Weed and Seed funding targets SW Warren

By Ed Runyan

The grant will provide $100,000 in assistance the first year.

WARREN — The city is one of 15 in the United States — out of about 100 applying — that will receive a U.S. Justice Department Weed and Seed grant aimed at helping the city “weed” out crime and “seed” opportunities for residents.

It will help the southwest part of Warren for the next five years.

Rick S. George, associate director of the Human Services Department at Youngstown State University, said the grant will provide $100,000 in assistance in the first year starting this winter — half of it to help with law enforcement and half to provide opportunity.

The amount to be provided in future years hasn’t been determined, George said.

The program is already at work in Youngstown.

Youngstown’s North Side is in the third year of a five-year Weed and Seed grant that provides about $150,000 per year, George said. That is the second such grant the city has had, the first one having been for the city’s South Side in the late 1990s.

YSU will be the fiscal agent for Warren’s grant, for which George made the application in the summer of 2008.

Youngstown’s police department matches the federal funds with about $20,000 worth of in-kind contributions of manpower annually, but George said Warren is not being asked to make a similar contribution because of the financial problems the city has experienced in the past year or so, George said.

Police Chief Tim Bowers said he awaits confirmation of the grant award and its details before making a comment.

Warren had wanted to apply for the grant in previous years but was not eligible, George said. Under former guidelines, a city had to be among the top 250 cities in the United States in six crime statistics.

Three years of those statistics were still used in the application for this grant, however, George said. The categories are homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary and other thefts.

The target area uses census tracts for its boundaries but is generally around Western Reserve Middle School and the downtown area.

The area is as follows: From the western city limits, it follows West Market Street, then north along McMyler, Summit, Depot and Dana streets, then south on Elm Road, west along South Street to the Mahoning River, then on the west side of the river to the southern city limits.

“This is not going to eliminate crime but will provide some overtime for police and some social programs,” George said.

”Will it eliminate crime? No. Are we going to reduce it? Yes,” he said.

Warren will benefit from Youngstown’s experience with the program, George said, explaining that Terri Bryant, who coordinates Youngstown’s program, is “happy to help Warren.”

runyan@vindy.com

Warren’s Weed and Seed Program will focus on these areas:

Training for young people in learning a trade, such as woodworking, plumbing, welding or masonry.

Assisting people with re-entry into the community after being in prison.

Support for a recreational program through the Warren Police Athletic League.

Having a criminal justice fair, which involves officers with federal, state and local police agencies interacting with the public on crime prevention and to improve relations between law enforcement and the public.

Source: Rick George, Human Services Department, Youngstown State University