Philly Controller finds city botched the rollout of a touted $22 million anti-violence program

A city grant program touted as an equitable and urgent response to a surge in gun violence was rushed through a no-bid contracting process that resulted in confusion and delayed payments, and, ultimately, left 20% of the grant money unspent, according to a review by Philadelphia’s City Controller released Wednesday.

“As gun violence faced an all-time high in 2021, the city’s urgency to roll out the [grant] program led to confusion and mistrust among the grassroots community organizations who provide much-needed services to neighborhoods that have been historically ignored,” the report, issued by City Controller Christy Brady, found.

And, despite the aims of the grant program, the analysis also found that funds had not been disbursed to organizations in the zip codes most impacted by gun violence.

The program, known as Community Expansion Grants (CEG), aimed to disburse $13.5 million to 31 organizations providing gun-violence prevention, intervention, or community healing.

But an April 2023 Inquirer investigation into the program — which, with administrative costs, represented a $22 million investment — found that the city awarded grants to organizations that did not meet its own stated guidelines and did not have the infrastructure to manage the money.

» READ MORE: Philly poured $22M into an anti-violence grant program. It picked some groups unable to deliver on their proposals.

One grantee, in violation of city policy, used the money to pay police officers (and to provide stipends for many of their children) to run a boxing program outside the police district, an earlier Inquirer investigation found.

Police Internal Affairs and the Philadelphia Inspector General both said they were launching their own investigations in response. The boxing program was dropped, and the captain who helmed it resigned for unrelated reasons, after receiving a notice that he faced being fired.

Adam Geer, who leads the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Public Safety, said he had not yet read the controller’s report.

“But we can say we are proud of the work of many of the CEG grantees since we know their work has impact to reduce and prevent gun violence as well as support those experiencing trauma,” he said in a statement. He said the city had already learned lessons from its own evaluation, adding, “We plan to address the weaknesses and make the program even stronger.”

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The grant program did have its success stories. It expanded supports and services for victims of violence, and built capacity for programs that connected some of the young people at highest risk for gun violence involvement to jobs or training programs. More than 4,500 people received some sort of services, though that figure includes both those enrolled in programs and people who attended onetime events.

Some of the community groups have described the CEG money as “transformative,” enabling them to rapidly expand their programs.

But, the controller found, rather than focusing on groups in the most hard-hit neighborhoods, grants were distributed relatively evenly across 29 zip codes with above-average rates of gun violence. The controller’s report concluded that a lack of “a fair, open, and transparent bid process” had created — intentionally or not — a “perception of favoritism or bias” toward certain providers who were ultimately selected.

While the city previously denied allegations of political favoritism, one grant was awarded to a sitting Democratic ward leader, who was given nearly 60% more than his group had initially applied for. The controller found 12 other organizations had received more money than what was originally requested, while 12 organizations received less — but the city did not provide “additional details or explanation as to why their share was reduced.”

The controller also took issue with a city process that backdated the contract with grant administrator Urban Affairs Coalition (UAC) by more than 2½ months — forcing UAC to start work without a contract, and to advance the grantees more than $2 million before being able to invoice the city for those expenditures.

The multilayered approval process hampered organizations’ ability to get projects off the ground. Groups waited months to receive a promised 20% advance — and then, monthly payments did not start rolling out until March 2022, five months after the grants were awarded.

Despite both internal and external concerns about the program, the city announced a second, $17.45 million, round of grants last March — albeit with some procedural improvements, such as enhanced reporting requirements and funding benchmarks, according to the controller.

In December, 39 organizations were awarded additional grants.

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