MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Common Council members pressed the Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) on how it is using millions of federal dollars to make the city safer.
OVP received a mix of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds from the city and state, totaling roughly $12 million.
During committee, Alderwoman Milele Coggs explained she wanted a discussion on the subject given the time constraints on the ARPA dollars, the magnitude of its funding OVP, and ensuring the money gets to community partners.
"We want to make sure that these partnerships we have in the community effectuate the prevention that we want continues to happen," Ald. Coggs said. "I'll be transparent, I have heard concerns from entities and organizations that we partner with about the timeliness of payment."
The money must be spent by the end of 2026. The city's ARPA dollars must be committed by the end of 2024. Any unused ARPA funds will be sent back to the federal government.
The City of Milwaukee allocated $4.25 million to OVP, which ARPA Funding Director Andrea Fowler, said broke down into this:
- $3.55 million for 414Life
- $200,000 DVSA Task Force
- $300,000 unarmed responder initiative3
- $180,000 trauma response team
Before receiving ARPA funds, officials estimated OVP's budget was approximately $3 million.
OVP director Ashanti Hamilton pointed to administrative and staffing challenges along with changes to operations for delays in getting money to partners.
"Being able to just administratively handle the influx of resources, created a real practical bottleneck. I think a lot of those issues are being addressed both with staffing as well as understanding what the requirements are," Hamilton said.
Hamilton told TMJ4 News that by the end of this month, roughly $8 million of the ARPA funds will be committed or under contract. He is confident the remaining $4 million will be used.
"There's conversations about expansion of 414Life violence interruption into the south side," Hamilton said. "Helping to build up community-based organizations that are doing youth work."
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