Judiciary Committee restores Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, approves FY26 budget report with violence-interruption changes

The Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety voted 4–1 on June 25 to approve its Fiscal Year 2026 budget report and recommendations, reconstituting the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONE) and folding multiple violence-interruption programs into a single, executive-managed unit under assurances negotiated with the mayor.

The committee met in Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building and reconvened the previous afternoon’s markup to finalize the committee’s BSA (Budget Support Act) recommendations and the committee budget report. Chairwoman Brooke Pinto (Ward 2) said the report was developed after “months of hearings, testimony, meetings, and other forms of public engagement” and presented a set of investments aimed at interrupting cycles of violence, supporting public-safety workers and bolstering foundational community needs.

The committee’s amendment reconstitutes ONE and directs a merged approach for violence-interruption programs. Chairwoman Pinto described an agreement signed by the mayor and committee leadership that she said includes new training, reporting, benchmarking and an advisory team to oversee implementation. “I believe in and have always believed in violence interruption in our city and the ability when implemented correctly to save lives,” Pinto said, adding that the committee and executive negotiated “many assurances and a signed agreement, which we will circulate to the public, to improve the program and outcomes.”

Key funding highlights presented by Pinto included an investment of $11,100,000 for violence interruption in FY 2026; $4,900,000 for the Pathways program in FY 2026 (and more than $18,000,000 across the financial plan); $12,400,000 for access-to-justice services; enhancements for the Office of the Attorney General’s litigation support fund; and $52,600,000 for victim-services grants at the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants (OVSJG). The package also included operational and capital funding for the Metropolitan Police Department and Office of Unified Communications, $9,100,000 for Safe Passage, and other grants and pass-throughs described in the committee report.

Several council members voiced support for restoring ONE while pressing for clearer terms and full funding of particular programs. Councilmember Kenyon McDuffie (at-large) recalled the 2016 NEAR Act (Neighborhood Engagement Achieved Results Act) and urged sustained, statutory implementation of evidence-based violence-prevention programs. McDuffie noted the Pathways program’s FY25 approved budget of $7,600,000 and 25 FTEs, the mayor’s FY26 proposal of $6,700,000, and the committee’s restored Pathways allocation of $4,900,000 with an intent to restore the program’s full 25 FTEs.

Committee members and outside stakeholders raised specific objections about one transfer in the amendment: moving the Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program from OVSJG to ONE. The transcript shows that the hospital-based grant had historically been $2,800,000 at OVSJG; the committee’s plan transfers that appropriation to ONE but, per the committee’s accounting, uses $2,100,000 for the grant under ONE and applies approximately $750,000 as a balancing reduction (the committee said the $750,000 reflects historical underspending). Representatives of multiple hospitals — including calls reportedly from Howard University Hospital and others — told council offices they opposed the transfer during the discussion.

Councilmember Charles Allen offered an oral amendment to block the $2,100,000 transfer of the hospital-based violence-intervention funding back to OVSJG. The committee held a roll-call vote on that oral amendment: Allen voted yes, Councilmember Anita Bonds (at-large) voted no, Councilmember Wendell Felder (Ward 7) voted no, McDuffie voted yes, and Chair Pinto voted no; the amendment failed, 2–3.

Chair Pinto and several members acknowledged tradeoffs. Pinto said the committee repurposed enhancements that had been proposed for other programs (including enhancements to OAG’s Cure-the-Streets sites and the litigation support fund) in order to reconstitute ONE within the committee’s constrained budget certification ability. She told the committee that draft tables showing the reallocation had not been finalized in print because staff and the budget office had worked the previous night and early morning to assemble the amended proposal.

Councilmember Allen and McDuffie expressed reservations about the speed and scope of the changes. Allen said he opposed the plan because of the transfer of hospital-based programs and because the committee’s amendment was not certified by the budget office at the time of the vote; McDuffie said the restored Pathways funding remained below FY25 levels and pledged to continue working with Pinto and the full Council to close outstanding gaps, such as an additional $6,400,000 he said victim-services providers estimate they need and $6,700,000 that OAG has sought for its litigation support fund to restore spending authority.

The committee then moved the dais print incorporating the amendment and the budget report, with leave for staff to make technical, editorial and reconciling changes in consultation with the general counsel. The committee approved the amended dais print on a roll-call vote (ayes 4, nays 1). The meeting record shows the ayes included Councilmembers Bonds, Felder, McDuffie and Chair Pinto; one member was recorded as voting no. Chair Pinto said the report will be updated after the markup to reflect the committee discussion and the signed agreement with the executive.

Next steps: Chair Pinto said staff would circulate the agreement between the executive and the committee and update the committee report to reflect the amendment language and implementation assurances. Several members pledged to continue negotiating with the chair, the mayor’s office and the chairman of the full Council to try to restore additional funding for Cure-the-Streets sites, litigation support, Pathways and victim services during the remainder of the budget process.

The Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety adjourned at 11:23 a.m.