Beacons see ray of hope
Mayor
announces plan to restore some funding to programs
By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter has announced
that he will restore child protective services for nearly 14,000 young
people in Philadelphia as well as to Beacon after-school programs —
including five run by the Archdiocese — that had been slated to
close March 1.
Four schools in the Archdiocese were notified on Feb. 1 that their Beacon
programs would shut down: Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, 344 N.
Felton St.; Visitation B.V.M., 300 E. Lehigh Ave.; Gesu, 1700 W. Thompson
St., and St. Martin de Porres, 2300 W. Lehigh Ave. A fifth archdiocesan
Beacon site, at the Southwest Philadelphia Family Service Center, 6214
Grays Ave., was also scheduled to close.
Announcing his decision at a press conference Tueday, Feb. 19, Mayor
Nutter said: “This administration will not let innocent children
suffer. …
“The steps that I have announced today are an effort to correct
mistakes made by the previous administration and to ensure that no child
is left without essential care services,” he said.
The mayor said money for the threatened programs would be found in the
budget of Philadelphia Safe and Sound, particularly in its administrative
budget, and that his administration would make continued efforts to
identify additional funds in the city’s budget.
Under a contract with the city, Philadelphia Safe and Sound, a non-profit
organization, receives funds to manage and subcontract the Beacon programs.
The mayor said Safe and Sound’s relationship with the city would
be evaluated, and that he would assign a city official to monitor its
expenditures. In addition, Nutter said the nonprofit is being audited
by the state Department of Public Welfare. Results of the audit will
be public in the spring.
Msgr. Joseph A. Tracy, secretary for the Archdiocese’s Catholic
Human Services — under which the archdiocesan Beacon programs
operate — described Nutter’s announcement as very good news.
“We’re grateful that the mayor and Philadelphia Safe and
Sound are being responsive to the pleas that they’ve been hearing,
and that we’ve been hearing from our parents and those who use
this service,” Msgr Tracy said.
“We’re not being totally restored,” he added. “But
for the people that are most affected by it — for families who
have had to try to search for alternatives — this is a real response
to their needs.”
The archdiocesan Beacon programs have two components: an after-school
program for elementary and middle school students, and another program
for high school students at night and on weekends. Funds for the high
school students' night and weekend programs at the affected archdiocesan
sites have not been restored.
Of the city’s 40 Beacons sites, a total of 10 — including
the five operated by the Archdiocese — were slated to close. For
the Archdiocese, the cutback in anticipated funds represented $1.8 million.
Since the Feb. 1 announcement, grassroots efforts had been under way
to keep the programs running at least until the end of the school year.
In a letter Feb. 7, Msgr. Tracy asked Mayor Nutter to help the affected
families with their after-school needs, and to consider funding some
type of transition plan to assist parents and schools until the end
of this school year.
Administrators, staff, students and parents at the archdiocesan Beacon
programs also wrote letters to the mayor and other city officials, as
well as to the administration at Philadelphia Safe and Sound.
And there was ample representation of the archdiocesan Beacon programs
at the mayor’s 2009 budget address to City Council on Thursday,
Feb. 14.
Among nearly 60 young people from Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament
School’s Beacon program who attended that meeting was 9-year-old
James Paschall, who is also a fourth-grader at the parish school.
It was the boy’s first visit to City Hall. “It was cool,”
said James, who, like his peers, carried a sign supporting the Beacon
program.
In addition to signs, posters and a banner, students, parents and Beacon
administrators and other members of the community let their presence
be known through their voices, said William Harris, director of the
Gesu Beacon program. At various times, they shouted, “Save our
Beacons.”
At one point, when the mayor was speaking about children’s safety,
Harris said he asked aloud, “What about the Beacons?” Harris
said the mayor responded that the issue would be addressed in the coming
days.
For more information about the archdiocesan Beacon program, call (215)
587-3590.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215)
587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.