Tulsa city councilors will try to figure out this week why the group running a juvenile booking and intervention center has had enough.
The Community Intervention Center is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to handle bookings and divert juveniles to treatment programs. Councilor Karen Gilbert said the council was surprised when they got letters from Youth Services Tulsa last week saying the organization won’t renew its contract.
"I just want to make sure that by the end of June that we have a game plan of staffing that program and making sure that program still exists," Gilbert said.
Keith Eldridge in the city finance department said the proposed budget has the same amount for YST to run the Community Intervention Center that last year’s budget did.
"So, $280,000 is in the proposed budget, so the mayor has been very supportive of the program," Eldridge said.
"Everything has been, up to this point, a contracting relationship. We contract for services, and so how those services change is still an unknown," Eldridge said.
YST said they can’t keep up with city and state funding cuts that private donors made up for last year.
Councilors want to meet with YST directors Thursday. The center processes thousands of juveniles a year.
