Public Safety Committee
December 9, 2025
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Holly Joshi
City Administrator Chief of Violence
Prevention
SUBJECT: Contract with Bright Research Group
Inc and Roca, Inc. for Training
Services
DATE: November 10, 2025
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution:
1. Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Professional Services Agreement With Bright Research Group Inc For Training And Capacity Building Services From January 1, 2026, To December 31, 2026, For A Total Contract Amount Not To Exceed Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars ($75,000) And Waiving The Competitive Request For Proposal/Qualifications Requirement; And
2. Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Professional Services Agreement With Roca, Inc. For Cognitive Behavioral Theory Training Services For The Term Of January 1, 2026, To September 30, 2026, In An Amount Not To Exceed Thirty-Six Thousand Dollars ($36,000) And Waiving The Competitive Request For Proposal/Qualifications And Local/Small Local Business Enterprise Program Requirements
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The proposed resolution, if adopted, will allow the Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) to contract with Bright Research Group Inc for training and capacity building services from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026, for a total cost of $75,000. It will also allow the DVP to contract with Roca, Inc., for $36,000 to train life coaches employed or funded by the DVP in a cognitive behavioral theory curriculum from January 1, 2026, and September 30, 2026. Both training contracts are included in the approved budgets and service expectations of external grants received by the DVP.
Jestin Johnson (Nov 20, 2025 18:03:56 PST)
11/20/2025
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Contract with Bright Research Group Inc and Roca, Inc. for Training Services Date: November 10, 2025 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
December 9, 2025
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) is charged with reducing gun violence, domestic violence, and commercial sexual exploitation in Oakland. To do this, the DVP invests in immediate crisis response services and near-term interventions that stabilize victims and prevent additional violence, as well as longer-term, intensive support services for individuals caught in cycles of violence. In service of these goals, the DVP performs three primary functions:
1. Supervise and deploy a team of direct service staff who perform intensive life coaching and violence interruption work with individuals at the highest risk of imminent group and gender-based violence.
2. Fund and coordinate community organizations to deliver a range of community violence intervention services to individuals at the center of violence.
3. Build capacity among community violence intervention workers who form the ecosystem of community violence intervention services in Oakland to enhance our collective capacity to prevent violence and deliver effective and coordinated services.
The DVP plays an integral role in the City of Oakland’s primary public safety strategy known as Ceasefire-Lifeline, which 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 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.
In 2024, the DVP received the following two external grants to expand Lifeline services and capacity building for the ecosystem of community violence intervention workers in Oakland:
1. A three-year grant for $3,500,000 from Kaiser Permanente that funds three life coaches, one violence interrupter, and one training manager charged with building and maintaining an infrastructure for training Oakland’s ecosystem of community violence intervention workers in best and promising practices (Resolution 90497 C.M.S.).
2. A three-year grant for $2,000,000 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)’s Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI) that funds three life coaches (Resolution 90508 C.M.S.).
Both grants include deliverables and funding related to training and capacity building for DVP staff who implement Lifeline services and community violence intervention workers funded by the DVP.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Contract with Bright Research Group Inc and Roca, Inc. for Training Services Date: November 10, 2025 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
December 9, 2025
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The proposed resolution will award a one-year contract for $75,000 to Bright Research Group Inc. (BRG) to provide training and capacity building services to DVP staff and the network of community violence intervention agencies funded by the DVP. Trainings delivered through BRG may include de-escalation and conflict mediation, behavioral change theory, community- centered healing, gender-based violence, and male allyship. BRG has successfully provided DVP with training and capacity building services in the past, including hosting speakers and guest trainers to discuss various topics relevant to community violence intervention work and leading the implementation of a five-month life coaching certification program that all DVP life coaches were required to complete. This contract will fund training services delivered in 2026, during which time the Kaiser-funded training manager will simultaneously develop, release, and score a request for qualifications for longer-term training services. Funding for the BRG contract is included in the Kaiser grant budget, and the delivery of training in 2026 is a grant deliverable.
