With money tight,Chicago Public Schools’summer Safe Haven program will be scaled back and serve fewer students.Last year, the district used $975,000 in federal stimulus funds for Safe Haven, which encompassed 100 churches working with 5,000 students on issues including conflict resolution and anger management, as well as reading programs, tutoring and arts.
via Chicago Tribune.
That’s 100 churches getting nearly 10,000 each to do what exactly?
Like nearly all government programs Safe Haven was doomed from the start. It was a “spread some money around” plan that had no measure of success or failure. Nearly a million bucks was doled out to politically connected reverends who held a few meetings, played a little basketball, and then sent the children back into the mean streets. No one knows where the money really went. But it’s safe to say that Safe Haven did little to curb violence.