Child Advocacy Center, JIF and Le Bonheur present public-safety grant requests; council seeks budget clarity

Leaders of three public‑safety‑oriented nonprofits described how city grant funding would support services for children and families and asked the council to include those items in the FY26 budget.

The presentations and key points

• Memphis Child Advocacy Center: Virginia Stallworth, executive director, said the center houses the Shelby County Child Protective Investigation team and provides coordinated forensic interviews, family advocacy and therapy. Stallworth said the center facilitates a “one‑place” approach where children do not have to retell traumatic events multiple times; the team handled more than 3,600 reports of child abuse in the previous year. The Mayor’s office framed the CAC ask as a proposed $130,000 city investment in FY26; Stallworth reminded council members the CAC received $251,000 in City funding in the prior year ($225,000 plus $26,000 in council member-sponsored grants).

• Juvenile Intervention & Faith-based Follow-up (JIF): Chris Yancey, JIF executive director, said JIF’s mission centers on faith‑based interventions and that the organization updated its social-emotional‑learning and trauma-informed curriculum. JIF asked the city for $130,000 (about 12% of JIF’s operating budget, Yancey said) and described plans to expand community referrals and outreach; recent enrollment numbers cited: 290 youth served in a prior year reduced to 290 then 93 served in the current calendar year to date (Yancey said court referral volume affected the year‑to‑year totals).

• Le Bonheur/Shift program: Dr. William Williams, pediatric surgeon and trauma medical director at Le Bonheur, and program manager Lydia Walker described the hospital-based violence intervention program (Shift). Le Bonheur said the city’s initial ARPA funding helped start Shift in 2022; the hospital requested $140,000 for FY26 (about 16% of its roughly $870,000 program budget). Le Bonheur presented program outcomes including reduced trauma reinjury, improved school attendance and lowered juvenile‑justice involvement among enrolled patients; staff said about 141 patients were enrolled in the first two years and that the program links patients to mental-health services, education support and violence-intervention specialists.

Council questions and budget context

Council members asked about last year’s funding and where current asks are being placed in the mayor’s proposal. Chief administrative staff explained the mayor’s office reallocated portions of a prior $2 million public‑safety grants line, reducing it and moving $650,000 to specified grantees this year. Council members asked for transparency on past funding sources (ARPA, mayoral grants, safer‑communities awards) and confirmation of prior-year amounts; Stallworth and other presenters provided prior-year figures where available. Council members also emphasized the need to route referrals and outreach through MPD precinct community engagement officers, schools and neighborhood centers to increase enrollment and reach.

Ending: The presentations concluded with council members expressing general support and requesting additional budget detail and continued coordination on referrals and eligibility. No final, individual grant appropriation votes were recorded at the hearing; council members asked that the mayor’s office and agency CFO clarify line‑item placements before final votes.