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RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR�S DESIGNEE TO COLLABORATE WITH THE CIRCLE OF BROTHERHOOD, COMMUNITY YOUTH AGAINST VIOLENCE, SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, AND URBAN PARTNERSHIP OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY COALITION TO DEVELOP A PROGRAM TO REDUCE YOUTH GUN VIOLENCE; DIRECTING THE COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR�S DESIGNEE TO IDENTIFY FUNDING TO SUPPORT SUCH PROGRAM; AUTHORIZING THE COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR�S DESIGNEE TO EXECUTE GRANT AGREEMENTS, MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING AND OTHER REQUIRED AGREEMENTS AND DOCUMENTS, AS WELL AS AMENDMENTS, EXTENSIONS, AND RENEWALS OF SUCH AGREEMENTS AND DOCUMENTS TO IMPLEMENT THE PROGRAM AND TO EXERCISE TERMINATION, WAIVER, AND OTHER PROVISIONS SET FORTH THEREIN, SUBJECT TO NEGOTIATION OF THE TERMS OF SUCH AGREEMENTS BY THE COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR�S DESIGNEE AND APPROVAL FOR LEGAL FORM AND SUFFICIENCY BY THE COUNTY ATTORNEY�S OFFICE; DIRECTING THE COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR�S DESIGNEE TO IDENTIFY COUNTY FUNDING AND APPLY FOR AND RECEIVE GRANT FUNDING FOR THE PROGRAM; AND DIRECTING THE COUNTY MAYOR OR COUNTY MAYOR�S DESIGNEE TO PROVIDE CERTAIN REPORTS CONCERNING THE FUNDING AND PROGRAM OUTCOMES

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WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County�s current crime statistics related to youth who are victims of gun violence are grim; and
WHEREAS, in a May 22, 2018 article, the SunSentinel reported that records from the Florida Department of Health�s Bureau of Vital Statistics revealed that the deaths of 343 children and teenagers in Miami-Dade County from 2006 through 2016, were caused by firearms; and
WHEREAS, according to records from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner, from 2013 through 2016, there were 94 homicide victims who were 18 years of age and under, 80 of those victims were black males; and
WHEREAS, according to a study that examined patients treated for intentional gunshot injuries at Jackson Memorial Hospital, Ryder Trauma Center from 2002 through 2012, over 70 percent of the victims were black males, most of whom were shot in the neighborhoods they lived in; and
WHEREAS, additionally, over the course of the study period, researchers noted the ages of people affected by gun violence decreased, while the rate of gun violence increased and that the geographical areas affected by gun violence did not change; and
WHEREAS, the County recognizes that the people and communities impacted the most by gun violence must be involved in any effort to address and eradicate such violence from the community; and
WHEREAS, as such and in an effort to address and curtail youth gun violence in Miami-Dade County, the County has been involved in several collaborations with community partners to engage at-risk youth; and
WHEREAS, moreover, the County has initiated the following strategic community safety and gun violence initiatives: (1) Joint Roundtable on Youth Safety; (2) Operation Restoration; (3) My Brother�s Keeper; (4) Together for Children; (5) Project Peace; (6) Mayor�s Youth and Community Safety; and (7) Miami-Dade County MDPD Gun Violence Program; and
WHEREAS, such initiatives include more than 100 programs, some of which provide funding for: (1) summer work opportunities for youth, (2) mentorship programs, (3) counseling and mental health services, (4) programs that focus on early identification of high risk juvenile offenders and rehabilitating juvenile weapon offenders, (5) afterschool activities, and (6) enhanced reward monies paid for crime tips that lead to arrests; and
WHEREAS, the County wants to expand its portfolio of programs to include a program, developed with community partners, that will engage at-risk youth and incorporate best and promising practices of successful evidence-based models as well as tenets that have been implemented locally and early evidence suggests will result in measurable and sustainable reductions in youth gun related crimes in Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, the program will be culturally-sensitive to and reflective of our local population and would complement existing community based programs offered by the County, faith-based community, law enforcement, and other entities; and
WHEREAS, the Circle of Brotherhood is an organization composed of men of color who serve and protect their community through initiatives designed to address neighborhood instability and rebuild the community by focusing on youth development, crime prevention and economic sustainability; and
WHEREAS, Community Youth Against Violence was established in 2017 to work with youth who have been identified as troubled or ungovernable and first time offenders and provides mentorship and internship opportunities, conflict resolution and family and individual counseling; and
