The Los Angeles City Council approved a measure for nonprofit groups to operate
16 new social service centers around the city. (Creative Commons Licensed)

In an effort to simplify Los Angeles' social service delivery system, the L.A. City Council gave approval this week for a group of nonprofits to operate sixteen community service centers throughout the city.

The council unanimously approved recommendations from the City Administrative Officer and the Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee Wednesday to allow fifteen service providers to run what the city has dubbed FamilySource Centers.

Under the old system, people who needed services like job or rent assistance, health services, and others might have to visit several different centers. Low-income residents can now go to one lead agency to receive needed services, officials said.

"You come here, this is everything," said Carlos Martinez of El Centro del Pueblo and program director for the new Echo Park FamilySource Center. "What I like to call a mall of services," he said. The Echo Park center provides tutoring programs, counseling, support groups, workshops, health services and specific case management, said Martinez.

The Community Development Department also received approval from city council to negotiate six-month contracts with the nonprofits. The University Corporation at California State Northridge was picked to evaluate the effectiveness of the providers.

The proposal hinges on support from the Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who must now sign the measure.

The new service centers are expected to stream line social services and provide better coordination, officials said.

"Instead of [simply] putting funds on the street for good things, we have goals we are trying to meet," said Janet West, Senior Program Analyst for the new FamilySource Centers.

Those goals include increasing both family economic resources and academic resources for youth, said West.

The former system operated mainly by the Family Development Network and the Neighborhood Action Program, which officials and nonprofit providers described as scattered, will be dissolved.

After a series of reviews that called for better coordination, the council and mayor authorized the CDD in May to select various nonprofits to operate family centers throughout the city and an organization to evaluate their progress. Wednesday's vote represented a final step in the process.

Councilman Tony Cardenas said the new centers provide "basic services for the most needy people in our districts and in our communities."

A wide variety of services including job training, financial literacy, and counseling are available, said Jose Cornejo, Chief of Staff for Councilman Cardenas. He added that the CDD will have a role in ensuring community needs are met. He called this an improvement over the previous system.

Bea Stotzer, Board President for New Economics for Women, was pleased her organization was chosen to run two new centers in Canoga Park and the South Valley.

"It's the first time we are going to have a service that deals with economic outcomes for families," she said.

The CAO reported the contracts are expected to have no impact on the city's general fund.

The $8.12 million cost will be funded through a variety of state and federal grants including the Community Development Block Grant and the 2009 Community Services Block Grant, according to the CAO report.

Villaraigosa now has until Oct. 19 to sign the ordinance.