“Public Health is navigating a highly uncertain funding environment, with significant federal support for some of our established programs at risk,” said Health Commissioner Jennifer Wentzel. “We have not yet received guidance from the state of Ohio or the federal government regarding the future of this funding.”
A city spokesperson said Dayton is working with another organization to manage oversight for the program and hopes to have an update soon.
Derrick Foward, president of the Dayton branch NAACP, on Friday pleaded with community members to put their guns down and stop the shootings and violence. Foward and other NAACP leaders called for a 30-day ceasefire in the community.
Foward said homicides in the Dayton community are up more than 13% this year, and it’s not even summer yet, which is when gun violence and bloodshed sometimes spikes.
Public Health
Wentzel said Public Health had been reviewing and evaluating the feasibility of the proposal to oversee a new violence interruption program that has been requested by city leaders and widely promoted by Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. No formal contract had been completed.
Supporters say the goal of these types of programs is to use a public health approach to reduce violence, and Dayton’s initiative is expected to target violent crime hotspots in the northern or western parts of the city.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
Cure Violence Global has been helping to develop a program for Dayton.
Under this model, trained “violence interrupters” and outreach workers go out into the community to try to identify and mediate conflicts before they escalate into violence. Staff try to connect people at risk of violence to services like housing, food, employment and education.
Public Health was recommended to oversee the programmatic and administrative parts of the program. Wentzel said the department will support and participate in the process as a community advisor, but it cannot serve as the lead oversight organization.
“We commend Mayor Mims, the city commission and city staff for their leadership and dedication to ending community violence and improving public health,” Wentzel said. “Public Health remains committed to supporting and participating in the city’s efforts to achieve an effective and sustainable solution for our community.”
Cure Violence Global in a statement said its model has been implemented in cities across the nation with a variety of agencies and organizations serving in an oversight capacity.
“Cure Violence Global will continue working closely with local leaders in Dayton to help identify the most appropriate and capable organization to take on this role,” the nonprofit said in a statement. “We remain fully committed to supporting the city of Dayton in implementing an effective, evidence-based violence prevention program that will reduce violence, strengthen communities and save lives.”
Last week, Foward, with the NAACP Dayton Branch, said the organization fully supports Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims’ push to launch a violence interruption program. But he said the violence needs to end immediately.
“I’m pleading with the parents, I’m pleading with the grandparents, I’m pleading with the sisters, the brothers, the aunts, the uncles, the cousins — stop killing one another," Foward said. “We cannot continue at this rate. Your lives matter.”
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