Mobile City hears updates on school safety pilot, hospital violence-intervention program and community outreach

Mobile City officials on April 29 received updates on several violence-prevention initiatives, including a three-year school safety analyst pilot funded by the school system and a hospital-based violence-intervention program led with USA Health that city staff said is set for a soft launch in June.

The school safety analyst pilot is funded by the school system and will run three years to study the effects of targeted prevention on middle and high school campuses inside Mobile city limits, a program staff member said. Staff described the effort as coordinated with the Family Intervention Team, Victim Services and nonprofit partners to identify at-risk students and connect them with wraparound services; one staff speaker said the intent is to “mitigate arrest” by using front-end prevention strategies.

Josh, a program staff member who briefed council on the hospital-based violence-intervention effort with USA Health, said the city has hired violence-intervention specialists and a clinical case manager and is completing training with a national violence-intervention entity. “We’ve moved forward with hiring individuals to take the violence intervention specialist positions,” Josh said. He said additional funding for concurrent programs has been secured and the program will include a community advisory board and “transparent evaluation practices.”

Public-safety staff also described community-based outreach programs that officials said complement prevention work. Sergeant McCarty described “Ceasefire Sunday,” a community kickball program that combines recreational activity with resource fairs and participation by police and firefighters; he said the next resource fair will be in May. Staff described “Ties for Guys,” a one-day boys’ camp run by two Family Intervention Team specialists that provides haircuts, life-skills classes and suits. Officials also described the use of a cognitive-behavioral mobile app, SuperBetter, that staff assign to young people as an in-hand counseling tool between sessions.

Council members urged expanding the walk-and-talk program—short, door-to-door community visits by precinct commanders and officers—to more neighborhoods and to coordinate schedules with council offices and local churches so elected officials and faith leaders can join. Councilman Penn and other members also pressed for a written, comprehensive strategic plan that would put the city’s existing programs into a single framework, track outcomes and identify funding needs for the coming budget cycle.

Director Lasky said the city has taken a “holistic view” of public safety that includes mental health, youth services and homelessness work alongside law enforcement and noted the administration has already produced a binder of current programs. Several council members and staff said that binder and existing program lists should be expanded into a shared strategic plan with clear performance measures and an accountable clearinghouse to track which agencies provide which services.

Next steps described at the meeting included formation of a community advisory board for the hospital-based intervention program, continuing recruitment and training for the hospital positions, and council members’ informal agreement to work with staff on developing a more complete strategic plan ahead of the next budget process. Josh repeated that the soft launch of the hospital-based program remains planned for June and that staff will provide updates if the timeline changes.

Ending: Council members and staff framed the discussion as early-stage implementation and planning rather than completed actions; no formal votes were taken on the programs during the meeting.