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For Immediate Release
Wednesday, February 14, 2024 |
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MONSE Announces Latest Round of Funding for Organizations to Co-Produce Public Safety
BALTIMORE, MD (Wednesday, February 14, 2024) –Today, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) announced its latest round of funding allocations targeted at improving public safety outcomes. The awards – totaling approximately $570,000 to fifteen organizations – are directly aligned with the Scott Administration's charge to co-produce public safety in partnership with community-based organizations as well as the mayor’s commitment to implementing evidence-based public safety strategies.
For Fiscal Year ‘24, MONSE is investing roughly $445,000 from the agency’s General Funds budget to organizations supporting the SideStep pre-arrest youth diversion program. SideStep is currently piloted in the Western District before being scaled citywide. The program provides an alternative to arrest to reduce unnecessary youth interactions with the criminal justice system for common category 2 offenses including: Controlled Dangerous Substance (CDS) possession, unauthorized use, destruction of property, misdemeanor assault, larceny, and shoplifting. Baltimore Police Department (BPD) personnel divert young people arrested for the above offenses to MONSE for case management and referrals for wraparound supports. The pilot is currently undergoing an external evaluation by EWI, Inc., which will inform how MONSE and BPD scale the initiative.
Partnering with MONSE to provide supportive services to youth, SideStep participants include Roberta’s House, Holistic Life Foundation, Foundation for Change, S.O.N., Aziza Pe&ce, Patricia’s Place, Dream Bigger Community Institute, Inc., Community Law In Action (CLIA), HeartSmiles, and Sarah’s House. Collectively, these organizations will work in partnership with MONSE’s Youth Opportunity Coordinator and provide services including but not limited to trauma-informed care, intensive case management, and wraparound support.
Additionally, MONSE is announcing $125,000 in competitively awarded American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, as part of MONSE’s ARPA Allocation from the Mayor's Office of Recovery Programs, to three organizations contributing to re-entry, youth justice, and community healing: Good Trouble Church, Next One Up, and Michele’s Haven.
“City government cannot do the work alone, and our public safety strategies are grounded in our strong partnerships,” said MONSE Director Stefanie Mavronis. “Leveraging our combined capacities to address the root causes, prevent and intervene in violence, and increase supportive services to Baltimoreans is a cornerstone of the Mayor’s comprehensive public health approach to public safety. We’re seeing the positive results, with historic reductions in homicides in 2023. Now is the time to continue and expand our efforts to drive a community-based approach to tackle violence across Baltimore.”
SideStep Youth Provider Grant Allocations
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Organization Name
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Grant Amount
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Timeframe
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Project Description
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Category
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Funding Source
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EWI, Inc.
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$24,999.00
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Single Year
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EWI will review implementation of the SideStep pilot and how they provide transformative assistance to the youth and families served for the purpose of evaluating the program.
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SideStep Program Evaluation
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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Roberta’s House
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$25,000.00
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Single Year
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Changing the Game will serve 25 at-risk youth who have suffered losses over a six-month term and graduate at least 10 of these youth into a peer ambassador program with Roberta’s House.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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Holistic Life Foundation
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$25,000.00
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Single Year
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Holistic Life Foundation will provide Sidestep participants with mentor support, enrichment, and recreational activities, yoga, mindfulness, and meditation.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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Foundation for Change
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$50,000.00
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Single Year
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Foundation for Change will provide a transformative learning experience for program participants that empowers learners of all ages to reach their full potential by fostering a dynamic and inclusive educational environment that nurtures intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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S.O.N.
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$50,000.00
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Single Year
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S.O.N will offer preventative resources to families of young adults and at-risk youth facing difficulties in underserved communities affected by trauma.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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Aziza Pe&ce
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$50,000.00
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Single Year
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Aziza Pe&ce will provide safe spaces for youth to develop positive behaviors with peers, promote opportunities for entrepreneurship, higher education, and trade work, and introduce unexplored Black history, traumas, monetary exploitation, and discriminatory practices with the goal of improving life expectancy, expanding functional limitations, and developing self-love, self-acceptance, and promoting individual self-worth.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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Patricia’s Place
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$50,000.00
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Single Year
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Patricia’s Place will provide a comprehensive continuum of mental health, substance abuse and alcohol services,
and integrated healthcare services to promote full participation in community life.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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Dream Bigger Community Institute, Inc.
