PHILADELPHIA, June 29, 2022 – The Office of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Criminal Justice & Public Safety (CJPS) shared the results of a 12-month independent program evaluation for the pilot year (2022- 2023) of the Community Expansion Grant program (CEG). The focus of CEG is to provide direct trauma-informed healing and restorative practices or safe havens and mentorship programs in the neighborhoods most affected by gun violence.
Overall, the results were positive. The evaluation underscores the need for sustained investment to maximize impact. The report also makes several recommendations to strengthen the program for the next cohort of grantees.
Applicants were eligible only if they had annual operating budgets below $15 million and a proven track record of working in neighborhoods most affected by gun violence. Preference was also given to organizations serving Black and Brown boys and men aged 16 to 34. These criteria guaranteed that CEG grantees were small- or medium-sized, predominantly Black- and Brown-led community-based orgs. The emphasis on Black and Brown boys and men aims to address historic disinvestment in Black and Brown communities by bringing City funding directly to these communities.
In October 2021, $13.5 million was awarded in grants to 31 organizations, and 28 organizations completed their grant-funded programming serving Black and Brown boys and men (ages 16-34) in areas most impacted by gun violence. Twelve of the programs were awarded $400,000 or more. Twenty-six of the 28 grantees fully participated in the evaluation.
The program evaluation was conducted by Equal Measure, a Philadelphia-based organization that specializes in evaluation, capacity building, technical assistance, program design, and communication. In addition to the Equal Measure team, specialists from Research for Action, Evident Change, and Cities United led individual components of the evaluation.
The most significant finding is that most of the grantees are reaching the intended audience of the CEG program: Black and Latinx men ages 16-34. Seventy- two percent of participants are black; twenty-two percent are Latinx.
“While that finding may seem broad and basic-it’s a big deal,” said Senior Director for CJPS, Erica Atwood. “The evaluation shows that seventy-six percent of the program participants in this age bracket had lived experience, meaning they were victims of gun violence or had families, friends, or lived in a community impacted by gun violence. That is why this program was created – to reach this exact population, at a specific age, with hopes of connecting them to support by people from their own community to get them on a path to healing and opportunity.”
The grant program has served more than 4,831 participants through CEG grantees. Results of a survey administered to participants by the independent evaluators revealed that most program participants had a “positive overall experience with their program.” Specifically, most survey respondents (out of 439) reported that the programming they engaged in provided needed services and supports (85%), their participation in the program- ming made them feel safer in the community (75%), improved their situation after participating in the program (77%), they were satisfied with this program (86%), and they would recommend their program to others (87%).
The evaluation also found that ,…
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