City to accept $1 million DOJ grant to expand school violence prevention, tracking and social-media monitoring

The Budget & Finance Committee forwarded to the full Board a resolution authorizing the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families to accept and expand a $1,000,000 U.S. Department of Justice Stop School Violence Program grant for Oct. 2, 2023–Oct. 1, 2026.

Jasmine Dawson, director of city and community partnerships at DCYF, told supervisors the funds will support a school-crisis coordination project with SFUSD and partners: hiring a manager and coordinator placed at SFUSD, procuring a tracking database for on-campus incidents that is both FERPA- and HIPAA-compliant, providing technical assistance and trainings (restorative practices, conflict mediation, motivational interviewing), and standing up a youth-inclusive social media task force to build real-time monitoring dashboards. "We will plan to hire 2 staff that will be placed at SFUSD," Dawson said. She also described a plan to recruit about 20 social media monitors in the summer.

Dawson said the grant was awarded on Sept. 28, only days before the required Oct. 2 start date, which is why DCYF is requesting retroactive authorization. Between March 2022 and Sept. 2023, DCYF’s school violence interrupters reported roughly 143 conflict mediations and interventions and initiated about 30 community-based organization referrals, the department said.

Supervisors pressed on prevention and communications: Supervisor Mirna Malgar urged the department to ensure the work is prevention-focused and scaled to reach all students, not only those involved in high-risk incidents; Chair Chan asked that staff return with a specific description of the program infrastructure and communications protocols for districts and parents. Vice Chair Rafael Mandelmann and Supervisor Malgar asked to be added as cosponsors.

No public speakers addressed the item. The committee voted to forward the resolution to the Board with a positive recommendation (3 ayes).