Ex-con “violence interrupters” hired in some of the Big Apple’s roughest neighborhoods to stop crimes before cops get involved are getting millions of dollars worth of free therapy, The Post has learned.
NYC has shelled out $1.2 million of a $6 million contract with Agape Moments LLC to create the “Strong Messenger Program,” providing counseling to the interrupters, often ex-cons with violent histories dispatched to quell tensions between gangs they may have once belonged to.
So far, 18 therapists have provided 1,100 hours of group therapy to 32 non-profit organizations, reaching 360 individuals. The contract is funded by the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene until 2030.
Clinicians provided more than 390 hours of individual therapy sessions to the violence interrupters upon request, according to Agape, whose name comes from the Greek concept of “unconditional love.’…