City youth program with ties to Street to fold

Philadelphia Safe and Sound, a decade-old city-funded nonprofit that manages truancy and teen violence programs to the tune of $54 million, has decided to dissolve itself.

The nonprofit's board of directors wrote Mayor Nutter a letter yesterday informing him that it voted Monday night to end all operations as of June 30.

"While it was an extremely painful decision to make, given the current environment, the board felt it was the only real option available," the letter stated.

The news is being delivered to the nonprofit's staff today.

Safe and Sound, which funds more than 200 social-services related organizations in the city, has faced considerable scrutiny from the Nutter administration, which has raised questions about the management of its money and varied programs.

Last Thursday, the state Department of Public Welfare released a 46-page report that found, among other things, that Safe and Sound had weak financial controls, paid millions of dollars to providers without first executing contracts, and increased its spending on salaries and other administrative costs at a higher percentage than what it spent on its anti-violence programs.

The state report was completed at Nutter's request.

Founded in 1998 by then-Mayor Rendell, Safe and Sound ballooned under former Mayor John Street, whose wife served as its director until 2002.

During Street's eight-year tenure, he sought to establish the nonprofit as the city's main vehicle for youth anti-violence programs. That effort was reflected by the rapid growth of Safe and Sound's annual budget, which skyrocketed from $3 million in 2002 to a proposed $75 million this year.

Upon taking office in January, Nutter reduced the current year's budget to $54 million, saying the remaining dollars, though advocated by Street, were never actually authorized.