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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services One Ashburton Place, Room 1109 Boston,

MA 02108
DEVAL L. PATRICK Governor TIMOTHY P. MURRAY Lieutenant Governor JUDYANN I3IGBY, M.D. Secretary Tel.: 617-573-1600 Fax: 617-573-1890 www.mass.gov/eohhs

January 25, 2012 The Honorable Domenic J. Sarno Mayor, City of Springfield Springfield City Hall 36 Court Street, Room 312 Springfield, MA 01103

Dear Mayor Sarno: In December 2011, the Patrick-Murray Administration was pleased to award the City of Springfield a grant of $800,000 to support its efforts to address youth violence. We would like to again thank and congratulate the City for its robust Safe and Successful Youth (SSY) Initiative grant application. The Administration looks forward to working with you in strengthening your communitys supports and services in a concerted effort to reduce youth violence. It has come to our attention, however, that the distribution of funds allocated to the City by the Commonwealths SSY Initiative is still pending approval by Springfields City Council. In that regard, I am writing to affirm the Administrations expectations for service delivery under the terms of the SSY Standard Contract which the City signed effective December 31, 2011. The Contract clearly obligates the City to meet and satisfy explicit benchmarks on or by certain prescribed dates. In particular, please note that there are specific expectations for deliverables by January 31, 2012. I have attached a copy of the Contract for your review and reference. The Administration intends to respond to the crises in our cities with the urgency the current circumstances warrant. Should distribution of these funds be delayed any longer, it is of sincere concern that these benchmarks will not be met within the prescribed timeline or to the extent necessary to comply with the Contract. The Commonwealth has the right to suspend part or all of the grant award should the City be unable to satisfy these requirements: SECTION 3 (E.) EOHHS reserves the right to suspend and/or recover payments, in whole or in part, in the event the Contractor fails to perform in accordance with this Contract. When I met with community members and providers at the Martin Luther King Center last May to announce the availability of these grants, I stressed the Administrations expectation that (1) selected partners can document a successful track record of service delivery for our target population; (2) the services provided be consistent with required core services outreachlengagement, provision of education services, employment services leading to employment and trauma counseling; (3) the selected partners collaborate to provide these services to an identified population of young men; and

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(4) they track and report on their progress. As a priority, this initiative is focused on making certain there is a system of support for young men which results in their making more constructive life choices. This is the primary measure we will be using to determine the citys success in utilizing these funds. We expect each SSY awardee to have selected partners who meet the standards outlined above and who can best work with them to satisfy the grant conditions. I sincerely regret the current discord in Springfield regarding the application of the SSY grant award. Given, the status of deliberations within the city, I have decided to postpone my visit and community meeting, originally scheduled for February 2, until the current issues have been addressed and resolved. For the sake of the young men and their families who will benefit from these resources, I hope you will come to resolution quickly. Please note that it is my sincere hope to partner with each of you together in moving this exciting project forward. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Marilyn Anderson Chase Assistant Secretary Cc: Secretary JudyAnn Bigby, M.D. Senator Gale D. Candaras Senator James T. Welch Representative Brian M. Ashe Representative Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera Representative Sean Curran Representative Michael J. Finn Representative Thomas M. Petrolati Representative Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr. Representative Benjamin Swan Councilor James Ferrerra, III, President Councilor John Lysak, Vice President Councilor Tim Allen Councilor Thomas Ashe Councilor Clodo Concepcion Councilor Melvin A. Edwards Councilor Mike Fenton Councilor Zaida Luna Councilor Timothy J. Rooke Councilor Kenneth E. Shea Councilor E. Henry Twiggs Councilor Kateri Walsh Councilor Bud L. Williams Sergeant Brian Elliott, City of Springfield

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