CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Agenda Date: June 21, 2021 Action Required: Review request and make funding recommendation Presenter: Ryan Davidson, Sr. Budget & Management Analyst, Budget Office Kaki Dimock, Director, Human Services Staff Contacts: Ryan Davidson, Sr. Budget & Management Analyst, Budget Office Kaki Dimock, Director, Human Services Title: Out of Cycle Request for Funding: Peace in the Streets: $145,000 Background: On April 21, 2021, Conscious Capitalist Foundation submitted a request to city council for out of cycle funding to support Peace in the Streets, a gun violence prevention approach. Conscious Capitalist Foundation uses an approach to mentoring using ‘credible messengers’: people who use their lived experience as an opportunity to build trusting authentic relationships with students engaged in the program. The credible messenger approach is associated with positive outcomes in engaging in services and programs; reductions in re-arrest and violations; increased compliance with court and school conditions; and improved collaboration between system stakeholders and the broader community. Using credible messengers, Conscious Capitalist Foundation engages a transformative mentoring curriculum and program model called Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise, which has been identified as a promising practice by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform. Discussion: This community has experienced a significant increase in gun violence and gun-related incidents. Community members continue to express fear and frustration. Charlottesville Police Department has implored the community to help craft response(s). Peace in the Streets has heeded that call and has developed a positive working relationship with many community partners and neighborhood leaders; is staffed by people with credibility and lived experience; and is supported by a structured model for de-escalation. On May 17, 2021, the Department of Human Services submitted a proposal for funding to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services for community-based responses to increase gun violence. If awarded, the Department of Human Services would subcontract with community providers, including Peace in the Streets, in the amount of $50,000 - $100,000 per year for such services. Community Engagement: No community engagement was specifically conducted as part of staff review of this out of cycle request. Alignment with City Council’s Vision and Strategic Plan: This grant advances the City of Charlottesville’s Strategic Plan goals for inclusivity, self- sufficiency, and community safety. Budgetary Impact: This request is for $145,000, 100% of the cost of the proposed project. The only currently identified funding source for this request would be the City Council Strategic Initiatives Fund and the Council Equity Funds, which as of June 11, 2021 had a combined balance of $327,507.13. Recommendation: This out of cycle request is being presented to City Council for review and potential funding recommendation at the request of Councilor Hill, consistant with City Council’s policy. Staff has prepared a resolution that allocates $50,000 from Council’s Strategic Initiative Account should Council choose to fund this request. City Council could also amend the resolution if the decision is to fund at a greater or lesser amount. The total request of $145,000 is in excess of current policy for out of cycle requests to be limited to $50,000. The $50,000 amount in the resolution was chosen to conform with the current Council policy that out of cycle requests be limited to $50,000, and is not a staff recommendation for a funding amount, as that final recommendation is a Council decision. Alternatives: Council could choose to not fund this request at this time; chose to fund it at a different amount than the $50,000 in the resolution; or identify a different source of funding than the Council Strategic Initiatives Fund. Attachments:  Resolution  Peace in the Streets proposal for funding submitted to City Council on April 21, 2021. RESOLUTION APPROPRIATING FUNDING FOR Conscious Capitalist Foundation Peace in the Streets Program $50,000 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Charlottesville, Virginia that the sum of $50,000 is hereby paid from currently appropriated funds in the Council Strategic Initiatives account in the General Fund to the Conscious Capitalist Foundation in support of the Peace in the Streets program. $50,000 Fund: 105 Cost Center: 1011001000 Peace in These Streets Program Overview A targeted solution for reducing cyclical and retaliatory gun violence in Charlottesville neighborhoods. Background Research since the 1980s has dispelled the myth that urban gun violence is a community -wide issue. There are few ‘violent communities’ but rather gun violence is extremely concentrated in very particular places and among very particular people. Yet, it is not the places themselves that are committing gun violence but