DEPARTMENT: Health
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Colleen M. Bridger, MPH, PhD
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: District 5
SUBJECT:
An ordinance authorizing the submission of a planning grant application to the U.S. Department of Justice for participation in the FY17 Safe and Thriving Communities Grant and the acceptance of funds in an amount of $333,000.00 for an 18 month planning period beginning October 1, 2017 and authorizing a personnel complement of one (1) full time position.
SUMMARY:
This ordinance is authorizing the submission of a planning grant application to the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for participation in the FY17 Safe and Thriving Communities Grant and the acceptance of funds in an amount of $333,000.00 for an 18 month period beginning October 1, 2017 and authorizing a personnel complement of one (1) full time position.
The above referenced request for funding includes a program description and abstract, with a narrative detailing need and letters of support from various San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (Metro Health) partners, a map of the projected location where programming will take place and a projected budget. In San Antonio, the areas with the highest rates of violence in the city are the near west, near east, southeast and northeast sides. This grant will initially focus efforts on the near west side.
Since March 1, 2014 the San Antonio Police Department and Metro Health have partnered to bring a community-based violence prevention program (Stand Up San Antonio) to neighborhoods in the city with high violent crime rates. Since then, the Police Department and other community partners have designed and implemented additional important initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes of violence as well as mitigating the effects of violence on these communities. This planning grant will give us an opportunity to work with our community violence-prevention partners to assess how to better tie together these initiatives into one collaborative that provides a seamless system of violence prevention for our communities most affected by violence.
The final grant deliverable is a strategic plan that outlines:
1) A Community Analysis - this analysis will examine community assets, health, violence and crime data and describe exiting collaborations designed to address violence in these communities;
2) A Leadership and Project Management Plan - including how the collaborative will be led, the governance structure and project implementation plans and
3) A Blueprint for Action - including specific and measurable objectives and action steps to achieve community-identified deliverables to decrease violence in these communities.
The budget includes one (1) full time position, Senior Management Analyst, to supervise the overall project and act as a facilitator in coalition partnerships, three (3) COSA temporary positions, two (2) community outreach workers and an administrative associate.
Furthermore, this ordinance authorizes the Director of Metro Health to initiate, negotiate, and execute any and all necessary documents and a grant contract to effectuate the acceptance of the referenced grant, and to execute contract amendments pertaining to this contract, to include: a) carry-over funds, when ascertained and approved by the funding agency through a revised notice of award; b) line item budget revisions authorized by the funding agency; c) modifications to the performance measures authorized by the funding agency and listed in the contract so long as the terms of the amendment stay within the general parameters of the intent of the grant; d) no cost extensions; e) amendments which will provide supplemental grant funds to the grant by the funding agency in an amount up to 20% of the total amount awarded to the grant; f) reimbursement increases of administrative funds for each participant served; g) amendments funding one time equipment purchases or defined program services; and h) changes in regulations mandated by the funding agency.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Violence is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide for people ages 15 - 44. In the United States, violence is the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 - 24. In Texas, the violence related fatal injury rate for youth ages 10 - 24 is 14.63 costing the state an estimated $4,084,892. Bexar County’s rate is much higher at 17.48 fatal injuries per 100,000 people. In San Antonio, Homicide is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10 - 24 after car accidents, and violence kills more African Americans than heart disease. The areas with the highest rates of violence in the city are the near west, near east, southeast and northeast sides. In these areas the average number of violent crimes has been increasing since 2012. In 2012 there was an average of 48 violent crimes committed monthly, in 2016, this increased to an average of 61 (monthly).
Public health approaches to violence, rather than using punishment and force to deter violence, assume that violent behavior is like all human behavior: responsive to structures, incentives, and norms. Violent behavior has been shown to spread through populations like other diseases concentrating in clusters and among individuals who have close contact. Expansion of the grassroots engagement of youth, their families, and affected communities initiated through SA Metro Health’s implementation of the Cure Violence model has brought community voice to the various violence prevention initiatives of the City of San Antonio.
As mentioned in the summary section, Stand Up SA is a project designed to prevent violence by treating the issue like an infectious disease. The project is based on the Cure Violence model, an evidence-based public health approach to reduce and prevent violence in our streets. Stand Up SA focuses on interrupting transmission, changing behaviors and community norms. Other local efforts to address violence include projects, such as the Gang Violence Intervention (GVI) and the Mayor’s Task Force on Police and Community Relations. This grant will provide an opportunity for all local efforts to work together to address the issue of violence collaboratively.
ISSUE:
The proposed ordinance continues City Council's policy of seeking intergovernmental financial assistance for City crime prevention and enforcement programs addressing violent crime and gang activity. This grant will provide the city the funding to develop a strategic plan to address youth related gun crime and gang violence. The city will work with community partners to develop responses to youth violence that are community and data driven. It is expected that the prevention of youth violence and exposure to violence becomes a priority issue.
ALTERNATIVES:
Staff can continue to look for other grant funding opportunities for violence prevention in our high-risk communities.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Grant is an initial 18 months award of up to $333,000 beginning October 1, 2017 through March 31, 2019. The grant will fund one (1) full time position. This position will work with community partners to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to address the prevention of youth violence. There is no impact on the General Fund.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends Council approve an ordinance authorizing the submission of a grant application for the OJJDP FY17 Safe and Thriving Communities: Planning and Collaboration and the acceptance of funds, if awarded, for an 18 month planning period beginning October 1, 2017 and authorizing a personnel complement of one (1) full time position.