City outlines restorative services budget and pilot mediation partnership with NAACP

City officials briefed the Public Health and Safety Committee on June 25 about restorative services, saying the city budgets about $5 million for mediation, victim support and related programs and is finalizing a pilot to refer certain nonviolent neighbor disputes to the NAACP.

Deputy Community Safety Commissioner Jared Jeffries said the legislative directive asked for an inventory of restorative services and costs. “The city currently budgets approximately $5,000,000 for restorative services,” he said, and noted those services exist alongside county, state and nonprofit programs.

Jeffries described policy considerations for expansion—demand and effectiveness, which disputes are appropriate for mediation, and coordination with county and state providers. He said the city is beginning a pilot, announced late last year, where MPD will partner with the NAACP to address nonviolent neighbor disputes; the pilot contract was still being finalized at the time of the presentation.

Deputy City Attorney David Bernstein described the office’s Victim Witness Specialists (VWS). “Their mission statement is to uphold the rights and dignity of victims of cases prosecuted by the city attorney’s office,” Bernstein said. He said the office has five VWSs—two senior specialists dedicated to domestic violence—and described their roles in notifications, trial coordination, referrals to services, restitution and trauma‑informed support. He cited Minnesota’s victim rights statute in chapter 611A as governing responsibilities.

Neighborhood Safety Director Amanda Harrington said neighborhood safety holds contracts with seven organizations providing services for bystanders and neighbors who are not direct victims; the department’s staff managing those contracts total about 2.5 FTEs. Jeffries said the city’s victim services contracts total roughly 16 external contracts and about 17.5 FTEs across City Attorney’s Office, Neighborhood Safety and MPD who touch this work.

Committee members asked operational questions about the mediation referral pathway and funds for urgent victim needs; MPD explained that analysts review calls and identify nonviolent neighbor conflicts for referral to the pilot mediator. On a question about a contract with “Salem Inc.,” Jeffries said he would provide a follow‑up memo with contract details, including amount and term.

Chair Jason Chavez directed the clerk to receive and file the city’s report responding to the legislative directive on restorative services.