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City Council accepts reduced Shannon grant, councilors warn of impact on violence-prevention nonprofits
Summary
The Boston City Council accepted a $1,073,239.34 Shannon Grant to fund 17 nonprofits in violence-prevention work but several councilors said cuts from prior years will reduce reach and urged local supplementation or renewed advocacy for restoration.
The Boston City Council voted to accept a $1,073,239.34 federal Shannon Grant on July 11, authorizing the police department to administer funds for regional prevention and intervention programs aimed at reducing gun, gang and youth violence.
Councilor Liz Santana, chair of the Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, summarized testimony from a June 25 hearing and said the award will support 17 local nonprofits and city programs that provide prevention, intervention and reintegration services. "This year, their grant is providing funding to 17 nonprofits and community organizations," Santana said, reading a list of recipients and urging passage of the committee report.
Councilor Kendra Culpepper said she was disappointed state funding for the Shannon program fell by about $600,000 compared with prior years and warned that smaller awards force local providers to scale back services. "At a time when communities across Boston continue to grapple with gun violence, gang activity...we should be expanding investments, not scaling them back," Culpepper said.
Councilor Ed Flynn and others described the program as more than a policing grant and said it funds mentorship, youth development and community-based outreach. Flynn said the grant supports a mix of prevention and reentry programs and that rejection of available funds would be counterproductive.
The council accepted the committee report and passed docket 0970 by roll call; the clerk recorded the vote as affirmative (roll-call result noted in the transcript). The acceptance enables the police department to expend the grant for training and regional, multidisciplinary anti-violence efforts.
The council discussion repeatedly framed the award as necessary but constrained: several members urged the administration to consider local budget options to backfill funding shortfalls and to coordinate with the nonprofit recipients to mitigate service disruptions.
Next steps: The police department will administer the Shannon Grant funding; councilors signaled they will continue oversight and press for future increases if state funding remains reduced.
