PHILADELPHIA — Following City Council’s passage of a $5.2 billion FY2022 city budget that includes an unprecedented $155 million in gun violence prevention funding, Mayor Kenney and City Council leaders on gun violence and public safety issued a joint statement today about the process city officials will follow to determine which organizations receive funding to do this vital work in neighborhoods across Philadelphia.
According to the joint statement:
The Kenney administration and City Council are deepening their partnership on working together to combat the gun violence plaguing the City through the formation of a Violence Prevention and Opportunity Monitoring Group.
The group will include members of the administration and City Council, working together to improve transparency, accessibility, and accountability for violence prevention funding. The group will advise, inform, and assist with messaging to ensure that community organizations with experience doing violence reduction work in neighborhoods are aware of potential grant and contracting opportunities and that they have effective technical assistance to navigate the application process.
The group will monitor the progress of programs selected for funding. Any organization that applies for and receives funding to do violence prevention work will be subject to the City’s standard contracting rules, regulations and procedures.
Council President Darrell L. Clarke (5th District) said he welcomed the coordination with the Kenney administration and Council on the process for funding organizations dedicated to preventing gun violence in neighborhoods.
“We have no more important priority than reducing and preventing this unacceptable level of gun violence across our city,” Council President Clarke said. “This collaborative approach between the administration and Council can only help ensure that groups and organizations working at the grass roots level in neighborhoods to stop the violence have the opportunity to become part of the solution we all seek: a safer Philadelphia.”
City Council’s two longtime leaders on gun violence prevention and public safety issues agreed with the collaborative approach between the administration and Council.
“This is a historic investment in anti-violence programs in Philadelphia and a paradigm shift in how we deal with violence in Philadelphia,” said Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson (2nd District), chair of Council’s Special Committee on Gun Violence Prevention. “The new Violence Prevention & Opportunity Monitoring Group will help non-profit grassroots groups understand the city’s contracting process and make sure they have the chance to receive a portion of the funding available in the new budget. The goal of the increased funding to community groups is to directly support community-based violence interventions and make a greater impact in reducing gun violence in our neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia.”
Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr. (4th District), chair of Council’s Public Safety Committee, concurred, saying: “Governments expose various positions but appropriate their true intentions. This city has prioritized funding gun violence prevention. Therefore, our funding level has risen to truly meet the challenge our city faces in a multitude of solution-oriented categories.”
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