Some of the 200 social-service providers under contract with Safe and Sound - a city-funded nonprofit tied to former Mayor John F. Street - are uncertain of how to plan ahead. Specifically, they said, they don't know how much money they will receive, nor with whom they will contract to receive that funding.

"There should have been a transition period. . . . It's going to be a disaster this summer," said William Mackey, who runs a program for 150 teens at the City Wide Youth Agency in North Philadelphia.

In a previously scheduled meeting yesterday, Safe and Sound president Anne Shenberger told nearly 100 providers that current contracts would be paid - but maybe not on time.

"I'm just shocked and just disgusted about hearing they are going to dissolve their business," said Patricia Hines, who runs an after-school program called Scholarship in Progress.

Mayor Nutter, meanwhile, sought to allay worries, saying, "I am very confident there will be no disruption of services."

The city is aggressively searching for a new entity to succeed Safe and Sound, with interested bidders required to respond to the city's request for proposals by May 19 and contract negotiations with a new organization set to begin June 4.

Under fire for months by city and state auditors and officials, Safe and Sound's board of directors informed Nutter in a letter Tuesday that it had voted at an emergency meeting the night before to cease operations as of June 30.

That action surprised Nutter - who said he had believed Safe and Sound would compete for a new contract - as well as state Public Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman, whose department provides the public dollars used by the city to fund Safe and Sound.

The board chairman, Ernest Jones, cited "the negativity" surrounding the organization, which was caught in a funding feud between the Street and Nutter administrations.

A report issued last Thursday by the state Public Welfare Department roundly criticized Safe and Sound, criticizing its weak internal controls after 10 years of existence, and with a city-funded budget of $60 million this year.

That same day, Nutter shared with Jones the results of an evaluation he ordered of the nonprofit by a team he appointed in February, led by former federal prosecutor Michael A. Schwartz.

"I told them we were very concerned about the future and about their ability to get it all together," Nutter said yesterday. The notion of altogether dissolving the nonprofit "didn't come up as a topic of conversation."

In an interview, Jones called the reports "a hatchet job." Yet, with no funding commitment past June 30, Jones said the board decided it was best for the nonprofit to shut its doors.

He said Don Schwarz, deputy mayor for health and opportunity, had asked whether Safe and Sound would consider staying open through August, to help the city run summer programs that have long been part of the nonprofit's charge. Jones said he replied that he would discuss it with the board on Monday but was not optimistic.

"I don't know the board is going to be willing to do that," he said.

Since its founding, Safe and Sound has functioned primarily as a fiscal intermediary for the city, passing on tens of millions of dollars to neighborhood social-service providers.

But it grew tremendously under Street, particularly in his final months in office last year as Safe and Sound became a home for his legacy projects, including 11 city curfew centers, a parent-truant officer program, and expanded after-school services.

Street directed Safe and Sound to fund these programs with an additional $21 million he vowed to give the organization through transfers from other city funds. However, at Nutter's urging, City Council rejected the extra funding.

When Nutter took office, he affirmed the money would not be allocated, and Safe and Sound found itself in the awkward position of having to cut programs.

Later, Jones and Shenberger testified before City Council that they made spending decisions under pressure from Street - even though Safe and Sound is a nonprofit with an independent 17-member board of directors. (Street has declined to respond to several e-mails.)

In addition, the nonprofit's independency has long been dogged by the belief that Street's wife, who was Safe and Sound's director until 2002, still influenced its decision making. The Inquirer last summer published several e-mails between Post and Safe and Sound officials, suggesting her familiarity with spending matters.

With 65 employees, Safe and Sound yesterday began shifting its focus to closing down. Among other concerns, the board is trying to find ways to generate $300,000 it needs to meet various obligations before June 30.

It's also likely to be short other money.

Until Monday, Jones said, the nonprofit had intended on dipping into a $1 million reserve fund to help plug a $2.5 million revenue shortfall.

But now, Jones said, the $1 million will be used to cover the costs of shutting down the organization, with much of the money going toward still-to-be-determined severance payouts for Safe and Sound's executives. Other dollars are being set aside for expenses such as Safe and Sound's building lease.

The nonprofit must find tenants for its space at 18th and Market Streets, on the fourth and 11th floors, where its leases don't expire until 2010 and 2011, respectively.