*Accept grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance FY 2023 Byrne Discretionary Grants Program to support place-based community violence intervention for $2 million and appropriate $447,960 for FY 2023-24

The Fiscal Year 2023 Byrne Discretionary Community Project Funding grant being accepted and appropriated by this ordinance provides funding to the Community Safety Division’s (CSD) Safe Blocks Program (SBP) to support place-based community violence intervention (CVI) programming to reduce impacts to public health, social well-being, and the local economy caused by gun violence. The goal of the grant project is to increase community safety and to reduce shooting incidents in three neighborhoods identified by CSD as ‘hotspots’ through direct investment and additional programming. Through this grant program, CSD will leverage the expertise of current SBP personnel and expand its reach to additional neighborhoods. Through direct investment and subaward grants, programming activities may include changes to the physical environment such as the installation of green spaces, vacant lot remediation, and/or improvements to traffic flow, pedestrian safety, lighting needs, and access control. Pro-social activities may include youth engagement, resource fairs, block parties, and street mural painting. Community engagement is a core-process of this program and will be facilitated and supported at every phase and will directly inform and impact programming activities. Expected outcomes of the FY2023 award are: A reduction of shooting incidents in the Hazelwood, Eliot, and Powelhurst-Gilbert neighborhoods; Reduced calls for police service related to gun violence in the aforementioned neighborhoods; Increased feelings of safety among residents of the three neighborhoods; Increased community trust in the city’s capacity to handle gun violence and a subsequent increase in community engagement in community safety programs.

This action will increase the Office of Management and Finance’s Grant Fund appropriation by $447,960 for FY 2023-24. There is no match required by this grant.

The overall goal of this project is to reduce gun violence in the indicated focus areas through implementing community building and engagement techniques along with community safety and violence prevention interventions. Engagement will include meetings (note the 4 types below), a community survey, and key participant interviews. Meetings: Focus Area Stakeholder meetings Focus Area Stakeholder Sub-group meetings Focus Area Community Specific Outreach meetings Focus Area Meetings - Open to the Public Survey: At multiple points throughout this process, we want to survey locals to learn who makes up this community, what makes this community great, and the key challenges being faced. We want to know what helps people feel safe and how they want to be involved in change-making in their community. Community Surveys are issued at the outset of a micro-location project to assess perceptions of safety and gather the community’s ideas for interventions. A follow-up survey to identify any change in perception can be distributed in phase 2 and/or 3 of project. Survey templates will be available to modify for each location/site. It is recommended to use a multi-channel distribution strategy: link, QR code, paper, and canvassing to collect responses directly from community members via smartphones or tablets. Surveys will need to be translated into appropriate languages. Follow-up surveys will be collected, cadence of follow-ups will be determined on a site-by-site basis. Interviews with key partners: Community groups – name, purpose, contact Community Based Organizations - name, purpose/population served, contact Neighborhood associations – name/contact Schools and Day care centers – name/population served/contact Businesses – name/type/contact if possible Places of Worship - name/contact