Waterbury health department wins $1.35M gun-violence prevention award, plans outreach and data review

The Board of Aldermen on March 9 approved a $1,354,466.77 gun-violence prevention contract to be managed by the Waterbury Department of Public Health.

Director of Public Health (as introduced in the meeting packet) explained the award — a short, about 15-month funding window — will support a mix of interventions: street outreach workers, community art projects intended to improve public spaces, a quality-improvement “learning collaborative,” and a gun-violence death-review process to analyze root causes and guide interventions. The health department said PAL (a local nonprofit) will receive an initial subcontract to redistribute funds through an open request-for-proposals process to local providers.

Aldermen pressed for clarity on subcontracting, reporting and evaluation. “All of the reports that we develop as a department are available publicly,” the director said, noting reporting to the state Department of Public Health and plans for a public webpage and periodic updates. Because the grant’s remaining term is brief, staff said early deliverables will emphasize process measures — payments issued, partner selection, data systems — although the department hopes to lay groundwork for longer-term outcome measurement if more funds follow.

City officials said roughly 60% of program dollars are estimated for direct services and subcontracts (youth programming, outreach, community projects) and about 40% will cover personnel and coordination (a program coordinator and epidemiologist to analyze data and run the death-review). The department plans to use REDCap-style data tools for tracking service delivery and outcomes and said PAL will run a competitive process for subcontracts. The award requires no local match.

The aldermen approved the contract after the Finance Committee recommendation.