Pittsburgh creates additional reporting requirements for Stop the Violence grant recipients

Organizations that receive funding through Pittsburgh’s Stop the Violence grant program will now be required to provide additional reporting on how they spend their money under legislation approved this week by City Council.

The measure is meant to provide greater accountability and transparency in how the tax dollars are used, said Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End.

Stop the Violence grant recipients already provide a quarterly report, but the new council legislation will require an annual report that asks for more information.

Kail-Smith said she had additional inquiries after looking at the questions asked of grant recipients on the quarterly reports, including a question about whether the groups use the city’s Stop the Violence logo.

“I don’t really care if they use the logo. I care if the funding is going towards stopping the violence,” Kail-Smith said. “That’s what I care about. I wanted the accountability.”

The new reporting that will be required annually asks questions about how the organization’s work is curbing violence, whether they have the necessary funding and support to achieve their goals, how ending violence aligns with the organization’s broader priorities and what they anticipate in terms of results.

“I want to make sure everybody’s doing what the dollars are allocated for,” Kail-Smith said.

Kail-Smith said she would like to see additional reporting requirements for other trust funds and grant initiatives, as well. She said council staff would be able to assist organizations who needed help with the reporting.

She said she would like to be able to provide the public with detailed information about where Stop the Violence grant money is going, what the organizations hope to do with it and what outcomes actually occurred.

“We know there (are) groups that are doing amazing work,” Kail-Smith said. “This is about us being accountable to the people we serve.”

The city in November announced that more than 30 organizations received nearly $1 million in Stop the Violence grant money. Organizations could get funding for a variety of community initiatives, ranging from academic support and sports programs to family-related activities and mental health counseling.

Recipients included the North Side Partnership Project, which received a $15,000 grant to help fund their ‘See Something, Say Something’ campaign, which includes communicating with police and educating people about the need to report crime they see in their neighborhoods.

Executive Director Eleanor Williams said she felt the city was already doing a good job keeping tabs on how grant money was being used.

“I think that the city is doing a great job already in supporting the people who have gotten the grants and having periodical check-ins to see where you are and what you’ve done so far with the grant money,” she said.

English Burton, who serves as the nonprofit’s violence prevention liaison, said the group also has been communicating directly with the communities it serves about programming. He said the group bought 500 yard signs and 500 T-shirts to help raise awareness about the “See Something, Say Something” campaign.

“We’re constantly in contact with our elected officials,” Burton said. “I make sure to go to all the community meetings to pass out information, pass out yard signs and stuff.”

Burton also credited local officials and city representatives for showing up to events that the group has put on regarding their Stop the Violence efforts.

“The city is heavily involved in this program,” he said.