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Paul Soglin, City Council members seek funds for community 'Rapid Response' to gun violence

Wisconsin State Journal - 5/20/2017

May 20--As gun violence persists, Mayor Paul Soglin is moving to fund a community-based "Rapid Response" program amid criticism of acting ineffectively and too slowly.

The city's Finance Committee on Wednesday will consider a resolution from Soglin and Alds. Maurice Cheeks and Matt Phair to deliver up to $75,000 to nonprofits for a "short-term crisis response" that would provide peer support and coaching to those at risk of criminal behavior and to help individuals and families connected to gun violence.

It will be considered by the City Council on a later date.

The resolution, based on a recommendation from the Community Development Division, would offer contracts to Madison Urban Ministries and Nehemiah Development Corp., Soglin said. The money would cover services as well as basic needs of people affected by gun violence, including bus passes, clothing, emergency phones, food cards, medications or emergency housing, according to a draft of the proposal.

The $75,000 would be part of $400,000 the council placed in this year's budget to fund initial pieces of a 15-point plan offered by the Focused Interruption Coalition of community and faith leaders offered last year to address racial disparities, violence and recidivism, the draft says.

The 2017 budget tasked the Community Development Division with implementing initial, high-priority pieces of the 15-point plan for the peer support program and with issuing a request for proposals to community organizations to use the money to do the work.

The division, however, is still completing research and doesn't expect to have a draft request for proposals ready for council consideration until next month. A contract wouldn't be ready until the fall.

Meanwhile, Soglin, under pressure to act amid continuing gun violence, has been working to shape the Rapid Response of community members aimed at preventing further incidents, connecting people to services and building bridges between victims, witnesses and police.

The city had seen 68 confirmed shots-fired incidents this year through Tuesday, including at least 13 this month.

"We have felt a sense of urgency for the last several months because of the increasing number of shots fired," Soglin said Friday, adding that an 11-member committee of city, Dane County, nonprofit representatives and others have been shaping the Rapid Response and that he wants to have something operating by the summer.

Soglin and the committee shared concepts at a public meeting at Fountain of Life Covenant Church on May 12.

At a news conference Wednesday, Soglin called upon victims and witnesses to share information with police and, responding to questions about the city's initiative, said that after a shooting the previous night the city informally deployed Rapid Response for the first time.

Mayor takes heat

The next day, Michael Johnson, president of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County and member of the Focused Interruption Coalition, publicly blasted Soglin for misrepresenting what happened Tuesday night and a lack of detail in the Rapid Response program.

"The public is being led to believe there is a team of community people dealing with these issues and there is no team, no plan, no budget," Johnson said Thursday.

The city should have had a plan by now, and the mayor seems to be re-branding efforts of those who have been unofficially responding to crises, Johnson said Friday. "I don't care what you call it, but put boots on the ground and get the job done," he said.

Soglin said Johnson's criticisms came after he was informed of the nonprofits to be recommended for contracts, which didn't include the Boys and Girls Club. The mayor said he didn't speak about the recommendations on Wednesday because it wasn't clear that staff could produce them until the following day.

Johnson dismissed Soglin's accusation of sour grapes. "I respect the mayor," he said, but "on this issue of violence in our city, he's doing a lot of finger pointing. I'm not going to back down."

Said Cheeks: "It is careless of the mayor to be creating confusion and suggesting there is a new, organized program in place meant to save lives when there isn't yet. However, we can't let this slow us from implementing good violence prevention programming in Madison.

"People have died. Families are scared," Cheeks said. "Our residents are nervous."

Long, short game

The city is moving on two tracks, Soglin said.

The proposed draft resolution calls for a Rapid Response peer support program to be used after critical incidents of violence in an effort to "de-escalate crisis, stabilize individuals and families, and utilize the resources of neighborhoods and communities to increase safety."

It also says Community Development staff will create a work group including city and county staff to identify how to use and leverage direct aid to individuals and groups impacted by violence.

"This is a community response, not a police response," said Madison Police Capt. James Wheeler, the only police representative on the 11-member committee. "It's more than Rapid Response. It's sustainability using social services."

Meanwhile, the city will continue to move toward issuing a request for proposals for two long-term peer support programs -- one for those re-entering the community from incarceration and the other resembling Rapid Response, Community Development director Jim O'Keefe said.

The division expects to complete a "concept paper" for community review next month, and based on input, prepare the request for proposals for council review and then proceed with the process, he said. "We're aware of intense pressure to put money to use," he said. "We're trying to do what we've been asked to do and to do it as well as we can do it."

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(c)2017 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.)

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