Council reviews community relations and youth programs; PIO outlines youth-employment slate and Cleveland Thrives update

The finance committee heard presentations from the Community Relations Board (CRB) and the Prevention, Intervention & Opportunity (PIO) office on proposed 2026 budgets, contracted programming and youth-employment efforts.

CRB Executive Director Angela Shute Woodson described the board’s district representative network, youth-diversion work and school-based outreach. Woodson said district representatives cover all five police districts and highlighted recent work in CMSD schools: "We are in 10 high schools," she said, and reported measurable declines in fighting at several schools where outreach teams operate. Woodson also explained a planned increase in contractual services for violent interrupter organizations to supplement a small street-outreach team.

Interim PIO Director Sherry J. Ullery told the committee the office recorded 4,509 case-management contacts in 2025 and has a workforce-development specialist who helped 50 residents obtain full-time employment last year. Ullery presented a proposed $3.4 million slate of program contracts for 2026 and said the city had 28 contracted partners in 2025. She noted that the You (Youth Opportunities Unlimited) summer employment partnership was scheduled for committee review and that YOU’s 2025 program served roughly 570 youth (the program had expanded after a council increase in funding).

Ullery also updated the committee on a Department of Justice grant supporting the Cleveland Thrives effort (approximately $1.99 million): two of three grant deliverables are complete and teams are finalizing a community safety "blueprint" due in the coming months.

Council members repeatedly asked for explicit lists and locations of funded providers, details on which rec centers receive social-support specialists, and ward-level breakdowns of youth employment placements. Several council members said they wanted clearer reporting back to offices and neighborhood leaders on which organizations work in which wards, contract dollar amounts and point contacts.

Next steps: staff agreed to circulate program rosters, contract descriptions and ward-level rec-center coverage; the workforce committee will review the YOU employment contract and the broader PIO contract slate in upcoming meetings. Council members also signaled interest in reconvening a joint hearing with Parks & Recreation and CRB to align prevention and neighborhood programming.