Ryhhart holds that Philly’s most recent budget “supports programs that will likely take years to produce measurable reductions in gun violence.”

As reported by phillyvoice.com, the city’s anti-violence budget for the 2022 fiscal year breaks down into two pools: $68 million in new funding and $87 million allocated to existing efforts.

Rhynhart’s office referred to the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform in classifying the initiatives funded in the city’s budget and determined that only 21%, or $33 million, was directed toward “intervention.” That is, efforts to interrupt gun violence happening right now by targeting people who are most likely to shoot or be shot.

Violence prevention efforts

A majority of the money allocated toward intervention efforts, $23.3 million, was from the $68 million in new funds. Of that $23.3 million, $20 million will be dispersed in grants to community-based organizations working in the neighborhoods most impacted by gun violence.

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The grants, which have not yet been awarded, must be used on projects taking place between this fall and next summer. However, the report from Rhynhart’s office notes that grant recipients may use the funding on long-term violence prevention efforts.

The city’s FY22 budget also allocated $6.6 million for the expansion of its Group Violence Intervention initiative and the Community Crisis Intervention Program. In an emailed statement to PhillyVoice, a spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney’s office called the evidence-based programs of violence prevention,”highly impactful and cost effective initiatives because they target residents most at-risk to be victims or offenders of violent crimes.”

No adequate context

“Framing it in such a way that only 21% of funding for short-term strategies isn’t sufficient doesn’t actually provide adequate context to the impact that these initiatives at the current funding levels can have on the immediate crisis,” the spokesperson said.

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However, Rhynhart’s office, however, said it’s difficult to gauge their effectiveness because the city has not released evaluations of the programs publicly. The report advocates for using the community grants to fund programs that can provide evidence-based intervention to neighborhoods where they are not as prevalent now.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia is on pace for a record number of homicides due to a surge in gun violence. As of Thursday, the city had reported 343 homicides in 2021, a 21% increase from August 2020, according to police data.

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The Washington-based government agency is an independent entity, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, responsible for investigating fraud complaints that may deprive a citizen of his or her rights based on race, religion, sex, or national origin.

This institution has concluded through a report that President Donald Trump violates due process and civil rights of migrants, and has created an unnecessary crisis on the country’s Southern border.

 The 200 pages report written by the United States Civil Rights Commission described the presidential policies on asylum, detention and family as “serious and worrying”.

“As confirmed by media reports, government investigations, eyewitness accounts, and public testimony received by the Commission, the Trump Administration has implemented immigration policies that appear to violate constitutional due process”, the report says.

The report emphasizes that “basic standards of medical and mental health care” would be violated, while immigrants are targeted based on nationality, language status, and gender.

 “These new policies have resulted in the separation of family units, lasting trauma and heartache, and shocking detention conditions for both children and adults,” the report says.

Individuals and institutions interested in the details of this report can consult the full document at https://www.usccr.gov/. There it is stated that President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy has resulted in the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents and caused “long-term and perhaps irreversible physical, mental and emotional childhood trauma.”

Vice Chairwoman Patricia Timmons-Goodson, said the original intention was to base the report on data obtained from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services, but they did not respond to the commission´s requests.

With this statement, it is understood that the commission relied on public testimonies, media and government reports, legal documents and expert opinion.

The eight-member commission consists of four Democrats, three independents and one Republican. Four of the members are appointed by the president of the United States and the others by both Houses of Congress.

The report’s recommendations, which have no enforcement mechanism of its own, included increased transparency to Congress and oversight at immigration detention centers.

Translated by: José Espinoza

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According to the “personal finance social network” authorities in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio authorities, federal entities that are below average population growth, could reverse this situation by “developing strategies to draw in more businesses and entrepreneurs.”

In the report posted on its Web site, WalletHub also indicated that “to do this, they should invest in things like infrastructure and amenities such as music and sports venues, educational facilities and parks.

In the previous ranking Bethlehem was the fastest-growing city in Pennsylvania, but it ranked 259 out of the 515 municipalities that WalletHub analyzed nationwide. Philadelphia ranked 320th, followed by Allentown (335), Reading (348), Pittsburgh (408), Scranton (438) and Erie (513).

