Springfield group gets funding for work to reduce gun violence

A Springfield collaborative dedicated to addressing youth gun violence and gun safety across the city has secured funding for the next three years to gather information and explore community needs on the issue.

The Springfield-Greene County Gun Safety and Gun Violence Reduction Collaborativeestablished through the Community Partnership of the Ozarks, announced Monday morning that they were awarded more than $500,000 in a three-year grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH). The collaborative, bringing together the public, private and social sectors, is co-chaired by Director of Prosper Springfield Francine Pratt and President of Burrell Behavioral Health Clay Goddard.

Pratt said the work of the collaborative is two-fold — addressing gun violence in the community and focusing on suicide prevention via gun safety. She said this is an issue that is not unique to Springfield, but the city can have a unique approach to the situation locally that addresses both gun violence and mental health.

“We need to own this. Every community member needs to own where and how these young people were failed at some point,” Pratt said. “What we don’t want to do is blame the young person. We want to look at what got the young person where they were.”

Connecting with youth to address issues

The grant through MFH is a partnership, meaning the collaborative and the city will be working together with the foundation to find the best solutions for Springfield. This will bring more resources to what is possible here and beyond.

“Springfield can actually probably build something that can grow and be used beyond Springfield,” Pratt said. “The key mechanism that’s going to make this work is being able to have people that our young people, our young adults, trust in the community, to actually work with them, give them a safe space, to convene, give them the type of workshops that they need and that they want. That’s going to help them in those areas where gunshots are reported the most.”

In addition to the grant, the city budgeted $94,050 for the collaborative to start its work and CPO provides $10,000 in administrative support. Pratt said they have applied for another possible grant to grow their impact.

The secured funds will involve actions that will be more exploratory in nature — focus groups, analysis and piloting various programs stemming from best practices across the nation. The goal, Pratt said, is to find a sustainable solution that can address the core issues of gun deaths in the community, emphasizing the importance of community feedback and involvement in the process.

“What we have to create in Springfield is not just a project that has a start and a stop date. It has to be a program that is going to be consistent and ongoing,” she said. “And so, the idea of these first three years is to figure out what works, what does success look like.”

More: Springfield gun-related crimes were down in 2023 but are still a major concern for police

Springfield Police Department last week joined a nation-wide initiative that calls on gun owners to safely store their firearms. Pratt said that now, as work continues, the collaborative will look to create its own public safety announcement involving the community to ensure the message of responsible gun ownership gets across.

“Our whole goal in doing all of this is to save more lives, period,” she said. “We’re not trying to take away anyone’s guns. We just want them held in a safer manner, and we want to help get them out of the hands of youth and young people as best we can — all to save lives.”

At Monday’s announcement, Mayor Ken McClure reinforced the message in his final State of the City addressin which he called on the Missouri legislature to match state gun laws to federal laws. In particular, he called for a ban preventing minors from possessing handguns.

Roger Franklin, pastor at The Heart Church, already holds events and provides a community hub for youth and members of the community through the Action Center to positively influence the lives of young adults. Pratt applauded his work in the community but noted that currently the collaborative does not have the funds to support such programs to the full extent necessary.

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at [email protected].