Community violence interventions

ARP dollars can be used to invest in programs that rebuild and center relationships, like violence interrupters who work with individuals and groups in conflict and hospital-based interventions that support survivors of violent crime through healing, meeting basic needs, and pursuing behavior change that minimizes risk of engagement in retaliatory violence. These investments, known as community violence interventions, or CVI, are evidence-based and cost-effective. Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York invested $1-2 per capita in gun violence prevention programs and witnessed 16-35 percent reductions from 2010 to 2015 in gun violence. Ceasefire, a CVI program that currently operates in Oakland, California, drove a 52 percent decline from 2010 to 2017 in shootings that resulted in death or injury. Not only do CVIs reduce deaths and shootings, but they also build community power by training and employing local people to do the work, especially people who have had past experiences with the criminal legal system. Already this fiscal year, cities such as New York, St. Louis, and Washington, DC, have committed to not only expanding existing CVI programs, but also creating new ones. Austin, Detroit, and Seattle have also expanded existing CVI programs, while San Jose started a new one.