jobs program for teens in the city, and recreational sport programs for low- and middle-income youth.

Operations

Who We Are

Table 1 provides an overview of the characteristics of our workforce by position.

Table 1: Youth Social Services Staffing Descriptive Statistics (FTE)
Psychiatrists Social workers Central Office Trainers Total
White 142 1,780 712 178 2,812
Non-white 36 356 178 178 748
Male 53 534 356 89 1,032
Female 125 1,602 534 267 2,528
Non-resident 142 356 178 53 730
College degree+ 178 2,136 534 356 3,204
Total 178 2,136 890 356 3,560

How We’re Doing

Table 2 summarizes our current status on our new goals. The satisfaction grade is based on parent survey averages aggregated to the ward-level on scale of 0 to 100. Parents are prompted to grade the services they have received overall. Our child protection services investigate 2,400 reports of child abuse per year, with each ward ranging between 400 and 800 cases per year.

Table 2: Youth Social Services Performance Indicators by Ward
NW SW NE SE
Inter-season retention rate (% eligible) 88 30 22 72
Percent of child safety calls contacted within 24hrs 62 18 45 73
Percent participation in Internship Program 58 28 15 48

Current Operating Budget

?@tbl-ysbudget23 provides an overview of our FY23 budget. The Mayor proposed an increase of 15,481,000. After meeting with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Hopetopia chapter of the Boys & Girls Club, and surveying the youth of Hopetopia’s public schools, we have proposed an increased focus on summer jobs programs and child protection services. We’ve also provided a modest increase in funding for early education.

Table 3: Budget Overview FY22

(a) Youth Social Services Operations (in 1,000s)
Youth Social Services 197,194
Child protective services 29,353
Adoption and guardianship 32,432
Sports, recreation, and summer jobs programs 2,069
Child placement 50,068
Management 44,072
Early education subsidy 39,200
(b) Youth Social Services Expenditures (in 1,000s)
Youth Social Services 197,194
Personnel FT Pay 116,822
Pay - Other 47,272
Fringe benefits 30,063
Overtime 1,102

FY22 Operating Budget

Table 4 provides an overview of the FY22 budget for Youth Social Services broken out by operations and the source of the expenditure.

Table 4: Budget Overview FY22

(a) Youth Social Services Operations (in 1,000s)
Youth Social Services 181,713
Child protective services 24,819
Adoption and guardianship 29,875
Sports, recreation, and summer jobs programs 907
Child placement 45,754
Management 43,385
Early education subsidy 36,973
(b) Youth Social Services Expenditures (in 1,000s)
Youth Social Services 181,713
Personnel FT Pay 111,822
Pay - Other 42,272
Fringe benefits 25,063
Overtime 621