Fiscal Note
The proposed resolution authorizes the allocation of $120,000 to The Mellowhood Foundation, Inc. as a purchase of service contract for expenses incurred in the execution of the Safe Passages Program on Madison’s southwest side. Funding for the contract is provided by the USDOJ Community Building Crime Response: Our Neighborhood-A Safe and Beautiful Place grant. The original grant was awarded and accepted by adopted RES-17-00844 (File 49016) in 2017 as the USDOJ Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Implementation grant and totaled $850,000. The grant is for two years to address crime and socio-economic drivers of crime within the Raymond Road Corridor.
The Community Development Division (CDD) received two proposals, totaling $213,159, in response to a request for proposals (RFP) process. The RFP responses were reviewed by CDD and grant staff in consultation with the CBCR Advisory Team and volunteer reviewers consisting of 10 residents of the target area and three community stakeholders. The original grant was accepted by MPD and deposited into the grants fund. The grant funding and budget authority will remain with MPD and the community agency contracts will be managed by CDD. No additional City appropriation is required.
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Approving the provision of up to $120,000 from the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) Community Building Crime Response (CBCR): Our Neighborhood -A Safe and Beautiful Place grant to support the development and execution of a Safe Passages program on Madison’s South West side and authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to enter into agreements with selected agencies to implement the designated projects
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WHEREAS, the City of Madison Police Department received a USDOJ Criminal Justice Innovation (CJI) planning grant in 2015 focused on the Raymond Road corridor of neighborhoods, including Meadowood, Theresa Terrace and Park Edge/Park Ridge; and,
WHEREAS, working in collaboration with grant partners, Common Wealth Development and researcher Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, the Department engaged neighborhood residents to discuss public safety concerns and their underlying causes, and create a plan to address them; and,
WHEREAS, the resulting plan, “Southwest Madison, A Safe and Beautiful Place” was developed and submitted to the USDOJ, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance ( BJA) as part of the 2017 BCJI implementation grant process; and,
WHEREAS, BJA awarded the Department a $850,000 implementation grant for a two-year period to carry out the strategies set forth in the plan; and,
WHEREAS, the grant partners, with support from the Community Development Division over the course of the two year implementation period, will use the grant funds to address crime and socio-economic drivers of crime within the Raymond Road Corridor, bounded by Schroeder Road on the north; S. Whitney Way on the east; Putnam Road and Williamsburg Way on the south; and McKenna Blvd. on the west, with a particular focus on three rental housing enclaves along Raymond Road, Theresa Terrace and the Park Edge/Park Ridge/Waterleaf areas designated in the implementation plan accepted by BJA; and,
WHEREAS, the goals of the implementation project are to build community cohesion and to reduce crime within the target area through these strategies:
1) Improve the ability of residents to work together to reduce crime, promote public safety, and advocate for improved youth and adult programs within the target areas;
2) Support youth in developing positive, supportive relationships with adults (parents, teachers, and mentors) and improve their ability to peaceably resolve conflict through the support of youth mentoring activities focused on middle and high school youth that live in the neighborhoods targeted in this grant;
3) Increase guardianship in the area;
4) Provide parenting support and education, particularly for single, female-heads of households;
5) Enhance community/police trust and communication, emphasizing community outreach, and breaking down barriers between officers and residents, especially youth; and,
WHEREAS, the CBCR Advisory Team, Madison Police Department and Common Wealth Development with the assistance of Community Development Division staff issued a concept paper on Safe Passage programming and gathered feedback from community partners and residents, which was integrated into a Request for Proposals for Safe Passages programs; and,
WHEREAS, the Request for Proposal solicitation to provide individual and group mentoring services had an application deadline of March 15, 2019; and,
WHEREAS, two agencies submitted program proposals to provide Safe Passage programming; and,
WHEREAS, CDD and grant staff in consultation with CBCR Advisory Team and volunteer reviewers, consisting of 10 residents of the target area and 3 community stakeholders reviewed and evaluated the proposals and formulated the recommendation for consideration by the Common Council, and;
Whereas that recommendation included the funding of The Mellowhood Foundation Inc. for up to $120,000 for expenses incurred in the execution of the Safe Passages Program contingent on the continued availability of Federal funding, and;
WHEREAS the CBCR Advisory Team approved the recommendations at its meeting on June 17, 2019 and asked staff to forward the recommendation to the Common Council; and,
WHEREAS, The Mellowhood Foundation will be contracted through purchase of services contracts that will expire no later than September 30, 2020, and that under the terms of those contracts agencies will be required to report on service goals and outcome measurements to their CDD contract manager the grant leadership team, Federal grant management system, and the CBCR Advisory Team,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council approves the USDOJ Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Grant, CBCR: Our Neighborhood- a Safe and Beautiful place funding allocations as detailed above, as recommended by CDD staff, the grant management team and the CBCR: CBCR Advisory Team; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that grant funds already appropriated to the Madison Police Department (File ID 49016) to be used for the mentoring purposes described in this resolution, including modifications upon appropriate approvals from USDOJ.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Common Council authorizes the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute agreements with The Mellowhood Foundation for the described activities.