Baltimore council tightens oversight of children and youth fund

Baltimore City Council tightened control over the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, voting to add new oversight rules to a taxpayer-backed pot that sends millions of dollars to youth programs across the city. The bill cleared third reader after months of arguments over whether Baltimore was doing enough to track public money that flows through a nonprofit structure.

The stakes are high because BCYF is not just another grant program. Baltimore’s charter requires the fund to receive at least $0.03 on every $100 of assessed property value, and any unused money stays in the fund instead of rolling back into the general budget. The charter also says the mayor and City Council must provide oversight, governance and administration by ordinance, giving the council a direct role in setting the rules.

The new legislation would sharpen those guardrails. Under the version advanced in April, the Baltimore City Comptroller would have to conduct a performance audit every three years, grantees would have to file quarterly financial reports, and the fund would face tighter limits on grants connected to BCYF employees, board members or their family members. Supporters argued the changes were needed to make the grant process fairer and to keep taxpayer dollars from drifting away from grassroots groups serving young people. Councilman Zac Blanchard said the bill sets strong guardrails so BCYF funding can go farther toward grassroots organizations serving young people.

The vote also reflected a broader distrust that has built around the fund. Mayor Brandon Scott opposed the bill when it was introduced last September, and his office had not immediately said whether he would sign it. If he vetoes it, the council would need a two-thirds override. Six council members, Mark Parker, John Bullock, Zeke Cohen, Ryan Dorsey, Mark Conway and Blanchard, were tied to the fall version of the measure.

The debate grew sharper as dozens of BCYF grantees testified against the bill in December, while BCYF initially opposed it. By April, the committee advanced the measure unanimously. That came amid a Baltimore City Inspector General investigation and after BCYF refused a public information request for records showing how taxpayer money is spent.

BCYF says it received about $16 million for fiscal year 2026, awarded more than $10 million to 100 grantee partners in fiscal 2025, and helped create nearly 19,000 youth programming seats across Baltimore. Its 2026 strategic report says the fund has awarded $23 million to 101 grantees since 2020, making the oversight fight about more than accounting. It is now a test of how much transparency Baltimore expects in return for one of its main youth funding streams.