Boston City Council Hearing on FY26 Shannon Grant - July 2, 2026
Boston City Council Hearing on FY26 Shannon Grant - July 2, 2026
The Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, chaired by Councilor Santana, held a hearing on July 2, 2026, to consider Docket #0970, authorizing acceptance and expenditure of $1,073,239.34 from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security for the FY26 Senator Charles Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative. The grant supports regional, multidisciplinary approaches to reduce gang and youth violence through prevention, intervention, law enforcement, and re-integration programs. Councilors expressed concerns about rising crime, police staffing, and the reduction in grant funding from $3 million in previous years to $1.07 million, resulting in fewer funded organizations.
Discussion Items
- Opening Remarks: Chair Santana outlined the hearing's purpose and emphasized oversight of the Shannon Grant. Councilor Flynn criticized the absence of Boston Police Department command staff, citing a recent assault on a police officer and rising crime. He questioned the city's summer safety plan and police staffing levels. Councilor Murphy echoed disappointment and noted a prior hearing where no BPD representative attended. Councilor Weber highlighted interest in credible messenger programs and the Hyde Square Task Force.
- Presentation by Demond Bills (BPD Project Coordinator): Mr. Bills explained that the grant funds 17 nonprofit and city-based organizations in FY26, down from 28 in FY25 due to state funding cuts. He noted that 16 of 17 partners are people of color-led, and 10 are women-led. He provided program metrics from 2025: 2,487 youth received case management; 6,000 community members attended violence-related meetings; 3,275 youth participated in education programs; 1,218 in employment programs; 4,015 in recreational programming. He also cited crime increases from 2021 to 2025: simple assault arrests up 17%, robbery arrests up 62%, aggravated assault arrests up 2%. He stated that the grant has historically funded over 250 nonprofits over 20 years and is now in its mid-year.
- Councilor Questions:
- Councilor Santana asked about the gap left by reduced funding and whether organizations that lost funding received other city support. Mr. Bills said he was unaware of other funding sources and noted the challenge of maintaining adequate funding.
- Councilor Flynn requested crime data for the last six months (Mr. Bills did not have it available). Flynn also noted that no grant recipients are in District 2 (South End, Chinatown, South Boston). Mr. Bills stated there were no applicants from those areas but would verify.
- Councilor Murphy asked about evaluation metrics. Mr. Bills described a research partnership with Northeastern University and provided program activity numbers (see above).
- Councilor Weber inquired about Hyde Square Task Force and credible messenger funding from FY25. Mr. Bills confirmed that Hyde Square was not funded this year due to rotation and funding reductions; the previous housing-specific funding from EOFSS did not continue. He also noted no re-entry programming in this grant cycle.
- Testimony from Grant Recipients:
- Abigail Forrester (Teen Empowerment): Emphasized collaboration between youth and law enforcement as a best practice for violence prevention. Supported expanding the grant.
- Pablo Velez (Record Company): Described free workforce development (TRC Academy) serving 3,000+ artists monthly. Reported outcomes: 100+ graduates in one year, 94% want more training, 1 in 4 secured paid music/audio work.
- Kevin Barton (Youth Connect): Embedded social workers in 10 police stations, serving 560+ youth. Services are free, voluntary, and not time-limited. Shannon funding is essential to avoid insurance billing.
- Erica Butler (BCYF Girls Leadership Program): Described girls' nights, summer programs, partnerships with police (officers participating in arts and crafts), and plans for events in South Boston.
- Mike Hose and Al Jamal Peoples (Project Right): Ran the Mike and Al Basketball League in Grove Hall since 2000, funded by Shannon Grant. Engaged youth in sports and violence prevention. Noted recent homicides affecting staff and participants.
Key Outcomes
- Chair Santana stated she will bring the order to accept and expend the FY26 Shannon Grant to the full City Council for a vote at the next council meeting (week of July 6, 2026) and recommended passage.
- Councilors expressed general support for the grant but voiced concerns about future funding reductions, lack of BPD command staff attendance, and the need for better geographic equity in grant distribution.
- Councilors committed to exploring additional funding sources and potentially creating a city-level grant program to supplement state cuts.
- The committee will follow up with a complete list of applicants to address questions about District 2 representation.
