Public Safety Committee
May 13, 2025
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Holly Joshi
City Administrator Chief of Violence Prevention
SUBJECT: Contract with the University of
Pennsylvania for Ceasefire-Lifeline
Evaluation
DATE: April 14, 2025
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Authorize a Resolution Waiving The City of Oakland’s Local and Small Local Business Enterprise Program Requirements And Competitive Bidding Process And Awarding A Professional Services Agreement In An Amount Not To Exceed Seventy-Seven Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty-Five Dollars ($77,865) For The Term OF July 1, 2025, To December 31, 2027, To The University Of Pennsylvania’s Crime And Justice Policy Lab To Evaluate The Department of Violence Prevention’s Ceasefire-Lifeline Strategy As A Requirement Of The Department’s Community-Based Violence Intervention And Prevention Grant From The Bureau Of Justice Assistance
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed resolution, if adopted, will allow the City Administrator to award a professional services agreement to the University of Pennsylvania’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab for a total of $77,865 from July 1, 2025, to September 30, 2027, to conduct an evaluation of the Department of Violence Prevention (DVP)’s Ceasefire-Lifeline Strategy, as required by the DVP’s Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On November 12, 2024, the City approved Resolution No. 90508 C.M.S. to accept a three-year, $2 million grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI) to increase the DVP’s capacity to deliver intensive life coaching services as part of the City’s Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy. Ceasefire-Lifeline is an evidence-based, data-driven, cross-sector strategy for reducing group-related shootings and homicides by focusing social services and enforcement efforts on individuals who are most likely to be victims or perpetrators of gun violence in the near term. The DVP implements the prevention and intervention (“Lifeline”) components of the strategy by relentlessly pursuing individuals at greatest risk to engage them in intensive services that support changes in mindsets and behaviors to avoid future violence. Violence interrupters relentlessly pursue Jestin Johnson (May 1, 2025 20:28 PDT)
05/01/2025
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Contract with the University of Pennsylvania for Ceasefire-Lifeline Evaluation Date: April 14, 2025 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
May 13, 2025
individuals at the highest risk for gun violence to build relationships with the goal of connecting them to intensive DVP services. Violence interrupters also maintain a high-visibility presence in impacted communities, building relationships, identifying and mediating group conflicts, and preventing retaliatory violence. Life coaches work closely with participants to identify factors driving their participation in violence, develop and implement strategies to reduce risk, and build the safety nets and supports needed to increase protective factors. The BJA grant provides funding for the DVP to hire three additional life coaches who will deliver intensive life coaching services to at least 75 Ceasefire-Lifeline clients during the three-year grant period. At the end of the grant period, the DVP will be required to submit a final program report that details activities accomplished, participant outcomes, and lessons learned for the future. BJA recommends that grantees work with an external evaluation partner to assess outcomes and prepare this report.
Drs. Anthony Braga and Lisa Barao from the University of Pennsylvania’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab are national experts in the evaluation of focused deterrence strategies for gun violence reduction, such as Ceasefire-Lifeline. Together, they have authored numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals regarding the evaluation of focused deterrence strategies in dozens of cities across the county, including recent evaluations in San Francisco and Stockton. They have specific prior experience conducting evaluation work in Oakland, as they evaluated Oakland’s Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy from 2012 to 2017 and found that 31.5% of the city’s nearly 50% reduction in homicides at that time was due to the strategy. They have also conducted 3 separate problem analyses of gun violence in Oakland since 2016, allowing the City of Oakland to consistently monitor drivers of gun violence in Oakland by documenting the circumstances of shootings and homicides, victim and suspect demographics, and group conflicts and alliances. In conducting the prior Ceasefire-Lifeline evaluation and problem analyses, Drs. Braga and Barao worked closely with the Oakland Police Department to obtain and interpret the required crime data. They also worked closely with staff from the DVP and formerly Oakland Unite to obtain the necessary service delivery data.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The proposed resolution will award a contract for $77,865 to the University of Pennsylvania’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab to evaluate the DVP’s contributions to the Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy from 2024 through 2026. This evaluation will involve the following four components:
1. Trend Analysis of Homicides and Shootings
a. Analyze monthly and yearly counts of homicides and shootings from 2021-2026 with comparisons to trends in similar California cities.
