March 5, 2024
Library and Community Services
DATE: March 5, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
LaShonda White, Deputy City Manager, Community
Services
Sam Vaughn, Deputy Director of Office of Neighborhood
Safety
Subject:
Approval to Accept and Appropriate a $300,000 Grant
Award from the U.S. Department of Justice Byrne
Discretionary Community Project
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The receipt of the grant will provide $300,000 to the Office of Neighborhood Safety to provide supportive
services and stipend support for the ONS Operation
Peacemaker Fellowship.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
N/A
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
Staff is requesting Acceptance and Appropriation of the grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice Byrne
Discretionary Community Project to provide supportive
services and stipend support for the Office of
Neighborhood Safety (ONS) Operation Peacemaker
Fellowship supported by ONS street outreach efforts.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution to ACCEPT and APPROPRIATE a
$300,000 grant award from the U.S. Department of
Justice Byrne Community Project for the Office of
Neighborhood Safety Operation Peacemaker Fellowship
program – Community Services Department (LaShonda
White 510-620-6828/Sam Vaughn 510-620-5404).
DISCUSSION:
The City of Richmond Office of Neighborhood Safety (“ONS”) has been awarded $300,000 from the U.S. Department of Justice Byrne Discretionary Community Project.
AGENDA
REPORT
March 5, 2024
The Byrne Discretionary grant provides funding for specific community projects designated for funding in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (Public Law 117- 103) and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328) to improve the functioning of the criminal justice system, to prevent or combat juvenile delinquency, and to assist victims of crime (other than compensation).
The awarded amount will be granted for the period commencing on July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2027. The proposed budget will cover supportive services and stipend opportunities for the ONS Operation Peacemaker Fellowship (Fellowship).
The Fellowship is a program that has been implemented with measurable success by ONS for more than thirteen years and is designed for young people who have been identified as most likely to be involved in gun violence in Richmond. These individuals are deeply immersed in Richmond’s street life and as result, are difficult to reach through traditional services and approaches.
This population will receive the most intensive services, since nearly all are currently involved with violent crime. The Fellowship approaches violence prevention as a public health issue and emphasizes authentic relationship building as an important element of the Fellowship. The ONS uses a strengths-based positive youth development framework, viewing young people as equal participant in the work of the Fellowship.
Peacemaker Fellows who are on track and marking milestones within the Life Map will receive a stipend which is gained through their active participation of the program. The Fellows will participate in a series of evidence-informed practices that include the following:
Street Outreach
Mentoring – Individual and Group
Case Management
Life Skills Training
Employment and Training Support
Stipends
Supportive Services in the realm of education, life skills and street outreach are imperative for relationship building and positive youth development. As a part of street outreach, ONS staff will recruit a group of participants who face many of the same issues as those who are in the Fellowship, but who are at lower risk of involvement in gun violence, and who will receive a different level of services.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Grant Award Letter
Attachment 2 – Resolution