Baltimore City – MD issued the following announcement on Feb. 15.
Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) announced the initial recipients of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars targeted at improving public safety outcomes to community-based organizations. The distribution of awards totaling $17,615,000 is directly aligned with the Scott Administration's charge to co-produce public safety with the Baltimore community.
“This is a historic investment for Baltimore as these dollars will support approaches that confront and prevent the violence occurring on the streets today,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “With the launch of our Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) and the future expansion of our evidence-based community violence intervention (CVI) programming, we remain intentional and steadfast in our commitment to make Baltimore a safer city for all. It is critically important that we build public safety with, not for, our residents.”
In the Baltimore City Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan, Scott identifies the Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) and Community Violence Intervention (CVI) as a dual approach to address the root causes of violence. Launched earlier this year, GVRS connects people at imminent risk of being victims or perpetrators of violence with intensive case management, emergency housing and relocation assistance, and transitional employment programming.
The funds will also support a dramatic expansion of Baltimore's Community Violence Intervention ecosystem, from 10 to at least 30 contracts with community-based organizations engaged in outreach, mediation, violence intervention, hospital-based violence intervention, life coaching, victim services, and mental health support. In June, the Biden-Harris administration asked Baltimore to join a collaborative, along with 15 other jurisdictions, to expand evidence-based community violence interventions.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Baltimore City – MD
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