Baltimore City Council advances bill updating regulation of taxpayer-back youth fund

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — The Baltimore City Council advanced a bill Thursday following months of debate about how to regulate the taxpayer-backed Baltimore Children and Youth Fund (BCYF) amid a series of transparency concerns.

BCYF operates as a nonprofit that is guaranteed a portion of Baltimore City’s assessed property value each year, which was about $16 million this fiscal year. Six members of the City Council cosponsored a bill in September that would update its legally required oversight of BCYF. The proposal followed more than a year of investigative reports from Spotlight on Maryland about questionable spending and transparency within the organization.

City Council advanced the bill in a unanimous vote Thursday out of its Education, Youth, and Older Adults Committee after roughly six months of tense debate about what oversight measures are necessary to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent effectively, and what measures would be overly burdensome to grassroots organizations serving the community.

The bill would require that BCYF undergo a performance audit every three years conducted by the Baltimore City Comptroller. Additionally, it would require BCYF to adopt a consistent grant application process that is equally accessible to local organizations, as well as requiring BCYF’s grantees to submit quarterly financial reports.

The bill now advances to second reader for the City Council.

At the start of the Thursday committee hearing, BCYF President Alysia Lee testified to deny a Spotlight on Maryland report from a few days prior about a BCYF whistleblower who alleged the organization’s leadership instructed employees to call grantees with a specific script about how they could lose funding due to the proposed legislation. The whistleblower described the plan as “kind of a fear tactic.”

A second former BCYF employee, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retribution, has since backed allegations that the nonprofit’s leadership advised grantees on how to advocate against the bill.

A December hearing on the BCYF bill at City Council lasted roughly three hours after dozens of BCYF grantees testified in opposition to the legislation.

BCYF initially opposed the bill. However, Lee said Thursday that grantees worked in good faith with Councilman Mark Parker (District 1), the lead sponsor of the legislation, to ensure the proposal allows them to best serve the community.

“Through the advocacy of BCYF grantees and the very meaningful collaboration with Councilman Parker’s office, those harmful elements were removed from the bill, and the current version of the bill is stronger, more equitable, and more aligned with the fund’s original intent because of that collective effort. And so that is something that we should all recognize, collaborate around, celebrate, appreciate, and live to tell the story of how this bill was strengthened,” Lee said.

Spotlight on Maryland previously reported on how Parker was added to BCYF’s board of directors in September—the same month he introduced the bill updating regulations of the taxpayer-funded nonprofit. Parker has repeatedly denied interview requests from Spotlight on Maryland.

BCYF and Mayor Brandon Scott’s office expressed criticism of the bill as it was debated at City Council in recent months. Parker introduced several amendments to the bill in response. Initially, the bill required that BCYF grantees provide monthly fiscal reports, which was changed to quarterly reports. Another amendment removed a proposal to ban BCYF from awarding grants to organizations tied to their staff, board or their family members.

BCYF awarded more than $250,000 from 2022 to 2024 to an organization run by one of its board members, according to previous reporting from Spotlight on Maryland.

The Baltimore City Inspector General is expected to release a report this year on BCYF’s operations. The IG published a report in November that found a lack of oversight from the Baltimore City government over how BCYF spends taxpayer money.

A former employee at BCYF, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution, criticized city leaders over the legislative process.

“I think the city council should stick to their original guns,” the whistleblower told Spotlight on Maryland. “I think the amendments are in favor of BCYF leadership and not necessarily the people that they’re meant to serve.”

An attempt to advance the BCYF bill by City Council last month failed after a back-and-forth debate about whether the nonprofit should be able to continue using “invitation-only” grants for its taxpayer-funded programs. The invitation-only model, which the bill would stop by requiring a consistent grant application process, allowed BCYF to send roughly $6 million to the mayor’s office last year as an “emergency investment” for programs such as YouthWorks. The invitation-only model also enables BCYF to provide a “president’s fund,” which the nonprofit describes as a grant process determined “at the discretion of the president.”

A BCYF president’s fund grantee was awarded $900,000 in September 2022, then folded six months later, according to a previous Spotlight on Maryland investigation. BCYF claimed it recovered all but $33,750 of the grant award.

Three BCYF whistleblowers previously told Spotlight on Maryland that BCYF President Alysia Lee misuses the president’s fund.

“She ends up funding those people based on relationships. And allows those people to do things or get away with things that other organizations would not be able to,” one former employee said.

Another former employee described the president’s fund as “inappropriate.”

BCYF distributed $695,000 in president’s fund grants in 2025, according to its website.

Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture by The Baltimore Sun, FOX45 News and WJLA in Washington, D.C. Have a news tip? Call 410-467-4670 or emailSpotlightOnMaryland@sbgtv.com. Contact Patrick Hauf atpjhauf@sbgtv.comand @PatrickHauf on X.