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$50,000.00
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Single Year
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DBCI will provide enrichment and skill-building activities to empower Baltimore City youth to rise above the challenges and confines of poverty, toxic traditions, and the deterioration of neighborhoods. This is accomplished by aiding cognition and decision-making by engaging students in creative thinking and problem-solving activities.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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CLIA
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$50,000.00
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Single Year
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CLIA will use funding to increase engagement opportunities for youth and young adults throughout the year to stay actively engaged in learning and positive development efforts.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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Sarah's House
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$25,000.00
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Single Year
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Sarah’s House will promote youth mental wellness by equipping young people with skills needed to help regulate emotions when feelings are intense and overwhelming that may interfere with their success and functioning.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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HeartSmiles
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$20,000.00
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Single Year
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HeartSmiles will put youth leaders in position to teach and train their peers about “Current Issues Impacting Youth Through a Mental Health Perspective”. These sessions will focus on current issues that are impacting youth and affecting their mental health such as personal stress, community violence, social media, and more.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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Nolita Project
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$25,000.00
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Single Year
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Funding will support the Gateway Project, which addresses the critical issue of Adverse Childhood Effects (ACEs) among youth impacted by the criminal justice system. The program focuses on providing wraparound services for families with incarcerated parents and/or those returning to society from incarceration.
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SideStep Youth Provider
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FY ‘24 General Funds
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ARPA Competitive Grant Allocations
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Organization Name
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Grant Amount
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Timeframe
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Project Description
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Category
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Funding Source
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Michele's Haven
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$25,000.00
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Single Year
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Michele’s Haven will provide programming to benefit returning citizens and allow the community to be more receptive to individuals returning to communities and society as a whole, reducing recidivism by connecting in-custody participants to resources such as housing, jobs, sounding spiritual principles and positive living skills.
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Re-Entry
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ARPA
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Next One Up
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$50,000.00
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Single Year
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Over the year NOU will engage 100 young, Black males (aged 12-17) in a rigorous out-of-school time programming designed to invest in their promise. NOU will provide young men with strong connections to a positive community; prevent delinquency by fostering prosocial skills; and empower young men as ‘future-ready’ youth.
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Youth Justice
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ARPA
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Good Trouble Church
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$50,000.00
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Single
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Good Trouble Church will form a cohort of 15 vulnerable people, and over the course of a year those people will learn, encourage one another, heal together, exercise leadership, engage in community mutual aid, and build resilience and empowerment in the neighborhoods surrounding North Avenue and Charles Street.
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Community Healing
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ARPA
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Future grant opportunities will be shared on MONSE’s Grant Opportunities page and via email. Sign up here to receive email updates, including for when new grant opportunities become available.
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About SideStep
The SideStep Pre-Arrest Youth Diversion program is a partnership between MONSE, community-based organizations, the Baltimore Police Department, and the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS). The program was designed and developed by young people in West Baltimore, as well as justice-system partners determined to reform law enforcement interactions with youth and community-based organizations after the 2015 uprising. As an alternative to the formal justice system, SideStep provides young people with transformative assistance from trusted community-based organizations to improve their lives and help them reach their full potential.
MONSE is currently working through external evaluation and citywide scale-up following the launch of the SideStep pilot program in the Western Police District in January 2022. An initial round of $370,000 to support service providers for the Western District pilot was announced in March 2023.
About the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided $641 million to the City of Baltimore in response to the COVID-19 public health emergency and its negative economic impacts. Mayor Brandon M. Scott has established the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs to transparently and effectively administer this funding on behalf of the City. For additional information, visit the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs website at arp.baltimorecity.gov.
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