Local News in Brief : Countywide : Supervisors Vote to Cut Juvenile Crime Programs

Supervisors on Wednesday unanimously approved cuts of 2% to 5% to county-run and community-based juvenile crime prevention programs.

The cuts, Chairman Harriett M. Wieder told other supervisors, reflect cuts in allocations the state makes to the programs. The county administers the money locally.

The affected programs include a halfway house for juvenile offenders, a gang program, youth shelters and programs run by the county Probation Department.

State funding for county-run programs will be cut 3%, with the exception of a probation supervision program. Community-based programs will be cut 5%.

“We didn’t want any sacred cows to prevail, so we took a little bit from everybody,” Wieder said.

The halfway house program based in Anaheim will lose some beds and one staff member, Supervisor Don R. Roth said.

Rod Speer, an aide for Wieder, said the cuts were not what the county wanted to do, especially at a time when youth gang problems are on the rise.

“We wish we could be putting more money into these programs,” Speer said. “But we’re responding to the amount of money that is being allocated by the state for them.”

Speer said the programs also receive money from other sources.