Committee OKs grant appropriations including $2.7M for Streets to Home homelessness initiative

The Administration & Finance Committee approved Proposal 165, a set of grant appropriations covering multiple city departments and purposes, and forwarded the packet to the full council.

Office of Finance and Management and public-safety grants: Committee staff said OFM will appropriate federal and philanthropic grants including a Department of Transportation award, $500,000 from an opioid-related fund for Medicaid‑assisted treatment in the jail, a $50,000 federal award for a transport van, and $224,500 for gun locks through the Drug‑Free Marion County program. The Office of Public Health and Safety will receive roughly $780,000 in philanthropic funding for a winter‑contingency program; the fire department will receive federal reimbursement funding tied to Task Force deployments; the prosecutor’s office will receive $100,000 for redaction software for body‑worn camera footage; and the election board is allocated $555,000 in federal funds for security upgrades at the election service center.

Streets to Home: The Department of Metropolitan Development was awarded $2,700,000 to launch phase 1 of the Streets to Home initiative, led by the Mayor’s Leadership Council on Homelessness. Councilor Jeff Gibson, who serves on the leadership council, told the committee the funding will support rapidly housing roughly 350 people in the program’s first phase.

Council comments and vote: Councilors praised the homelessness initiative and urged continued collaboration on stable funding. The committee unanimously approved the grant package and sent it to full council for final appropriations.

Ending: The grants will be appropriated after full council action; departments noted many grants require reporting and reimbursements to be processed.