OFCY Reauthorization
On February 11, 2020 Oakland City Council's Life Enrichment Committee unanimously approved an ordinance to reauthorize the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth for twelve more years, and moved the ordinance to the consent calendar of the next meeting of City Council on February 18, 2020. Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas introduced and sponsored the ordinance, which gained the co-sponsorship of all three Councilmembers on the Life Enrichment Committee. Thank you to Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas, Rebecca Kaplan, Lynette McElhaney, and Chair Loren Taylor for sponsoring the ordinance and your vocal support for the City's investment in positive child and youth development programming through OFCY.
Dozens of OFCY supporters came out to the meeting, which was moved to the full Council Chambers to accommodate the parents, young children, youth leaders, and committed staff that came out and shared their stories and reasons for why the fund should continue. Click here to watch the video from the meeting.
As an ordinance, it will be read at City Council first on February 18, 2020, and require a second reading at the following city council meeting.
Planning and Oversight Committee Meetings
The next meeting of the Planning and Oversight Committee (POC) is scheduled for Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The meeting will take place from 6:00 to 9:00pm at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, 2nd floor, Hearing Room 4, Oakland, CA 94612. The POC meetings are open to the public, and participation is encouraged.
Click here for meeting agendas and materials.
2018-2019 Evaluation Highlights
OFCY's annual evaluation for 2018-2019 was adopted by the Oakland City Council on December 10, 2019. Last year, OFCY-funded programs reached over 25,000 of Oakland's children and youth. Click here to download the Evaluation Report for 2018-2019
2019-2020 OFCY Funding
OFCY is providing 154 programs with grants in 2019-2020. Grants are made to 79 different organizations and agencies, and totals $19.8 million in annual funding. These grants are to programs that provide direct services to Oakland’s children and youth from birth through 21 years of age, and support youth with the greatest needs.
Programs estimate that they will reach over 26,000 children and youth this year – about 1 out of every 4 child and youth living in Oakland. 95% of grants are to non-profit agencies and 5% are to government programs – no grants are made to for-profit groups.
For more information on programs, please click here.
2019-2020 POC Members Needed
The POC currently has multiple vacancies on the 17-member commission. This important Committee oversees the allocation of funding and evaluation of programs. Youth members are able to earn a small scholarship for their participation. To find out more information about the POC and how to apply, please click here.
Current Vacancies (as of February 2020):
- District 1 Adult
- District 4 Adult
- District 4 Youth
- District 5 Youth
- District 6 Youth