Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement Distributes $17.6 Million to Community-Based Organizations Targeting Gun Violence, Human Trafficking, Sexual Assault, and Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence.

BALTIMORE, MD. (Tuesday, February 15, 2022) — Today, 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.

Community-based organizations play an integral role in executing Baltimore's violence reduction strategy. With this funding, CBOs will have the ability to build capacity and amplify the effectiveness of community violence intervention strategy components including, but not limited to, the provision of direct services and wraparound supports.

"Community-based organizations that serve our City choose Baltimore every single day, and we are so grateful for their continued service provision to our residents," said Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement Director Shantay Jackson. "In partnership with our community grant reviewers, we are being intentional about the ecosystem of care that we are creating."

In the fall, Mayor Scott announced $50 million in ARPA funding over the next three years to the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) to fund violence prevention efforts, including community violence intervention, victim services, youth justice, re-entry, and community healing. This investment will support essential components of the Group Violence Reduction Strategy, expand Baltimore's community violence intervention ecosystem and victim services, and fund re-entry programs and trauma-informed practices. 

MONSE continues to accept letters of interest for funding for organizations engaged in community violence intervention, victim services, youth justice, community healing, and re-entry work. Organizations may learn more and submit a letter of interest at the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement's Funding Portal. Grant applications in MONSE's five areas of focus will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis based on funding availability.

For this initial round of funding, MONSE directly selected 12 organizations who work in partnership with the agency on the delivery of major components of the Mayor's Violence Prevention Plan to receive awards. Two organizations submitted applications through the Funding Portal. A list of the initial community-based organizations and institutions to receive grants are as follows: