LYNN – Young men considered at risk could be facing even greater risk if legislators uphold a 60 percent cut in the Safe and Successful Youth Initiatives funding.”It’s really draconian cuts,” said Fran Troutman, director of Education and Training Services with Catholic Charities Lynn. “We have programs that are just getting off the ground, they’re just starting to click, that will be affected.”SSYI is a violence prevention strategy aimed at 11 cities:, Lynn, Boston, Lowell, Worcester, Springfield, Lawrence, Brockton, Chelsea, Fall River, New Bedford and Holyoke. It specifically targets intervention for youth ages 14-24 that are at risk for killing or being killed.It cost the state $10 million to fund the entire program in 2012, pointed out Lynn Youth Street Outreach Advocacy Executive Director Teresa DiGregorio. Legislators nothing for the program for next year and the Senate has only earmarked $4 million for SSYI.In Lynn that cut will affect Troutman and DiGregorio’s programming, as well as Family and Children Services, Straight Ahead Ministries and Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development, all of which work together in a kind of coalition, DiGregorio explained.DiGregorio called LYSOA a small organization that relies heavily on SSYI funding.”We have funding that will carry us through to September,” she said. “But we’re looking for other grants.”DiGregorio said it’s frustrating that legislators don’t see the big picture. They talk about wanting to keep people out of jail, but then they cut funding aimed at reaching kids that are on that very path, she said.”Ages 14-24 is the most crucial stage in life,” she added. “It’s when you’re trying to figure out who you are and what you will do.”Ruben Montano, project director of Re/Start, SSYI – Lynn, said Lynn had a strong first year with the grant meeting or exceeding its proposed goals. He credits the grant with allowing for 2,839.5 hours of case management/outreach services for 70 youth, subsidized employment for 40 youth, GED services for 16 youth, who successfully completed their first year of exams and counseling for 25 youth including anger management and problem solving training. Montano also noted that fewer than 20 percent of participants had any kind of new criminal offense, less than 10 percent had a recurrence of violent offenses and crime rates overall in the city dropped by 4 percent.”Funding these types of initiatives is not only morally correct, it is fiscally responsible,” said Montano. “Not only are we said Montano. “Not only are wehelping young men re-direct their lives in positive directions, we are saving tax dollars by impacting the rate of violence and recidivism in our communities.”Montano said court fees, incarceration costs and lost wages for victims of violence decrease when communities invest in violence prevention efforts.Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said his department doesn’t benefit directly from SSYI, but it does benefit from the services provided by the organizations that do. He said he is definitely in favor of fully funding the program.”Anything to keep the crime rate down,” he said.The ultimate goal of the program is to ensure that a full continuum of services such as trauma informed case management, intensive supervision, employment education and health care, are available and coordinated in each city. Coppinger noted that any cut in those services could lead to an increase in crime.Troutman said her organization offers case management services, essentially trying to keep the younger ones in school and the older ones out of jail and they offer GED programs.If all the program receives is $4 million divided between 11 communities “I would think we’ll more than probably lose half our programming,” she said. “So we’ll either do case work and no GED or GEDs and no case work, and I feel like we’re making an impact on both areas.”She called the cuts short sighted and others said they hoped that Gov. Deval Patrick would put the remaining $6 mi