Minneapolis to end nine community trauma-response contracts

Minneapolis’ Neighborhood Safety Department has told nine community trauma-response groups — including high‑profile team A Mother’s Love — that their city contracts will end in 30 days, blaming a $4 million rollover that never materialized in the general fund and a decision to pivot funding into gun‑violence intervention programs instead. Officials say police and fire overtime and weaker‑than‑expected property‑tax collections helped drain the general fund, but have not yet provided the full documentation FOX 9 requested. NSD manager Amanda Harrington says the department will focus on Group Violence Intervention and Youth Group Violence Intervention, while acknowledging the loss is "painful" and that many groups have still been showing up at crime scenes even when unpaid. A Mother’s Love founder Lisa Clemons says families won’t have buried many current homicide victims before the money stops and argues that trauma care itself is a key violence‑prevention tool, warning that no one has explained who will take their place when shootings typically spike this spring and summer. The city has offered no clear replacement plan for on‑the‑ground trauma response, leaving neighborhoods to wonder whether police and prosecutors’ budgets are being backfilled at the expense of the community workers who sit with grieving families after the tape comes down.