The proposed resolution will also award a nine-month contract of $36,000 to Roca, Inc. (Roca) to train life coaches employed and funded by the DVP in their Rewire cognitive behavioral theory curriculum. Roca is a community-based organization based in Boston that has gained national credibility for its ability to successfully serve individuals at the highest risk of gun violence. Roca developed their Rewire curriculum in partnership with physicians from Massachusetts General Hospital based on research on trauma-informed CBT interventions, and it is designed for use with individuals who are actively involved in violence. The curriculum consists of seven skill lessons that life coaches can reference during one-on-one interactions with their clients: Be Present; Label Your Feelings; Act on Your Values; Plan, Do Repeat; Stick With It; Flex Your Thinking; Solve It. The training is delivered through one full-day, in-person session followed by six weeks of virtual sessions to discuss the real-world application of the training concepts. Roca previously conducted this training twice for DVP staff and funded agencies in 2024, but the DVP and its funded agencies have since hired additional life coaches and violence interrupters who require training. Funding for this contract is included in the BJA grant budget, and the delivery of Rewire training is a grant deliverable.
The proposed resolution advances the citywide priority of holistic community safety by providing continuous learning opportunities for DVP staff and community violence intervention workers funded by the DVP who deliver services to individuals at high risk of gun violence in Oakland.
FISCAL IMPACT
The proposed resolution will authorize the City Administrator to award a contract for $75,000 to Bright Research Group Inc. to provide training and capacity building services to the DVP.
Funding for this work is approved in the DVP’s Kaiser grant and available in Project (1007638), Award (24645), Fund (2994), Fostering Safe and Healthy Communities Program (SC22), and Oakland Unite Organization (70211).
The proposed resolution will also authorize the City Administrator to award a contract for $36,000 to Roca, Inc. to provide life coaches with training in a cognitive behavioral theory curriculum. Funding for this work is approved in the DVP’s BJA grant budget and available in Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Contract with Bright Research Group Inc and Roca, Inc. for Training Services Date: November 10, 2025 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
December 9, 2025
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.
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
After reimplementing the Ceasefire-Lifeline model with fidelity in February 2024, Oakland ended 2024 with reductions of 33% and 32% in shootings and homicides, respectively, compared to 2023. As of October 26, 2025, Oakland has experienced 222 shootings and 46 homicides in 2025, representing a reduction of 50% and 54% in shootings and homicides, respectively, compared to 2023. This work could not be done without trained frontline staff.
Through previous partnerships with Bright Research Group Inc, the DVP network has participated in numerous capacity building trainings, and over 50 violence prevention and interruption frontline staff have been certified in healing-centered life coaching.
Roca provides intensive training and capacity building support to community-based organizations and government entities working to disrupt cycles of violence in their communities. To date, over 100 organizations and 10,000 frontline staff have participated in their Rewire CBT training. Ninety-six percent of training participants in the last four years reported that they feel their work is more effective since participating in the Rewire CBT training and applying it to their work with individuals at the highest risk of being involved in violence.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic opportunities associated with this report.
Environmental: There are no environmental opportunities associated with this report.
Race & Equity: A majority of individuals at the highest risk of gun violence in Oakland are African American and Latino males. Frontline violence prevention and interruption staff, such as DVP-funded life coaches, are also largely African American and Latino. On-going training and capacity building is essential to the continued successful implementation of the Ceasefire- Lifeline strategy. The provision of ongoing training and capacity building services to frontline staff will increase staff ability to build trust, foster healing, and create pathways to safety with individuals disproportionately affected by gun violence in Oakland.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Contract with Bright Research Group Inc and Roca, Inc. for Training Services Date: November 10, 2025 Page 5
Public Safety Committee
December 9, 2025
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution:
1. Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Professional Services Agreement With Bright Research Group Inc For Training And Capacity Building Services From January 1, 2026, To December 31, 2026, For A Total Contract Amount Not To Exceed Seventy-Five Thousand Dollars ($75,000) And Waiving The Competitive Request For Proposal/Qualifications Requirement; And
2. Authorizing The City Administrator To Enter Into A Professional Services Agreement With Roca, Inc. For Cognitive Behavioral Theory Training Services For The Term Of January 1, 2026, To September 30, 2026, In An Amount Not To Exceed Thirty-Six Thousand Dollars ($36,000) And Waiving The Competitive Request For Proposal/Qualifications And Local/Small Local Business Enterprise Program Requirements
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
Department of Violence Prevention
Reviewed by:
Mailee Wang, Deputy Chief of Administration
Prepared by:
Vanetta Thomas, Training Manager
Holly Joshi (Nov 19, 2025 19:46:28 PST)