Boston City Council grills BPHC on FY24 budget, violence bureau proposal, and trauma schools

BOSTON -- April 27, 2023, Boston City Council presses public health agency on violence bureau, trauma schools, and a $3.3 million low-threshold housing commitment. Dr. Bisola Ojukutu, Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission, and Director of Administration and Finance Tim Harrington presented the agency's proposed FY24 budget, which includes a 39 percent increase in the Homeless Services bureau driven almost entirely by $3.3 million in new city operating funds to support Mass and Cass-area low-threshold housing sites, as well as $200,000 to expand the Neighborhood Trauma Team to round-the-clock coverage. Councilor Brian Worrell called for creation of a standalone Violence Intervention and Prevention Bureau, arguing current programming lacks coordination and accountability; Ojukutu called for "further discussions" rather than committing to the idea. Councilor Enrique J. Pepén flagged what he described as an $8.4 million discrepancy in the Recovery Service Bureau's budget book totals, which Harrington could not reconcile on the spot and agreed to clarify offline. Ojukutu highlighted a five-year, $8.9 million CDC workforce infrastructure grant and a wastewater surveillance network now operating at 11 sites across the city.