City Of Atlanta: Mayor Bottoms Names Director Of Mayor's Office Of Violence Reduction And Violence Prevention Program Expanded To Two Lo ...

Press release from the City of Atlanta:

12/10/2021 1:56 PM

Mayor’s Office of Communications
55 Trinity Avenue, Suite 2500 • Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Mayor Bottoms Names Director of Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction and Violence Prevention Program Expanded to Two Locations

ATLANTA—In July of 2021, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ Anti-Violence Advisory Council delivered its recommendations for immediate and long-term actions to address the current wave of violent crime. Included in these recommendations was the establishment of a Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction to coordinate non-enforcement violence reduction efforts across the city. Mayor Bottoms received City Council approval to establish the office in October of 2021. The full Anti-Violence Advisory Council report can be viewed online here.

Mayor Bottoms announced the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction, Jacquel Clemons Moore, is onboard effective December 1, 2021.

“Ensuring our city is a safe place for all is at the heart of our One Atlanta vision. The establishment of the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction and the expansion of violence prevention programs are key components of our strategies toward combatting rising crime. We are looking forward to the leadership of Jacquel Clemons Moore in this fight to ensure the safety of every Atlantan,” said Mayor Bottoms.

said Mayor Bottoms.

Clemons Moore is a passionate public health professional, with more than 20 years of experience in developing and deploying culturally appropriate programs and public health interventions. She has worked in the field of HIV/AIDS prevention and care and, in 2015, made the transition to community violence prevention where she served as Chief Operating Officer and Interim Executive Director of Kings Against Violence Initiative, Inc. (KAVI). In her previous role at KAVI, she developed and led the organization’s public health strategies that addressed violence and trauma in Brooklyn, New York. Inspired by her own experiences with interpersonal violence, she led efforts to create sustained funding for Community and Hospital-based Violence Interventions. Clemons Moore is a proud graduate of Clark Atlanta University and earned her Master of Public Health degree at New York University.

“I am honored to join the City of Atlanta as its first Director of Violence Reduction. Combatting violence is a deeply personal issue for me, as it is for so many people across our great city. I look forward to working hand-in-hand with our communities and stakeholders to implement evidence-informed, community driven solutions to reduce interpersonal violence,” said Director Clemons Moore.

One of the priorities of the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction is the expansion of violence prevention programs. In March of 2021, Mayor Bottoms announced the City would utilize $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to expand violence prevention programs. The Cure Violence program model is an internationally renowned approach to violence prevention founded in the idea that violence is a learned behavior. The program leverages disease control and behavioral health methods which include but are not limited to: support and facilitate people at high-risk for committing violence through a change in thinking and conflict resolution, interrupt the transmission of retaliatory violence and create opportunities for community norms to change toward a non-violence culture. The methods have proven to decrease shootings in site areas by up to 73%.

Based upon an analysis done by Cure Violence Global and supported by the Atlanta Police Department, the City will expand Violence Prevention Programs in two areas of the city.

Site NPUs Council District Police Zone Westside Southwest Atlanta

The City of Atlanta has issued an RFP seeking the services of one or more local 501c3 nonprofit organizations to administer the Cure Violence program model in these areas. The solicitation for this project has been posted to the City of Atlanta’s Solicitation Portal. The City’s Department of Procurement will host a virtual pre-bid conference for interested organizations on Monday, December 13, 2021, at 2:00 pm. The deadline to submit responses is Monday, December 20, 2021, at 2:00 pm.

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For more information about the City of Atlanta, please visit www.atlantaga.gov or watch City Channel 26. Follow the City of Atlanta on Facebook and Twitter @CityofAtlanta.

This press release was produced by the City of Atlanta. The views expressed here are the author’s own.