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County to accept nearly $400,000 Michigan State Police grant to fund community‑based gun‑violence intervention
Summary
Wayne County will accept a $394,465 Michigan State Police grant to fund a two‑year violence‑prevention diversion program that will target 100 young people and partner with People's Action and the University of Michigan for data and evaluation.
The committee approved acceptance of a Michigan State Police award to implement a Violence Prevention Intervention Program targeting justice‑impacted youth, and county and community providers described how the program will operate.
Melissa Fernandez, director of Juvenile and Youth Services, said the county will collaborate with the People's Action community violence interruption (CVI) group and the University of Michigan’s firearm injury‑prevention program (School of Social Work) to implement the program funded at $394,465 over two years. Fernandez said the program will target 100 young people; referrals will come from the community and from a newly created consent calendar in the Third Circuit Court that targets low‑level gun violence. The University of Michigan partner will be responsible for data, metrics and reporting.
Representatives from the People's Action — Jacqueline (Jackie) Robinson and Niguez Vu (identified in the meeting as founder/director) — described their outreach work. Robinson said wraparound services will target the juvenile and family ecosystem and will be informed by risk and needs assessments; she said the group is Medicaid‑credentialed and will try to provide some therapeutic services in‑house to reduce delays. Vu said People's Action currently manages a caseload of about 65 people (about 53% high risk) in a target area he described as 8 Mile to Curtis and Hubbell to Berg Road. Vu told commissioners that, in one quarter (August–October), the group reduced violence in its targeted area by 75 percent; that statement is attributed to Vu as a description of the group's claimed results.
Fernandez said the county’s goal is to show evidence of impact so community partners can compete for additional funding; the county will use the University of Michigan’s metrics to evaluate outcomes and to help community partners build capacity for future grants. Commissioners asked about geographic reach and provider operations; People's Action described two site locations and various community partnerships (employment, training and community‑based referrals) and said the group is credentialed as a ShotStopper/ShotStopper vendor in the City of Detroit.
The committee approved the grant acceptance as part of the grouped vote on items 4–9; Commissioner Killeen moved and Commissioner Anderson supported the grouped approval, which passed by voice vote.
