City presents evaluation of gun-violence blueprint; partners urge sustained funding, street outreach and capacity building

City staff and the evaluation team presented an update on the Community Gun Violence Reduction Blueprint at the City Council study session on Jan. 28, 2025, describing program activities, early outcomes and recommendations for sustaining and strengthening the multi-agency effort.

Director Rachel Joy (Equity and Engagement) and Community Safety and Justice staff opened by describing the blueprint’s goals: prevent and reduce gun violence, foster community engagement to address systemic inequities, and use data-driven decision-making to guide implementation and accountability. The program launched after a council study session in December 2021 and now includes a network of partner organizations delivering prevention, intervention and victim services.

Dr. Anthony B. Sellers Jr., lead evaluator, summarized the evaluation approach and key findings. He said the evaluation combined site visits, document review, interviews, partner reporting and incident data. The team found that, since 2021, certain measures have improved while shooting incidents showed year-to-year variability: Dr. Sellers reported that shooting incidents rose about 30% from 2023 to 2024 but remained lower than 2021 levels, and that the city had seen a roughly 60% decrease in individuals struck and a 69% decrease in homicides by firearm since 2021. He also said 78% of the homicide victims in the 2021–2024 span were identified in the analysis as Black males; 87% of homicide cases in the period involved firearms. Dr. Sellers cautioned that the program remains in an implementation phase and that evaluating effectiveness requires time: "Policies and programs similar to the blueprint ... traditionally [require] a range of 5 to 10 years of implementation and data collection to properly evaluate," he said.

The evaluation flagged three primary areas for improvement: partner capacity and training (finance, clinical/trauma-informed care, grants management and business administration), improved data and case-management software to support wraparound services, and the addition or strengthening of a street-outreach component and services focused on adult offenders and youth at highest risk. The report recommended continued funding for certain staff positions that support outreach (the presentation explicitly recommended continuation of an "impact outreach worker" position that had been temporary).

Community partners and program participants spoke during the meeting’s public-comment period and described program outcomes. Representatives from Razor Sharp Mentoring, Cutterball the Rez Barber Academy, GoMAD, First Followers, Street College (formerly Steam Genius), Land of Lincoln legal services, the Trauma and Resiliency Initiative and others described training, job-placement, housing and counseling services that they said reduced recidivism and supported people returning from incarceration. Speakers recounted individual stories of people who obtained housing, vocational credentials, employment and education after participating in partner programs; several described the program as life-changing and urged continued or increased funding and capacity building.

Staff described criteria they will use to assess partners for continued subrecipient agreements, including alignment with blueprint goals, capacity for performance and financial reporting, incorporation of outreach and intervention services and access to additional non-city funding. The mayor noted an agenda alternative to "direct staff to maintain the evaluation framework and execute subrecipient agreements with Blueprint partners" and stated that Alternative 1 was on the board; council discussion followed, and multiple council members expressed support for sustaining the program and continuing the evaluation process. The transcript does not record a roll-call vote on that agenda alternative during the study session.

Ending

City staff and the evaluator recommended continuing the blueprint with improvements to partner capacity, data systems and street outreach; community partners urged continued and stable funding. Council discussion affirmed the program’s direction and the need for a long-term, sustained approach to gun-violence reduction. No formal roll-call vote on a binding ordinance or budget appropriation was recorded in the session transcript.