Madison committee approves $60,000 juvenile-justice Title II grant for youth violence-prevention programs

The Madison Finance Committee on May 12 unanimously approved legislation 88123, amending the police department’s operating budget to accept a $60,000 juvenile-justice Title II grant from the State of Wisconsin Department of Justice. The grant will provide pass-through funding to community partners and additional funding for police overtime and benefits for the Madison Community Healing Through Support and Education Initiative.

Committee members and police staff said the funding is intended to expand violence-prevention services for juveniles who are system-involved or at risk. Assistant Chief Filanta, who presented the grant to the committee, said the program is aimed at reaching people affected by community violence who may not be direct victims or witnesses but who suffer vicarious trauma. “This is a grant that we’re very excited about,” Filanta said. He described partnerships with community groups to provide rapid-response counseling and interruption services.

Filanta said the city will use police contacts at scenes of violence to make referrals to partners rather than to compile names for law-enforcement purposes. “Our goal wouldn’t be, of course, to be documenting names for police purposes, but merely for referral purposes,” Filanta said. On measuring success, he said that getting these services to people in need would itself be a positive indicator and that the department anticipates some tracking of referrals and service uptake.

Alder Madison asked for an overview of the programs and how success would be measured. Madison also asked that the chief report back after the grant period on whether referrals increased and whether more people took part. Filanta agreed that the department would track referrals for the purpose of evaluating service delivery.

Alder Evers noted the file language indicates this is a one-year juvenile-justice grant and asked whether the city would have a full year to implement after funds are appropriated. Filanta agreed the grant is limited and that funds would be available beginning July 1, with staff not expecting the funds to extend much beyond the year. Alder Pritchett raised concerns about fear of retaliation among witnesses and asked whether the program includes approaches to reach people who are afraid to report incidents. Filanta acknowledged that fear can keep people from engaging with police and said the program offers an avenue other than law enforcement to build trust and make referrals.

Chief Valenta confirmed the department will coordinate the effort with the VPU out of public health to align approaches and measures. “That’s perfectly reasonable, and I’ll personally make sure that occurs,” Valenta said when asked to ensure coordination with public health.

With no further discussion, the committee recorded a unanimous vote in favor of the item. The legislation authorizes the mayor and the chief of police or designee to accept the grant and implement the described pass-through funding and overtime/benefits adjustments.

Next steps: funds are expected to be available starting July 1; staff indicated they will track referrals and report back to the committee on how the grant was used and whether it increased referrals and participation.