The Urban League of Northern Virginia is located in the old Price and Burch slavedealing office, shown here under Union occupation Image from the Civil War glass negative collection at the Library of Congress
Since 1981, the city of Alexandria has been funding an Urban League program to help at-risk youth. The intervention program has presented generations of troubled youth with community service assignments, group sessions, life-skills classes and field trips. Currently, the program has 85 at-risk youth who have been identified as needing help or are already in the court system. That’s at risk now that City Manager Rashad Young has recommended eliminating the program.
“As programs and families struggle across the city during these very tough economic times, it is my belief that cutting funding would be detrimental to undeserved families and threaten the quality of life for our communities,” said LaDonna Saunders, a parent who testified during the budget public hearing. “There is documented research identifying the positive effects after-school programs have on children’s self-concept, educational outcomes and community safety.”
The proposed elimination of funding to the Urban League of Northern Virginia comes at a time when the organization is recovering from a nine-month period when it lost its tax exempt status because of problems filing 990 forms with the Internal Revenue Service. From November 2010 to July 2011, according to IRS records, the Urban League of Northern Virginia did not have a tax-exempt status. As a result, some donors to the organization’s annual golf fundraiser were told they would not be able to deduct their contributions.
“We are still working with the IRS to get a full retroactive status,” said Keith Taylor, vice chairman of the nonprofit.
The Urban League of Northern Virginia is one of many nonprofit agencies that had trouble dealing with new reporting requirements of a new law. As a result, Taylor said, the organization was notified after the fact about the loss of nonprofit status. Some donors were notified about the loss of tax-exempt status, which meant that the contributions could not be deducted. Budget officials at City Hall say the organization’s status with the IRS played no role in the decision to slash a program for at-risk youth.
“That didn’t factor in to the conversation,” said Budget Director Morgan Routt. “It wasn’t even part of the conversation.”
AT STAKE IS THE future of a program that has helped shape the future for many Alexandria children, a cut that Chatman labeled as “short-sighted.” Part of the program provides community service assignments for city and community nonprofit associations. This involves many young people who have been caught up in the juvenile justice system, and the Alexandria Court Services Unit referred most of the individuals in the program. For young people who committed an offense or delinquent act, this program offered a diversionary alternative as a condition of probation or alternative sentence.
“In FY 2011, the Court Services Unit discontinued referrals for the placement of juvenile offenders when they developed an in-house program to provide this service,” wrote Young in a budget memorandum on the issue.
Another part of the program was known as New Horizons or NULITES, National Urban League Incentives to Excel and Succeed. This program is aimed at addressing high-risk behaviors such as delinquency, teen pregnancy, violence and minority male achievement. Program activities include life skills development group sessions, group counseling, field trips and enrichment activities. During her testimony to City Council members, Saunders said that her niece is a participant in an Urban League program she has seen work firsthand.
“The ability of NULITES and the New Horizons program to inspire and prepare youth to identify career goals, prepare for college and provide mentorship opportunities is priceless,” said Saunders. “Support for these programs are essential to the success of [her niece] and many other students just like her.”
THE ORGANIZATION DESCRIBES itself in tax documents “an interracial, nonpartisan, community service and advocacy organization that uses the tools and methods of social work, law, economics and management to secure equal opportunities for disadvantaged African-American and other minorities who live in the Northern Virginia area.” Today, the building is ironically located in an old slavedealing office on Duke Street. Its programs have been part of the fabric of the city for many years.
“Those were hard decisions to make,” said City Manager Young when asked about cuts to human services. “Human nature is that you really don’t want to make reductions there because you see the value of those kinds of programs, but to have a balanced budget you’ve got to create those trade-offs.”
Lavern Chatman, former executive director of the nonprofit who is now spearheading a fundraising dinner, says city officials are not considering the long-term benefits of intervention.
“These kids that will be hanging in front of the stores and not doing productive types of things,” said Chatman. “So, for us, this would be a devastating cut.”