"The more people we have, the better for the children," he said.
Deputy City Manager Richard C. Rossi said the center has agreements with several Harvard houses that let students volunteer their services by working with Cambridge teens.
But Reeves said the student volunteer programs were not a permanent resolution to the youth center staffing issue.
"Harvard kids are not twelve months a year of programming," he said. "I think it's good that we contract outside of the part-time funded staff, but a lot of young people simply need to be with adults who care about them."
Reeves summed up for all the councillors the importance of the youth centers.
"Our teens are a precious resource," he said. "These programs don't reach all 1,800 students in our high schools, but the 487 students who go to the centers are a group that we could absolutely assist in the most significant wonderful ways."