WHEREAS, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (�SCLC�) was formed in 1957 to advance civil rights in America and, to this day, it continues working to address issues facing disenfranchised people throughout the nation; and
WHEREAS, since 2010, the Urban Partnership of Miami-Dade County Coalition (�UPMDCC�) has worked to establish a county-wide collaborative to reduce youth gun violence and its partners currently include faith based ministries, community coalitions and the University of Miami, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Prevention Science & Community Health; and
WHEREAS, youth violence can be prevented through the use of comprehensive and multi-layered community wide strategies geared to address such violence and its underlying and contributing causes; and
WHEREAS, a collaborative that includes the County, Circle of Brotherhood, Community Youth Against Violence, SCLC, UPMDCC, and other community partners who are committed to investing into people and the community in an effort to rebuild lives is necessary to address and reduce gun deaths that affect the community as a whole and disproportionally impact young black men in Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, the program will utilize myriad measures including, but not limited to, conflict resolution, counseling, mentorship and internship opportunities, and implementation of enhanced community safety measures in such effort; and
WHEREAS, such a program may include, in whole or in part, proposals submitted by the Circle of Brotherhood, Community Youth Against Violence, SCLC, UPMDCC, as attached hereto as Exhibit A; and
WHEREAS, a partnership between the County and community partners, including, but not limited to the Circle of Brotherhood, Community Youth Against Violence, SCLC, and UPMDCC to develop a program to address youth gun violence and target at-risk youth in communities plagued by gun violence is a necessary step to curb the gun violence epidemic in Miami-Dade County; and
WHEREAS, this Board desires to reduce youth gun violence and supports collaborations that include local community groups and other community partners in the fight to quell such violence in Miami-Dade County,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that:
Section 1. This Board incorporates the recitals above in this resolution.
Section 2. This Board authorizes the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee to collaborate with the Circle of Brotherhood, Community Youth Against Violence, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Urban Partnership of Miami-Dade County Coalition, and others in the community to develop a new program to reduce youth gun violence.
Section 3. This Board authorizes the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee to execute grant agreements, memoranda of understanding, and other required agreements and documents to effectuate the purposes of this resolution, subject to negotiation of such agreements by the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee, approvals for legal form and sufficiency by the Miami-Dade County Attorney�s Office and subsequent approvals by the Board, if such agreements commit funding from Miami-Dade County.
Section 4. This Board further authorizes the County Mayor or the County Mayor�s designee to exercise amendments, extensions, renewals, termination, waiver, and other provisions set forth in such agreements and documents necessary to accomplish the purposes of this resolution, following approvals for legal form and sufficiency by the Miami-Dade County Attorney�s Office and subsequent approvals by the Board, if such agreements commit funding from Miami-Dade County.
Section 5. This Board directs the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee to apply for and receive grant funding or identify sufficient funding in the FY 2018-2019 County Budget which independently or combined may be utilized to fund the youth gun violence program proposed by this resolution; provided that the expenditure of any funds for programs developed, planned or implemented to address or engage youth gun violence pursuant to the directives of this Resolution will be subject to subsequent approvals of this Board.
Section 6. The long-term funding commitments sought by this resolution are in addition to, and are not intended to replace or supplant funding currently committed to any other anti-violence, gun violence or similar initiative.
Section 7. This Board directs the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee to provide quarterly reports to this Board concerning the progress in developing and providing funding for a new youth gun violence program in Miami-Dade County on a quarterly basis, commencing the next quarter and every quarter thereafter, until the program has been established. Thereafter, the County Mayor or County Mayor�s designee is directed to provide annual reports on the program. The completed reports required by this resolution shall be placed on an agenda of the Board, pursuant to Ordinance No. 14-65.