Meeting Transcript
Anna at large city councilor, and I'm the chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice. Today is July 2nd, 2026. The exact time is 10 01 a.m. In accordance with Chapter 2 of the Act of 2025 modifying certain requirements of the open meeting law and relieving public bodies of certain requirements, including the requirement that public bodies conduct its meeting in a public place that is open and physically accessible to the public. The City Council will be conducting this hearing virtually via Zoom. This hearing is being recorded. It is also being live streamed at Boston.gov slash city-council-tv and broadcasted on its finity channel eight RCN Channel 82 and files channel 964.ps at Boston.gov and we've been made part of the record and available to all counselors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing. Individuals will be called on in the order in which they signed up and will have two minutes to testify. If you wish to sign up for public testimony and have not done so, please email our central staff liaison. ShanePac at Shane.gov for the Zoom link and your name will be added to the list. Today's hearing is on docket number zero nine seven zero, message and order authorizing the city of Boston to accept and expend the amount of one million seventy-three thousand dollars two hundred and thirty-nine for thirty-four cents in the form of a grant for the FY26 Senator Charles Shannon Junior Community Safety Initiative awarded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and to be administered by the Boston Police Department. The grant will fund regional and multidisciplinary approaches to combat gang violence through coordinated prevention and intervention, law enforcement, prosecution, and re-integration programs. This matter was sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu and was referred to the committee on May 13, 2026. Today I am joined by my colleagues in order of arrival, District 2 City Council, Councilor Ed Flynn. We've also received a letter of absence from at-large city councilor Ruth C. Louis Gen. Allow my colleagues, a brief opening remark, and we're going to go into our panel. The Shannon Grant is an investment initiative that supports the City of Boston's comprehensive public safety strategy through regional and multidisciplinary approaches and collaborations among state and city agencies, along with partnerships with faith-based, philanthropic and business organizations within the community. In order for the city of Boston to offer this initiative, the City Council must vote to authorize the order to accept and expend the 1.07 million dollar grant. For the FY26, today's hearing is part of that oversight process. The Shannon grant is intended to fund coordinated prevention and intervention, law enforcement prosecution and reintegration programs aimed at reducing gun, reducing gun gang and youth violence in the city. These initiatives provided programs and resources that serve positive youth development and recreation activities and specifically target hotspots areas in Boston. I want to extend my appreciation to Demon Bills for his leadership through his process each year as a project coordinator for the senior Charles Shannon Community Safety Initiative in the Boston Police Department. It's my understanding. It's 15 years now, so I really appreciate your efforts. Last year, we held a productive and insightful public hearing in this committee to conduct oversight of the FY25 sharing grant. During this hearing, we heard from the nonprofits and community organizations about the benefits this grant has provided for their work. We also heard directly from youth and community members who are directly impacted by these programs about the impact the programs had on their lives. Today I want to ensure that my council colleagues continue to hear from these organizations directly about the work they do. They are doing in our Boston in our Boston communities and how this grant will support that work so that my colleagues are well informed prior to this grant being brought up before the council for discussion and later vote. We're here up to five minutes of touch and more today from each organization. And I want to reiterate my intention from the from the invitation sent to each organization that I hope that it this is a beneficial opportunity to introduce your work and mission to the Boston City Council rather rather than a hurdle to jump. I recognize that this is added work for you, and I'm deeply appreciative of your participation in today's hearing. We're honored and fortunate to have so many organizations with us today to focus on their work and be respectful of their time. I won't be um pausing for counselor questions after each organization's presentation so we can keep a smooth flow. But for my colleagues, please let me know if you have any questions you'd like us to collect in coordination with Central Staff, so we can send out these requests for the information on behalf of the committee. My office can also assist you in connecting directly with any of the organizations and participants in today's hearing. Please feel free to reach out to me directly or to my staff. So with that, before we go to Mr. Bills, um Councilor Plynn, do you have any um quick opening remarks? Yes, thank you, Council Santanor. I'm I'm here at my office at the city council. Um I was I was expecting a high-ranking person from the Boston Police Department to be here to answer questions about public safety um security challenges we have in the city of Boston. We are seeing a significant rise in crime in Boston. There was a Boston police officer that was recently assaulted in the community. I wanted to ask some questions uh directly to the police commissioner. Um you mentioned that this grant will fund gang um you know initiatives to reduce gang violence, support law enforcement, um, and troubled spots, but those are those are important questions and um for us to ask a police commissioner or a member of the command staff. Um with that, and it's and it's a lot of money. We're going to vote on, I'm gonna support it one million dollars for the book for the Boston Police Department, uh, but the Boston police uh commissioner or someone from the command staff is not here, and those are the questions I like to ask about uh public safety initiatives, community policing, staffing levels.
openpublica.com