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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Gardner

DATE TYPED 02/24/05 HB 974

SHORT TITLE Chaves County Youth Leadership Mentor Program SB

ANALYST Ford

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$100.0

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 974 appropriates $100 thousand from the general fund to the local government divi-

sion of DFA for operational and direct support for a youth leadership mentor program in Chaves

county.

Significant Issues

According to DFA, the appropriation in this bill would support the Chaves County Court Ap-

pointed Special Advocates (CASA) program, which serves high risk youth in Chaves county.

DFA reports that the program successfully uses mentoring principles and that there is a 25% re-

cidivism rate for youth who have graduated from the program. The program’s existing funding

expires soon and the program will close if additional funding is not secured. Although DFA in-

dicates that the funding is non-recurring, it does not identity a non-state source of funding for the

program after FY 06.

House Bill 974 -- Page 2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 06 shall revert to

the general fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DFA indicates that it will utilize a sole source contract with CASA that will provide for recruit-

ing, screening, training, supervision of volunteers and mentors, salaries of trained staff, field

trips, activities, and tutoring.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

While DFA indicates that CASA has met or exceeded its own performance measures, there are

no performance measures established in the legislation. Thus, there is little opportunity for the

legislature to measure the outcomes of the appropriation.

EF/lg