Gaston County Leverages Local Partnerships, Applies for $430 Million in Federal Public Safety Grants
GASTONIA, N.C. – With support from local and federal partners, and in cooperation with the City of Gastonia, Gaston County is applying for more than $430 million from a pair of major grant awards, with an eye toward the community’s long-term public safety needs.
The first is the Bridging Immigration-related Deficits Experienced Nationwide Program, which opened to applications in June. The purpose is to assist law enforcement across the country with immigration enforcement, detention and public safety operations.
That grant application seeks more than $238 million to fund a major 512-bed expansion to the County Jail. The total grant request of $301,157,363 includes other associated costs.
The second is an application for the Model Cities Initiative. The Department of Justice announced this summer it is providing $300 million to be split between two to four locations across the country of a population size of at least 100,000 residents.
According to the DOJ, applications for MCI funding can address a number of areas, including “public safety, behavioral health, and related staffing, equipment, and services with the goal of leveraging federal resources to build capacity, strengthen accountability, and deliver measurable reductions in crime that can serve as a model of innovation for replication nationwide.”
Gaston County is seeking roughly $130 million to put toward a multi-agency, multi-pronged approach that would include:
- Expanding resources available at the City of Gastonia’s Real Time Crime Center and building upon regional cooperation among law enforcement agencies
- Building out robust behavioral intervention programs in Gaston County Schools
- Establishing a Regional Forensics Center to improve turnaround times on evidence processing
- Investing in additional survivor services offered through the Hope United Survivor Network (the County’s Family Justice Center)
- Prioritizing the mental health of first responders through the addition of a Behavioral Health Urgent Care
- Focusing on substance-use recovery with funding for the nonprofit Thrive Recovery Center to construct a 75-bed residential recovery program
- Improving societal reintegration through a dedicated Justice Reentry and System Coordinator position
- Supporting the justice system by funding the remaining portion of the ongoing 5th floor buildout at the Gaston County Courthouse
“Applying for these grants shows how Gaston County is leaving no stone unturned in seeking creative ways to address the County’s public safety needs,” Gaston County Board of Commissioners Chairman Chad Brown said. “As this county continues to grow – now with a quarter-million residents here – we need to ensure our law enforcement agencies have the appropriate facilities and resources needed to continue to make our community a safe place to work, play and stay.”
County and City officials met last week with multiple partners, including Russ Ferguson, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina; staff from U.S. Sen. Ted Budd’s Office; and Gaston County District Attorney Travis Page. The County also consulted with Rep. Tim Moore’s office on the grant applications.
“Our community has enjoyed recent success has in developing and implementing innovative criminal justice strategies, from the DA-LE lethality assessment to our High-Risk Domestic Violence Fatality Prevention Team. The Model Cities Initiative presents an exciting opportunity to build on that spirit of innovation and push it even further,” Page said. “We envision a future with a state-of-the-art crime laboratory, a residential treatment facility for individuals struggling with substance use disorders, and a workforce development program that gives young people in our foster system a stronger path to independence and success.
“These are investments not only in public safety, but in healthier families, stronger communities, and a more effective criminal justice system for all of Gaston County,” he said.
Gaston County could submit robust grant applications for both programs on a short time schedule thanks to the hard work of its Grants Management Division, and high-level cooperation between all of the participating entities.
“Public safety is a key objective in our strategic plan, and we are committed to doing all we can to keep our community safe,” said Gastonia Mayor Richard Franks. “Working with Gaston County on these grant opportunities gives us another way to invest in the resources our police and public safety teams need to serve our residents."
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