More Charlotte neighborhoods in line for $1M anti-violence program funds
Charlotte’s Alternatives to Violence program has been allotted an additional $1 million by the Department of Justice to extend its efforts into two new neighborhoods.
The program was launched in August 2021 in the Beatties Ford and LaSalle Street area in an attempt to curb violence and prevent shootings.
The program is run by two non-profits: Youth Advocate Programs and Cure Violence Global. It works by sending trained violence interrupters into schools and neighborhoods to provide programming and mediate conflict.
With more funding, the program is likely to expand to Nations Ford and Arrowood roads, including Southside homes, and to neighborhoods near West Boulevard and Remount Road. These sites were identified due to their high concentration of crime, according to Federico Rios, the city of Charlotte’s assistant director of the Office of Equity, Mobility and Immigrant Integration.
A final decision on neighborhoods is expected later this year.
Overall violent crime in the city is up about 2% compared to this time last year, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said during Monday’s City Council meeting, where the additional grant funding was approved.
It is not clear whether or not the program has met its initial goals, including its number of participants.
The entire original staff of case workers and others involved with the roll-out of Charlotte’s program left in a matter of months last year.
Rios said the original staff appointed in August all “transitioned out” by December. It is unclear whether or not staff quit or was fired.
Rios said he was advised by Cure Violence not to share with Charlotte City Council members or the public the full data — including program outcomes — because the data may be “skewed.”
Over the past year, the program provided 18,000 hours of services, had 19 program participants, and completed 45 conflict mediations, according to the data Rios shared.
He said it is too early within the program’s implementation to draw conclusions on its impact. ATV is undergoing a 3-year assessment with UrbanCORE, a research group with University of North Carolina Charlotte, to monitor its effectiveness.
The program was just short of its 2021 goal, WCNC reported in March. Instead of meeting its goal of reaching 15 high-risk teens and young adults, it had 14 six months in. New, more complete data regarding the group’s progress will be made available in February 2023, Rios said.
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 7:15 AM.
