Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993                   TAG: 9312230107
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

YOUTH PROGRAM AT RISK UNDER WILDER'S BUDGET

Wilder's proposed budget would eliminate juvenile-delinquency prevention grants July 1.

Marion Crenshaw, Roanoke's youth planner, said Wednesday that means her office, which plans and coordinates programs to keep youngsters from turning to crime, will have to close - unless the General Assembly restores the state funds or the city finances it with local funds.

Crenshaw said the office serves several thousand youngsters annually through recreational activities, school surveys, student-government day and other programs.

Roanoke will receive $38,000 in state funds this year for the youth office and programs to help prevent juvenile delinquency. The city is providing $13,335 in a local match and $3,370 in in-kind contributions.

Crenshaw, who has headed the youth office for 13 years, said she is puzzled that the state would eliminate funds to fight juvenile delinquency at a time when prisons are overcrowded and juvenile crime is increasing.

As youth planner, Crenshaw oversees a broad range of education and recreation programs, including student-government day, when students spend a day with city officials and learn about their jobs.

City Manager Bob Herbert said Wednesday he is optimistic that the General Assembly will provide funds so Roanoke and other localities can keep their youth offices.

"I am not alarmed at this point," Herbert said. "It is way too early to get into speculation about what might happen [if state funds are eliminated]."

He expects Wilder's outgoing budget will be revised substantially by Gov.-elect George Allen and the General Assembly.

Herbert believes the preventive programs for juvenile delinquency are too important for the legislature to let them go unfunded.

Glenn Radcliffe, director of human development for the city, said city officials already have begun working with the state Department of Youth and Family Services to try to get the money restored.

"They did this once before, several years ago, and we got it put back," said Radcliffe, who is a former regional administrator for the Department of Youth and Family Services.

"We won't give up on getting the money, as long as the General Assembly is in session," Radcliffe said.

The agency that has provided the grants faces a $10.6 million budget cut in the next biennium.

If the state refuses to provide the funds, Radcliffe said, city officials will have to look at ways to continue the youth office.

"I'm sure that the city will want to keep these programs," Radcliffe said.