 To determine its ranking, WalletHub analyzed 17 growth and decline metrics over seven years, including population growth, job growth, and how much the unemployment rate declined.

“In Pennsylvania, we analyzed seven cities, and they all ranked in the bottom half,” said WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez.

Translated by: José Espinoza

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 The Union’s economy grew in the face of expectations during the sixth month of the year and is close to showing equilibrium by being one tenth above the unemployment rate that reached 3.7% at the end of the first half of the year.

The government report arrives as a relief for the authorities who saw with concern that the employment rate in May showed a slowdown to 75 thousand jobs, a fact that causes concern about what appeared to be a global market weakening.

 Washington is surely pleased because the country’s economy continues at a level close to full employment. For the White House, the creation of 224,000 new jobs demonstrates the recovery of a level above the expectations of the analysts, who had anticipated around 170,000.

But, as it has been pointed out, the counterweight to the celebration is the unemployment rate, which rose slightly – one tenth – to 3.7% in June, although it remains at a very healthy level and close to full employment.

 Many economists warn that the contrast between the two variables is normal. Sometimes an increase in the unemployment rate can be registered when the creation of jobs grows, because more people who before neither worked nor actively sought employment, decided to be a part of the labor market encouraged by the improvement of the economic situation.

As interesting data, the government report shows that the average wage rose in June by 6 cents an hour, to 27.90 dollars. It is important to note that in the last 12 months, wages have increased by 3.1%, the same level as last month.

 Likewise, the labor force participation rate, the proportion of Americans who are employed or looking for work, improved slightly to 62.9%, a tenth above May.

This has been the 105th month of consecutive employment growth in the U.S., the longest growing streak in the labor market on record.

However, the Federal Reserve (Fed) has reiterated that it will be “patient” with future interest rate hikes during the year. Currently it is situated between 2.25% and 2.50%.

Translated by: José Espinoza

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Although the evidence shows that in recent years, the city of “Brotherly Love” has been climbing up positions from its impoverished status; its current situation keeps it below the national average.

The tenth annual report, published fifteen days ago, shows that a mixture of poverty, racial segregation and inequality in the “ethnic” policy of companies, has turned one of the most populated cities in the country into an economically depressed niche.

“The State of the City” report seems to reveal only bad news and social instability, but if the authorities who run the city were able to read its encrypted lines, they could make plans to help Philadelphia to achieve the splendor of old times.

A summary of what was found

The composition of the population of Philadelphia is a key for understanding its imbalance and it serves as a guidance to promote the necessary changes.

Its major racial group is African-American, which comprises 40.9% of the population. Whites who own a home in the sixth most populated city in the US represent 34.6%. Hispanics are the ones who in the last decade have expanded the portion of the cake with 14.8% of its inhabitants. Asians are also a crucial part. 7.5% of them are residents.

Now, the first ethnic group, African-Americans, owns 2.5% of the businesses in the region, while whites own 76%. If we add to this fact, the variable that business owners hire people who look like them, we can understand why poverty touches this ethnic group more severely.

Employment and prosperity are determining variables for a city to develop economically and socially.

The poverty rate has been stuck around 26% in the last five years, the highest among the most populated cities in the country; homicide and homeless rates have increased; and homeownership has decreased.

The number of homeless increased from 6% in 2014 to 19% in 2018. The recent annual report found that 34% of homeless adults reported a substance use disorder and that the majority were African Americans.

In terms of insecurity, shootings incidents increased 17% to reach 1,403 in 2018 compared to last year.

Between 2016 and 2018, violent crime was reduced by 26% in South Philadelphia / West, almost 24% in Bustleton , 20% in Oxford Circle and 19% in Frankford. On the contrary, it increased almost 11% in the city center / east and 6.5% in Juniata Park / Feltonvill .

The average houshold income of the City of Philadelphia decreased during the last two years and is below the national average.

The average family income of the city is $39,759, which is much lower than the national average of $60,336, less than that of Pittsburgh, Chicago and Baltimore.

Translated by: José Espinoza

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