2. Descriptive Analysis of Direct Communications
o Analyze trends in monthly counts of direct communication deliveries 2024-2026. o Summarize characteristics of direct communication recipients (e.g., demographics, group/gang associations).
o Summarize the characteristics of clients receiving repeat direct communications.
3. Descriptive Analysis of Life Coaching
o Analyze trends in the month counts of life coaching enrollments and caseloads. o Summarize characteristics of life coaching enrollees (e.g., demographics, group/gang associations).
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Contract with the University of Pennsylvania for Ceasefire-Lifeline Evaluation Date: April 14, 2025 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
May 13, 2025
o Summarize services received by life coaching enrollees.
4. Analysis of Life Coaching Participant Outcomes
o Summarize prosocial outcomes (e.g., employment and education achievements) and analyze differences by length of enrollment and services received. o Analyze criminal justice outcomes (e.g., rearrest, conviction) with comparisons to direct communication recipients who did not enroll in life coaching. o Analyze victimization outcomes with comparisons to direct communication recipients who did not enroll in life coaching.
The proposed resolution advances the citywide priority of holistic community safety by generating learnings that will enhance the DVP’s capacity to deliver life-saving intensive life coaching services to individuals at greatest risk of gun violence. It also addresses the citywide priority of responsive, trustworthy government by allowing an external evaluation partner to evaluate and publicly share results related to the City of Oakland’s Ceasefire strategy.
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this proposed resolution will authorize the City Administrator to award $77,865 of the DVP’s $2,000,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to the University of Pennsylvania’s Crime and Justice Policy Lab to conduct an evaluation for the Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy. Funding for this work is approved in the grant budget and available in Project (1007639), Award (24643), Fund (2112), Fostering Safe and Healthy Communities Program (SC22), and Oakland Unite Organization (70211).
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No public outreach was deemed necessary for the proposed resolution beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures. However, the DVP discusses and reports on its work related to the Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy regularly with faith-based partners involved in the Ceasefire-Lifeline partnership group and with the City Council’s Public Safety Committee. These groups strongly support the expansion of DVP life coaching services for individuals identified through Ceasefire-Lifeline as being at the highest risk for gun violence in Oakland.
COORDINATION
The City Attorney’s Office, Budget Bureau, and City Administrator’s Office were consulted during the preparation of this agenda report and resolution.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION, AND FOLLOW-UP
The Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy has been studied extensively in cities across the country and is widely viewed by experts as the most effective approach to reducing group-driven gun violence.
Oakland first implemented Ceasefire-Lifeline in 2012 and experienced a 31.5% reduction in gun homicides that was directly attributable to the strategy. Since reimplementing the model with Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
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Public Safety Committee
May 13, 2025
fidelity in February 2024, Oakland has seen significant reductions in violent crime. Oakland ended 2024 with a reduction of 32% in homicides and 33% in shootings with injury compared to 2023.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic opportunities associated with this report.
Environmental: There are no environmental opportunities associated with this report.
Race & Equity: The Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy serves individuals at the highest risk of imminent gun violence, the majority of whom are African American or Latino males. Conducting an evaluation of the Ceasefire-Lifeline strategy will ensure that funds are being used effectively to contribute to a reduction in violent victimization and incarceration among this vulnerable population.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Authorize a Resolution Waiving The City of Oakland’s Local and Small Local Business Enterprise Program Requirements And Competitive Bidding Process And Awarding A Professional Services Agreement In An Amount Not To Exceed Seventy-Seven Thousand Eight Hundred Sixty-Five Dollars ($77,865) For The Term OF July 1, 2025, To December 31, 2027, To The University Of Pennsylvania’s Crime And Justice Policy Lab To Evaluate The Department of Violence Prevention’s Ceasefire-Lifeline Strategy As A Requirement Of The Department’s Community-Based Violence Intervention And Prevention Grant From The Bureau Of Justice Assistance
For questions regarding this report, please contact Holly Joshi, Chief of Violence Prevention, at (510) 920-6272.
Respectfully submitted,
Holly Joshi
Chief of Violence Prevention
Reviewed by:
Mailee Wang, Deputy Chief of Administration
Prepared by:
Caitlin Grey, Planner
Holly Joshi (Apr 29, 2025 16:24 PDT)