MAPC’s Metro Mayors Coalition Receives Shannon Grant

Funding comes from the Senator Charles E. Shannon Jr. Grant to prevent youth and gang violence. Throughout the state, $11 million was awarded to 15 sites (27 communities) and 13 local research partners for 2020. MAPC is the site manager for the Metro Mayors CSI, which is a subset of the 14-community Metro Mayors Coalition.

The Shannon Community Safety Initiative program is nationally recognized for deterring youth violence, gang violence, and substance abuse. Between 2014 and 2018, communities with Shannon-funded programs experienced a 47.3% decrease in the number of arrests for aggravated assault and a 21.7% decrease in arrests for simple assaults involving youth ages 10 to 24.

The grant honors Senator Charles Shannon, a Massachusetts state senator who represented the Second Middlesex district from 1991 until 2005. He served as a police officer for 20 years and worked to diminish gang violence in Somerville during his time in the Senate. After his death, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security began administering the Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative, a grant program that supports “regional and multi-disciplinary approaches to combat gang violence through coordinated programs for prevention and intervention.”

The grant process is competitive: every year, MAPC submits a comprehensive plan to provide a coordinated prevention and suppression strategy across the eight communities.

In the Metro Mayors CSI area, prevention and law enforcement partners work with communities to provide programs that serve thousands of youth, including an annual basketball tournament, and the Shannon Day on the Hill, which brings together program youth with police chiefs, legislators, and municipal officers each spring.

The $650,000 grant will be split between funding for law enforcement, employment services, recreation, music/arts programming, community mobilization, and youth mental health support.