James Sibley of the Youth Job Center of Evanston has his work cut out for him right now.
During his two years as executive director of the nonprofit agency, he has seen its funding drop — including money from the city — at a time when employment assistance has grown more difficult.
“Competition is much greater today than when the economy is strong and unemployment is lower,” Sibley said.
The Job Center is one of 18 agencies in the city that receives money through Mental Health Board grants. The program that provides money for social service, nonprofit agencies that specialize in a broad interpretation of mental illness is one of many ways the city funds programs and services directed at serving special needs of residents.
Every year some aldermen and staff look at slashing these programs — which are more extensive than many other cities’ — as a possible way of bringing a long-term solution to the city’s money problems. But crediting the breadth of diversity in Evanston, aldermen have been reluctant to make significant cuts and endanger what they say makes Evanston special.
Through a variety of services, including the Summer Youth Employment Program, Evanston seeks to serve residents in need. The Mental Health Board is a core source of money, especially after the city incorporated the community-purchased services funding two years ago.
In 1969, Evanston became the first city to implement a mental-health program under a new state initiative, said Harvey Saver, the assistant director of Mental Health Services who oversees the grant contracts. In the proposed 2004-05 budget, $828,900 — the same amount as the current year — is allocated for the grants.
The agencies it finances serve about 9,400 Evanston residents, Saver said, and the money constitutes a small portion of the organizations’ budgets — which adds up to about $10 million worth of services.
Although the mental health fund is at about the same level it was 20 years ago, inflation is not accounted for, said Jay Terry, Evanston’s director of Health and Human Services, meaning that even if the level does not change for the upcoming year, the available pool still takes a hit, he said.
Also, even if there have not been drastic cuts, funding has declined compared to other parts of the budget. As the general fund has grown, Mental Health grants have not, resulting in its percentage of the total general fund being cut nearly in half since the 1995-96 fiscal year.
The Job Center provides the type of service the nine-member Mental Health Board, which decides on funding, has identified as meeting criteria that fit its goals. The agency aids young people and provides a variety of services, including a summer tutoring program and long-term career development for clients facing obstacles such as a criminal history or lack of education.
Evanston supplies about $15,000 for the center’s traditional transaction-based program that helps set up clients with jobs, Sibley said.
Sibley said he sees Evanston — despite a population of only 75,000 — as a community in need of services the Job Center and others provide. Although some areas of Evanston might be wealthy, the entire city cannot be considered affluent.
According to the 2000 Census, 11 percent of residents live below the poverty line.
“There is a pretty large under-served, a pretty under-challenged community that doesn’t get recognized enough,” Sibley said.
It is for that reason that many residents have appealed to Evanston City Council in previous years when City Manager Roger Crum’s proposed budget advised cutting the programs.
This year Crum said he decided to refrain. He did not recommend trimming the services because he and the staff recognized that City Council determined those cuts and they would affect the quality of life. “This is truly a no-change budget as far as programs,” Crum said.
Although some aldermen have said they see a need to pare the city’s expenses if it is going to stay within its means, Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) said that it is not as easy as it sounds.
“I don’t have the political will to cut the programs,” Bernstein said. “You’ve got your feelings, and you’ve got what you can sell.”
The Daily’s Chris Kirkham contributed to this report.
About this series
Evanston faces a perennial budget deficit, and the choices aldermen and staff must make to resolve it relflect the complex set of values in a diverse city. This series examines four main methods the city can use to bring balance, both to its ledgers and to the community.
* Monday: Property taxes
* Tuesday: Operating expenses
* Today: Programs and services
* Thursday: Fines and fees
