Pittsburgh council approves $1.75 million in Stop the Violence grants after weeks of public debate

Pittsburgh City Council on Sept. 9 approved a resolution to distribute $1,748,460 from the Stop the Violence fund to community organizations, following extensive public comment from program leaders, coaches and violence-prevention advocates.

The measure, introduced as Bill 21-57, was presented during the public safety and wellness committee portion of the meeting. Councilman Anthony Caulk Hill said the city must balance urgency with accountability when awarding public dollars: "I wanna make sure that they're delivering what they're supposed to be delivering for the public," he said, adding that some grantees may need help with grant-writing and capacity-building but that results and oversight are required.

The vote followed more than an hour of public testimony from recipients and applicants. Speakers included Dennis Floyd Jones, executive director of Youth and Risk of Services, who recounted the death by suicide of a young man he had worked with and urged council to fund mental-health supports: "Saving kids' lives is not a political issue," Jones said. Representatives of organizations that applied for grants described program activities ranging from after-school sports and mentorship to trauma counseling and community safe houses.

Several speakers criticized aspects of the selection process and asked council to release scoring justifications. Jasmine Green, creative director for 1 Hood Media, said written applications alone do not capture frontline capacity: "A numerical scoring process only provides a small fraction of understanding for what the overall impact of investment can be," she said. Other speakers, including Raymond Robinson of Houma Children's Village and Project Destiny's Robert Tedder, urged council to approve the recommended awards promptly and noted the fund's accountability requirements and reporting provisions.

Council members discussed the tension between public scrutiny and the need to move quickly to get funds to community providers. Councilman Wilson and others said the recent reforms will transition future funding toward contracts and requests for proposals instead of the current grant model, and that a portion of future funding can be used expressly for capacity building.

By roll call, council members recorded unanimous support. The clerk recorded the following aye votes during the roll call: Charland, Coghill, Gross, Mosley, Kale Smith, Strasburger, Warwick, Wilson and Lavelle (president). The clerk announced "9 ayes, 0 nos" and declared the bill passed.

Council members and many public speakers called for continued monitoring and for additional philanthropic and foundation support to augment city dollars and build long-term capacity among neighborhood providers.

The resolution authorizes the mayor and director of public safety to enter into agreements with the selected community organizations; the list of recipients and award amounts was compiled by a steering committee and discussed at the council's public safety committee meeting earlier in September.

Council members said they will seek to improve transparency in future rounds by documenting committee decisions and codifying selection criteria when the program shifts from grant awards to contracting.

The council's approval releases funds to dozens of organizations that counsel members and applicants said are active in violence-prevention work across neighborhoods, serving youth with after-school programs, mentorship, trauma services and safe-space activities.