Tarrant County won鈥檛 renew its contract with a youth justice nonprofit because of concerns over initiatives the program mentions on its website.
The county鈥檚 juvenile board voted Wednesday not to renew its contract with Youth Advocate Programs, the . Tarrant County has partnered with the local branch of the Pennsylvania-based, nonpartisan nonprofit since 1992.
County Judge Tim O鈥橦are and Judge Chris Wolfe put forth the motion to stop the contract. They raised concerns of language on such as 鈥減olicy and advocacy鈥� and 鈥渟ystemic racism.鈥� Wolfe said their efforts reflected 鈥渉ot topics and controversy politically,鈥� the Star-Telegram reported.
YAP President and CEO Gary Ivory said he tried to address various board members鈥� concerns that the organization is soft on crime, left-leaning or partisan.
鈥淲e are not soft on crime,鈥� he told 四虎影院. 鈥淲e are here to help to rehabilitate young people and families. And that's what we do, and that's what we do well.鈥�
The payout for the annual contract with Youth Advocate Programs would have increased from $250,000 to $312,500, if approved by the board. The contract will now end Aug. 31.
This move, Ivory said, would eliminate services for nearly 70% of youth referred to Tarrant County Juvenile Services, including substance use counseling and probation work. He and O鈥橦are plan to meet next week to discuss another way forward. O鈥橦are鈥檚 office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The organization also clarified some answers to questions on its website about YAP鈥檚 nonpartisan stance, addressing potential concerns about being a social justice organization or anti-law enforcement. Ivory said some of that information has been on YAP's website for a while, but it was clarified after Wednesday's meeting. He could not point to exactly what changes were made.
Eliminating the YAP contract could impact the work of advocacy organizations like Community Frontline in Fort Worth. Ben Travis, the group鈥檚 director of development, said the board鈥檚 decision seemed ill-informed.
鈥淚t felt like a lot of it was really just Google searches of websites and different Facebook posts and things like that that are really kind of outward facing content, as opposed to on the ground what YAP is doing in the community and the impact that they are having,鈥� he said.
YAP mentors help kids figure out their interests, apply for jobs, get to and from school and more, Travis said. Ending the contract would also take away the tools courts and probation officers use to rehabilitate youth offenders.
鈥淲e really need to watch if there's an increase in detention based on kids not meeting their probation requirements or otherwise,鈥� Travis said. 鈥淎nd I think that if that's the case, it could almost one-for-one be tied to cutting this program based on how much of an impact they have and how far their reach is.鈥�
The Tarrant County Juvenile Board鈥檚 next meeting is Aug. 21.
Correction: The question and answer section of YAP's home page about the organization's nonpartisan position was not on its website before the Tarrant County Juvenile Board's meeting on July 17, 2024.
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