TO: RULES AND OPEN FROM: Councilmember Campos
GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE Councilmember Ortiz
Councilmember Doan
Councilmember Candelas
Councilmember Casey
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: April 16, 2026
Approved Date: 4/16/2026
SUBJECT: Identification and Assessment of Priority Neighborhoods
RECOMMENDATION
In addition to recommending how to spend the $500,000 to advance Children and Youth Services Master Plan priorities as allocated in the Mayor’s March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, direct the City Manager to provide a cost estimate in the forthcoming Manager’s Budget Addendum (MBA) for the following scope of work:
1. Identify the next set of potential priority neighborhood expansion sites for the Children and Youth Services Master Plan;
2. Subject to the availability of funds, begin to assess community capacity, and convene neighborhood leaders and stakeholders for future expansion of Children and Youth Services Master Plan implementation; and
3. Initiate preliminary service delivery coordination.
BACKGROUND
The Mayor’s March Budget Message provides the foundation for a youth intervention strategy through three specific instructions:
As several Councilmembers emphasized during our February budget study session,1 youth intervention and prevention programs are foundational public safety investments.
The Children and Youth Services Master Plan (CYS Master Plan) provides a roadmap to align City resources around upstream prevention, culturally competent services, and measurable outcomes that support children, youth, and families – particularly in neighborhoods that have experienced historical disinvestment. To sharpen accountability 1 February 5, 2026, City Council Study Session - 2026-2027 Preliminary General Fund Forecast and Budget Priorities. https://sanjose.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1315731&GUID=CEF79654-1CAB-4871-82C4- E24D6FC11FC4&Options=&Search=
RULES COMMITTEE: 4/22/2026
ITEM: C.1
2 and results, the Increasing Community Safety Focus Area should explicitly include a youth violence prevention problem area aligned with the CYS Master Plan.
The City Manager is directed to set aside one-time funding of $500,000 – with the option to earmark a portion to leverage additional private investment—and return with an MBA recommending how to expend these funds to advance CYS Master Plan priorities. The MBA should consider the role of the San José Youth Empowerment Alliance (SJYEA), the City’s primary platform for youth violence prevention and intervention, and prioritize optimizing SJYEA’s highest-performing and highest-reaching initiatives. In 2024-2025, SJYEA-supported programs demonstrated real impact in the 30 schools it served, contributing to a 15% reduction in school incidents through the Safe School Campus Initiative, achieving an 87% success rate of removing gang-affiliated tattoos through the Clean Slate Tattoo Removal Program, and supporting 150 youth in job placements through SJ Works.
The MBA should also describe how the expenditure of the $500,000 complements the continuation of existing City programs aligned with CYS Master Plan priorities – including youth intervention, afterschool programming, and family stabilization efforts.
Investments should remain place-based and equity-centered in communities with the greatest need. Further, to sustain and scale what works, the City Manager is directed to identify steps that can be taken next fiscal year – through SJYEA or another appropriate forum – to engage partners in identifying programs that would have the greatest impact in advancing the CYS Master Plan, and to return with recommendations to the Neighborhood Services and Education Committee in Fall 2026. These recommendations will help inform the future Strategic Partnerships Lead in the Mayor’s Office to develop a strategy that leverages private and regional partnerships, ensuring City dollars are catalytic, coordinated, and deployed for measurable impact.2 Including a youth violence prevention problem statement in the Increasing Community Safety Focus Area, supported with funding and a potential expenditure plan, is a forward-looking and thoughtful approach to addressing systemic challenges impacting lower-resourced neighborhoods Citywide. We appreciate this approach and are grateful for the Council’s approval of this strategy in the vote to adopt the March Budget Message on March 17.
The Neighborhood Services and Education Committee (NSE) meeting on April 9 th, 2026,
provided sobering updates regarding CYS Master Plan implementation and several essential PRNS programs, including San José Youth Empowerment Alliance, Bringing Everyone’s Strengths Together, Safe Summer Initiative Grant, and Youth Intervention Services. The City Administration acknowledged the impact of the federal government’s actions to eviscerate the social safety net. City and County budget crises further erode the ability of local governments to provide support services and contribute to the stress thousands of families are experiencing.
For many, local programs are a lifeline. We are confident that every member of this City Council is immensely grateful for the difficult but crucial work of PRNS and Library staff, as well as all 2 March Budget Message for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, pp 18-19. https://sanjose.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=15304311&GUID=48306C96-6326-4EB3-8AC4- 88F31D54A8AE
3 Department staff who provide direct or support services benefiting distressed families. Similarly, we appreciate key partners, including County staff, neighborhood leaders, nonprofit and community-based organizations, and other agencies who are stepping in and stepping up as the federal government leaves many behind.
Sustaining these programs is essential. However, we must also understand how to introduce these vital services in neighborhoods that currently receive limited or no support. City staff and key partners have implemented the “No Wrong Door” service delivery pilots at the Mayfair/Poco Way and Santee/Seven Trees neighborhoods, supported by $1 million in one-time funds approved in the FY 2024-25 budget. The “lessons learned” from work at these Demonstration sites will be provided to NSE in the Fall. The work plan also includes commitments to “increase asset abundance scores for key Priority Neighborhoods,” including Valley Palms/SJ Apartments, Plata Arroyo, and Seven Trees.
3 With limited funding, the Council must make difficult decisions about how to expend the allocated resources equitably and sustainably.
The Youth Empowerment Alliance already annually assesses historically underserved neighborhoods. These neighborhoods include, but are not limited to, Hoffman-Via Monte, Edenvale/Roundtable, Cadillac/Winchester, Mt. Pleasant, Welch/Overfelt Area/Valley Palms, and Meadowfair/Silver Creek/Brigadoon.
The MBA previously directed in the March Budget Message and approved by the City Council provides an opportunity to begin the conversation about how to support underserved neighborhoods throughout San José. All of us recognize that robust “No Wrong Door” service delivery in every under-resourced neighborhood will not be possible with the current budget framework. Even with an austerity-oriented, “do more with less” approach, we still will benefit from understanding systems processes, policy issues, trusted partners and providers, and community anchors affecting potential priority neighborhoods.
The City Administration may ultimately recommend fully allocating the $500,000 set aside to sustain the two existing Demonstration sites – or, the Administration may identify ways to transition the existing pilots to semi-permanent “steady-state” delivery service models – or even determine that investment in new neighborhoods should be the priority. The MBA should explore these alternatives and provide options for the City Council to consider. Even if the Council determines not to introduce “No Wrong Door” service delivery in new neighborhoods at this time, the research provided could serve as the foundation for future exploration of service expansion.
The signers of this memorandum have not had, and will not have, any private conversation with any other member of the City Council, or that member’s staff, concerning any action discussed in the memorandum, and that each signer’s staff members have not had, and have been instructed not to have, any such conversation with any other member of the City Council or that member's staff.
3 April 9, 2026, Neighborhood Services and Education Committee Agenda Item (d)2, “San José Youth Empowerment Alliance, Bringing Everyone’s Strengths Together, Safe Summer Initiative Grant, and Youth Intervention Services Programs Annual Report.”
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