THE future of a popular Northside youth service is in jeopardy as its annual funding has still not been confirmed for this year.
Almost four months into the year and the Cabra For Youth service is among several local youth services left in the dark as to how – and even if – it will have enough funding to run its activities this year.
According to a founding member of the service, Cllr Mary Fitzpatrick (FF), the situation casts a shadow of doubt over its future.
“This uncertainty in terms of our funding for this year is detrimental as we cannot plan and manage our budget and services without knowing how much money we have to work with,
? she told Northside People.
“Independent auditors have advised the board of management that they cannot sign-off on the otherwise up-to-date accounts without having confirmation of 2013 funding.
“It is bad practice for any organisation not to have its budget in place for the coming year before the year commences.
“It is inappropriate that the Minister [of Children and Youth Affairs] would put a voluntary organisation that adheres to good governance in a position where it is being forced to operate without confirmation of its funding.
“It’s particularly disappointing that the highly paid Minister is treating a voluntary not-for-profit community organisation with such disrespect.
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Cllr Fitzpatrick added:
“The Minister owes it to the community to stop dithering and to let them know what funding they will get for 2013.
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Cabra For Youth works with young people from the area to help them deal with challenges in their lives, to develop interests and to confront and deal with issues that matter to them.
Hundreds of young people have engaged with the service in recent years.
As well as the voluntary community board of management, Cabra For Youth is run by seven full-time staff.
It offers structured programmes dealing with issues that affect young people as well as drop-ins for young people aged 10 to 21years.
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs allocated over e53 million for the provision of youth services in 2013.
A spokesperson for the Department insisted that youth services would receive confirmation of their funding allocation for this year.
“The Department has notified all grant administering agencies of the 2013 funding allocations,
? she told Northside People.
“In the case of Cabra Youth Service, the City of Dublin Youth Service Board (CDYSB) is the grant administering agency for the Dublin.
“It is understood that the 2013 funding allocations for all Dublin Projects, including Cabra Youth Service, were confirmed on March 21 and that letters in relation to the 2013 funding allocations have now been issued by CDYSB.
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At the time of going to print, the Cabra for Youth service had yet to receive any correspondence to this effect.