Shelby County leaders outline joint violence‑intervention, reentry and victim‑services plans and warn of funding shortfalls

Shelby County and partner agencies on Monday described steps to coordinate violence‑intervention work, expand reentry housing and rebuild victim services after the Family Safety Center’s abrupt closure — but officials warned the work depends on securing new local, state and federal funding.

Valerie Matthews, director of the Joint Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, said the office has moved to convene nonprofit and government partners and “we surveyed, about 65 nonprofit organizations” to identify needs such as data capacity and grant‑writing support. The joint office is running monthly technical‑assistance sessions with the University of Memphis and expects community‑driven projects from a countywide convening called Safer Memphis 365.

Why it matters: Officials said the city and county must coordinate prevention, intervention and reentry services so short‑term enforcement gains are paired with programs that keep people from returning to violent activity. Commissioners and agency directors repeatedly urged that budget decisions this year reflect that balance.

Most important developments

- Joint office convenings and training. Matthews described three levels of coordination — the broad Safer Memphis 365, a smaller Impact group focused on high‑risk individuals (the community violence intervention, or CVI, cohort) and the Public Safety Task Force that brings those findings to policy makers. The joint office is also working with LISC and University of Memphis staff to improve nonprofits’ data collection and grant competitiveness.

- Gun‑violence intervention (GBI) work. Darren Goodes, public safety adviser to Mayor Young, said the city has engaged a subject‑matter expert to complete a gun‑problem analysis and expects preliminary results in about 90 days to identify “who are the trigger pullers” and the small group driving much violent crime. Goodes said the GBI program has 10–15 documented success stories this fiscal year and is negotiating MOUs to place hospital‑based violence intervention specialists back inside Le Bonheur and Regional One Health.

- Reentry system and transitional housing. DeAndre Brown, director of the Shelby County Office of Reentry, said the county’s reentry network now includes about 60–70 organizations meeting every other month; the office has opened a small transitional housing site ("we've gotten the keys"). Brown said the site will initially house three people released from the Shelby County Division of Corrections, with the plan that residents be enrolled in employment and stay 90 days to six months. He said federal housing vouchers will add roughly 20 additional units, for about 23 people total.

- Victim services and a new family justice center. Sandy Bromley, director of the Division of Community Services, said the nonprofit Family Safety Center closed abruptly and the county’s crime victims and rape crisis center (CVRCC) has absorbed its caseload. Bromley said CVRCC served about 75 domestic‑violence victims in February, has tripled its domestic‑violence caseload since the Family Safety Center closed and is on track to serve roughly 350 people in the current month. The county plans to inaugurate a Family Justice Center — a co‑located “one‑stop” site — under the Division of Community Services and is seeking space, city funds previously allocated to the nonprofit and additional state and federal grants.

- Workforce connections and second‑chance hiring. Multiple speakers urged more aggressive outreach to employers willing to hire people with records. Brown said he will ask the chamber for lists of available jobs and temporary agencies that can place candidates rapidly. Community providers and workforce staff said construction, home‑health and other sectors have “felony‑friendly” positions when candidates bring credentials such as OSHA‑10 or forklift certifications.

What officials said about funding and timing

Sandy Bromley warned that the Division of Community Services is heavily grant dependent: “our division of community services is 80% grant funded.” She said several county programs recently faced federal funding cuts and that the county would seek a mix of city allocations, county budget requests and state and federal grants to sustain the Family Justice Center and other services. The Joint Office expects to appear with its own line item in the county budget process.

Discussion, directions and next steps

- Data and evaluation: Goodes and the joint office emphasized using outside subject‑matter experts to better capture who is driving gun violence and how to measure intervention outcomes.

- Rapid enrollment and culturally competent services: Reentry officials said the system must enable “rapid enrollment” so people referred on a Thursday can start program services soon after. DeAndre Brown and others said culturally tailored options — practical, entry‑level work and mentoring — increase retention.

- Short‑term actions: Brown asked the public and private sector to identify immediate job openings and to refer employers willing to hire people with records. The joint office will send materials and executive summaries to commissioners; Bromley said she is seeking city and county funding in fiscal year 2026 and pursuing state and federal grants.

Quotes

“We've gotten the keys, but we will house 3 individuals that are coming from Shelby County Division of Correction,” DeAndre Brown, director of the Shelby County Office of Reentry, said of the new transitional site. “They will have up to 6 months to live in the space to get themselves together.”

“Our division of community services is 80% grant funded,” Sandy Bromley, director of the Division of Community Services, said when describing budget pressures and recent federal cuts.

“We surveyed, about 65 nonprofit organizations,” Valerie Matthews, director of the Joint Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, said, describing the office’s effort to map nonprofit needs and target technical assistance.

Ending

Officials asked commissioners and community partners to accelerate funding decisions and employer outreach ahead of the summer when joint office leaders and local churches plan expanded youth and mentorship programs. Directors said the combination of convenings, hospital partnerships, transitional housing and a family justice center will depend on braided funding and faster enrollment pathways to translate into measurable changes in violence and reentry outcomes.

(Reporting based on statements at a Shelby County public safety convening. No formal votes were recorded.)