Page 325 - FortWorthFY22AdoptedBudget

Horizon Issues

districts are formed and new Councilmembers are elected, the City will leverage its annual budget development
as an application of policy.

Building on the success of Read Fort Worth, Mayor Parker is leading the City toward a comprehensive city-wide
plan for quality early childhood education. This effort is focused on enhancing access to quality early childhood
education ages 0 to 5 in every neighborhood in Fort Worth. Partnerships for this effort include: area foundations,
early education providers, local ISDs, charter schools, Tarrant County Commissioners Court, Workforce Solutions
of Tarrant County, Tarrant County College, and others.

Across the country, as in Fort Worth, many children are not reading on grade level. COVID-19 is anticipated to
have an adverse impact on learning, education, and reading in particular. Therefore, the City’s role as a partner
in providing reading instruction is even more critical as parents look for ways to bridge the learning gap.

Continuing to build on the partnership with Read Fort Worth, Education Strategies operates under its leadership
and guidance in a collective impact approach. Recognizing that early education, 0-5 years of age, is fundamental
to academic success, the City’s specific effort builds on its success and is focused on third grade reading to ensure
that 100% of FWISD 3rd grade students will be reading on grade level by FY2025. The Reading Instruction Program
is only one avenue to building a strong, skilled workforce that will attract corporations and businesses to Fort
Worth, as referenced in the City’s Economic Development Department. It’s important to note that the City’s
education strategies are aligned with FWISD through Read Fort Worth and other partner programs.

It should be noted, problems that exist within law enforcement may be systemic but are underreported because
law enforcement conduct tends to affect people less likely to complain. When members of marginalized groups
complain, the problem may appear to be an aberration when it is actually commonplace. Unless there is staff and
time to track the outcomes even court proceedings, oversight agencies like the Police Oversight Monitor Division
may not be aware of key implications of possible law enforcement misconduct. Such data can be of use in effecting
improved training, clearer policy and reducing risk liability related to law enforcement.

Recently, the Police Oversight Monitor Division was asked to review and advise on applicable policies, procedures,
and practices of other areas of CFW law enforcement, who may interface with law enforcement, or have a law
enforcement component and still come under the auspice of City government outside of the Fort Worth Police
Department. Such collaboration will create unity via interactions with community members and consider
collaborative data that can be of use in effecting better training, clearer policy and reducing overall risk and
liability. The accountability of all CFW law enforcement is key to ensure consistency in how Fort Worth
communities perceive and interact with law enforcement.

Through community-police collaborations and survey results, the Police Oversight Monitor Division realizes that
more work is needed to improve on relationships and build trust in law enforcement in the City’s more
marginalized communities. Further, the City’s role in ensuring that these same communities have access and
information to resources available to them should be a top priority. The Police Oversight Monitor Division desires
to work with affected stakeholders in improving the information sharing in those communities, so that more
proactive and informative police interaction becomes prevalent. Furthermore, the Police Oversight Monitor
Division believes that the creation of a mediation program to alternatively handle complaints by community
members against law enforcement will be a key tool to effecting positive and culturally sensitive change in how
community and law enforcement interact. As a result, financial resources are needed to support these key efforts.
To help fill the staffing void, the Division partnered with Texas A&M School of Law to bring on legal interns to
research promising police policies and procedures and outreach ideas, as well as draft guidance documents,
policies, and procedures that serve as recommendations. The Division received a one-year grant to support part-

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