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Committee approves roughly $2M for community crisis-intervention programs
Summary
The Finance Committee unanimously approved Legistar 90,563 to allocate a little over $2 million to fund 24 agencies and 32 programs providing crisis intervention and prevention beginning Jan. 1, 2026; staff emphasized equity-centered investments and contract-level outcome reporting.
The Finance Committee on Dec. 1 unanimously approved Legistar 90,563 to allocate a little over $2,000,000 to community-based organizations that provide crisis intervention and prevention services, with contracts to begin Jan. 1, 2026.
Yolanda Shelton Morris, Community Resources Manager in the city’s Community Development Division, told the committee the recommendation would fund 24 agencies representing 32 programs, including 10 programs new to the crisis-intervention portfolio. Morris said 15 of the recommended agencies are led by and serve people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ residents and other marginalized communities and that recommendations were shaped by the 2025 community voice survey, site visits, program reports and feedback from Madison Metropolitan School District, Public Health Madison & Dane County, Madison Police Department and Dane County Human Services.
Robert Crystal, interim executive director of Worker Justice Wisconsin, spoke during the public-comment period in support of the funding and described a proposed institute, in collaboration with Voces de la Frontera, to provide worker- and immigrant-rights training and leadership development workshops aimed at helping participants share information with their communities.
Committee members asked staff to highlight programs focused on youth and family empowerment. Morris listed youth-serving organizations recommended for funding, including Allied Wellness Center for Community Development, Bayview Community Center, Briar Patch Youth Services, East Madison Community Center, GSAFE, Kennedy Heights Community Center, The Literacy Network, Blue Sher Community Center, Mentoring Positives, Neighborhood House Community Center, Worker Justice Wisconsin, YWCA Madison and the African Center for Community Development. She said details about deliverables, measurable outcomes and demographics will be finalized during contract negotiations and tracked through quarterly progress reports and annual outcomes reporting.
The committee recorded a unanimous vote to adopt the recommendation. The contracts and any amendments will be executed by the mayor and city clerk after authorization is received and contract terms are finalized.
Next steps: staff will negotiate contract scopes and outcomes with awarded agencies and provide updates to the Community Resources committee and Common Council as funding agreements are executed.
