Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Executive Office of Public Safety and Security
Office of Grants and Research
State Fiscal Year 2024
Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative
Report to the Massachusetts General Court
Senate and House Committees on Ways and Means
September 2024
Maura T. Healey Kimberley Driscoll
Governor Lieutenant Governor
Terrence M. Reidy Kevin J. Stanton
Secretary Executive Director
Introduction
The Office of Grants and Research (OGR) is pleased to present this summary of the FY24 Senator
Charles E. Shannon Jr. Community Safety Initiative (Shannon CSI) grant application review
process and distribution of over $11 million to the Shannon CSI sites and partners.
OGR is a state agency that is part of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS).
EOPSS is responsible for the policy development and budget oversight of the secretariat’s agencies,
independent programs, and several boards which aid in crime prevention, homeland security preparedness,
and ensuring the safety of residents and visitors in the Commonwealth. The agencies that fall under EOPSS
are:
• Massachusetts State Police
• Massachusetts Emergency management Agency
• Sex Offender Registry Board
• Department of Fire Services
• Department of Criminal Justice Information Services
• Department of Correction
• Parole Board
• Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
• State 911 Department
• Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab
• Municipal Police Training Committee
• Massachusetts National Guard
• Office of Grants and Research
In addition to managing and administering state-funded criminal justice, homeland security, and traffic
safety grant programs, OGR is the State Administering Agency (SAA) for federal grant funding received by
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In total,
the agency manages more than $150 million in grant funds annually. Additionally, OGR’s Research and
Policy Analysis Division (RPAD), which houses the Massachusetts Statistical Analysis Center, utilizes
research and evaluation to promote public safety in the Commonwealth by informing criminal justice and
public safety policy. The goals of the OGR include:
• Improving community safety and local preparedness by providing resources to communities based
on need;
• Investing in evidenced based innovative programs;
• Granting awards based on national and state priorities;
• Fostering collaboration across jurisdictions by delivering grant dollars with a regional approach;
• Making funding decisions based upon research, empirical data, and best practices; and
• Ensuring the grant awarding process is transparent and in compliance with federal and state
guidelines.
This document serves as the report authored by OGR regarding the FY24 Shannon CSI.
Program Narrative
The purpose of this funding is to support regional, multidisciplinary approaches to combat gang
violence through coordinated programs for prevention and intervention, coordinated law
enforcement including regional gang task forces and regional crime mapping strategies, and
focused prosecutions and reintegration strategies for prior offenders. The program incorporates the
key elements of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
Comprehensive Gang Model. In addition to funding program sites, Shannon CSI funding also
supports Local Action Research Partners (LARP) that are paired with each program site and a
Statewide Research Partner (SRP).
Competitive Application and Review Process
For FY24, the Shannon CSI was allotted $12.83 million. OGR received fifteen responses to the
FY24 Shannon CSI solicitation. The amount of funding requested by the fifteen requests totaled
$10,883,351.60.
Each application was reviewed by three members of the review committee. In the application
review meeting, the review team discussed the quality, feasibility, and reasonableness of each
application’s: (1) definition of problem; (2) proposed strategy; and (3) budget. The review sheet
provided to reviewers detailed items to be rated and the possible point allowance for each item.
Each section was scored separately, and the total maximum score allowed was 100. At the end of
the review sheet, reviewers were asked to provide a final review score by calculating the sum of
each of the individual rated sections.
Recommendations provided by the review team were then cross-referenced with funding criteria
listed within the FY24 Shannon CSI Availability of Grant Funds (AGF). These criteria include:
• Saliency of Gang Violence Problem Statement as depicted by statistical data;
• Link between the Gang Violence Problem Statement and the proposed strategy;
• Justification for participant eligibility;
• Collaboration with other funding sources; and
• Consistency between the proposed budget and strategy.
The review team recommended that all fifteen of the applicants receive funding. No applicants
were recommended for rejection.
In addition, the review team recommended awarding a total of $796,106.07 to fifteen research-
type applicants to serve as Shannon Local Action Research Partners (LARPs) for the funded
Shannon CSI sites.
Awarded Funds
Fifty percent of the approved award is rendered once a contract is executed and all reporting forms
from the previous grant cycle are approved. To help ensure compliance with grant rules and
regulations, the remaining fifty percent is rendered after EOPSS receives and approves a grantee’s
second quarterly report (on or about June 1, 2024).
The following communities and their partners were awarded funds in FY24:
Shannon CSI Program Site Award Amount
City of Boston $1,705,475.12
City of Brockton $745,842.88
City of Fall River $653,973.25
City of Fitchburg $450,250.50
 Shannon CSI Program Site Award Amount
City of Haverhill $310,467.70
City of Holyoke $576,814.28
City of Lawrence $299,866.91
City of Lowell $761,325.27
City of Lynn $416,722.03
Metro Mayors Coalition (MMC) - Braintree, $786,070.91
Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Quincy,
Revere,
Somerville and Winthrop
City of New Bedford $1,138,983.45
City of Pittsfield $409,382.80
City of Springfield $1,247,411.92
City of Taunton $131,720.70
City of Worcester $1,249,043.89
TOTAL $10,883,351.60
Shannon CSI LARP Award Amount
Boston University $61,806.27
Bridgewater State $67,263.66
CERTE INC $77,500.00
Clark University $66,808.46
Crime and Justice Institute -Community Resources $66,393.60
for Justice
Kelley Research Associates $25,415.14
North Shore Community College $41,672.14
Northeastern University $64,091.00
Salem State University $46,475.13
Sean Varano $43,825.02
UMASS Chan Med School $56,500.41
University of Massachusetts, Lowell $64,387.77
University of Massachusetts, Lowell (Lawrence) $36,815.95
University of Massachusetts, Lowell $36,815.95
(Haverhill/Methuen)
Westfield State $40,335.57
TOTAL $796,106.07
The Statewide Research Partner (SRP) assists all funded Shannon CSI sites, LARPs, and OGR
by providing strategic, analytic, and research support. The competitive award process will be
completed by May 31, 2024. The anticipated award is $258,000.
The Shannon CSI SRP will present the Shannon site briefs in early spring which will include,
but not be limited to:
• The number of young adults served by the grant program during fiscal year 2024;
• Executive summaries of the programs currently operating under the grant program; and
• Outcomes and findings that demonstrate program success from the grant awards fiscal
year 2023.
In accordance with appropriation language, no more than 10% of total awards was set aside for
administrative costs. The total amount set aside for OGR administration was $898,561.00.