a very small number of highly influential people in communities.1. For example, a study conducted in Chicago found that 70 percent of all nonfatal gunshot victims were in social networks of co-offending people, which comprised less than 6 percent of the city's total population.2 In Oakland, the Giffords Law Center found that just 400 people, or 0.1% of the city’s population, were most at risk of and responsible for a majority of the city’s homicides. Importantly, the offenders and victims of urban gun violence are young men of color living in communities with long histories of structural racism, divestment and alienation from state institutions, particularly law enforcement, but also social services, education and others.3 Such in the case in Charlottesville, where we have seen an increase in gun violence in recent months. Our Approach In response to growing violence, a number of initiatives have begun all utilizing different methodologies to tackle a pressing issue which should be viewed as systemic in nature. Peace in the Streets was formed to reduce cyclical and retaliatory gun violence in Charlottesville urban neighborhoods as a response to the spike in gun violence during the pandemic. Our co-founders Robert Gray, Nicholas Feggans, and Martez Washington invest in the development and empowerment of those at the core of this crisis. By working with and supporting a targeted group of individuals at the core of gun hostilities, Peace in These Streets bridges the gap between anti-violence programming and a hard-to-reach population at the center of violence in our city. We offer proactive mediation and mentoring to break the cycle of gun hostilities and altering not only the trajectory of these men’s lives, but for the community as a whole. Through the Peacemaker Fellowships, which includes daily, one-on-one engagements by credible messengers to client for 18-months; conflict mediation & service navigation; strategy is developed with, not for, client and codified in an individualized Life MAP, a life 1 Advance Peace. https://www.advancepeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ap-focused-deterrence-v1-1.pdf. Accessed April 3 2 Ibid 3 Ibid management action plan. Positive incentives include travel and milestone allowance. Evidence Based Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise life skills classes are held with groups of fellows that communicate positive alternatives. Peace in These Streets achieves outcomes by partnering with both public and community- based stakeholders to establish responsive community-driven avenues for conflict resolution achieve high-impact outcomes for those caught in the cycle of urban gun violence. In addition to conflict resolution we serve as connectors and messengers. We guide high risk men and women to appropriate resources and mobilize them to embrace prominent roles in their communities. In doing so, our initiative addresses conflict and raises awareness about the peace movement which seeks to arm people with opportunities for personal development as a tool to fight back against gun violence. Evaluation and Impact 1. Reduction in community & city-wide gun homicide and assaults 2. Clients are alive 3. Reduction in recidivism 4. Reduction of clients injured by firearm 5. Reduced client involvement in firearm conflict 6. Ethnographic accounts of impacts on outreach workers, fellows and community members. Program Cost TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET BUDGET Budget Justification (Narrative) PERSONNEL/STAFFING EXPENSES (List title and % FTE on project) The Executive Director will provide supervision and guidance for the PITS program and will manage relationships with program referral and service Executive Director (25%) $20,000 partners. The Peacemakers Fellowship Facilitator will lead weekly HWW life skills classes over one 18 month session. The (PF) Facilitator will track Peacemakers Fellowship attendance and progress in completing individualized Life Maps and will Facilitator/Neighborhood meet one-on-one with clients, as needed. The (NCA) also connects families Change Agent 1(100%) $ 40,000.00 to resources when the root cause of an issue requires support. Peacemakers Fellowship Coordinator/ Neighborhood The Peacemakers Fellowship Coordinator will oversee operations of the Change Agent 2 (100%) $ 40,000.00 (PF) program, including scheduling, communications, and reporting, in partnership with the HWW Facilitator. The (NCA) also connects families to resources when the root cause of an issue requires support. Funds for weekly food distribution and community outreach to engage high Happy Saturdays $15,000 risk neighborhoods and raise awareness around gun violence Funds to continue to engage with Advance Peace Movement and bring Additional Peace Training $ 15,000 resources to Charlottesville Reporting & Evaluation $ 10,000 Funds to ensure rigorous accountability of program outcomes. The current cost of the PITS program is scaled to meet our current Total $145,000 programming abilities.