Health Spotlight: Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention

Overview
In June 2024, U.S.Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared gun violence a national public health crisis. This declaration draws attention to two essential points--the need for a holistic approach to address the crisis and to focus on initiatives that effectively combat the issue. New Jersey is rich with one such initiative: community-based violence intervention and prevention (CBVIP) programs. As these programs continue to be more widely recognized as essential health initiatives, there is opportunity for the state to enhance its investments in the organizations leading the grassroots efforts. Additionally, there is opportunity to increase research around the direct positive impacts that CBVIP programs are having on our schools. 

What is Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention?
Community-based violence intervention and prevention (CBVIP) refers to health-based, community-led approaches to safety that prioritize fostering wellness and healing rather than arrest and detention. CBVIP services not only respond to instances of acute violence, but also addresse the root causes, such as trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACES), and other health-related issues, that lead to violence in communities. The services prioritize those closest to the violence, especially victims, but even perpetrators of violence, providing wrap-around supports to minimize the possibility of retaliation and/or revictimization. Their impact, however, extends beyond individuals to entire communities, including schools, as staff and administrators often leverage relationships with CBVIP professionals to de-escalate and prevent violence in and around the school building. Specifically, this work positively impacts areas such as chronic absenteeism and school discipline. 

CBVIP professionals in Newark, for example, contract with schools to provide assistance to students to and from school. While not solely due to CBVIP efforts, the 2022-23 NJ School performance report shows impressive decreases in Newark Public Schools’ chronic absenteeism rates, from 28.1% in 2021-22 to 12.7% in 2022-23, well below the state average of 16.6%. The report also shows a decline in police notifications, from 51 in 2021-22 to 23 in 2022-23, and it also highlights a reduction in out-of-school suspensions, which fell from 730 in 2021-22 to 602 in 2022-23. By adopting a de-facto full-service community schools approach, schools like those in Newark engage CBVIP professionals to mitigate behavioral issues and threats surrounding the school, resulting in improved attendance and decreased police notifications. 

Moreover, CBVIP services complement local law enforcement, often acting as a conduit to police and the community. Youth in underserved communities tend to avoid police rather than collaborate with them, especially because of the historical trend trend of over-criminalizing Black and Brown youth. Grassroots CBVIP work, however, bridges police with these communities by helping law enforcement understand the needs of the community, supplementing law enforcement for non-threatening issues, and helping the community hold law-enforcement accountable.

Some Elements of Violence Intervention and Prevention

• • • Street Outreach:  The Annie E. Casey Foundation recently highlighted the importance of outreach on preventing youth harm. Also known by other names including high-risk intervention and violence interruption, this work deploys credible professionals, many of whom have lived-experience within the communities they are working in. They have a strong understanding of the local risk factors–neighborhood politics, pulse of the community, etc–impacting mental health and causing violence. The professionals conducting this part of CBVIP work are intentional about building rapport with the people closest to the violence to mitigate those local risk factors. Outreach professionals also have a strong awareness of global risk factors and how they impact the health of people, and leverage that understanding in their approach. ACNJ's County Pocket Guide 2024 reported an estimated 13% of NJ's children were in poverty and 5% of teens were not in school nor working. In their 2024 Kids Count Data book, Annie E. Casey Foundation also reported that 24% of NJ's children have parents who lack stable employment and 35% live in households that have a high housing cost burden. Outreach professionals connect people to wrap-around supports such as housing and legal resources, workforce training opportunities, and mentoring and academic services to thwart some of these risk factors.  
    • Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP): This program provides wrap-around support to victims of severe violence while still in the hospital’s care (some organizations work with survivors as young as 5 years old). Hospital staff work in partnership with violence intervention and prevention (VIP) professionals, making referrals to VIP workers on behalf of violence survivors. From there, a plan is crafted alongside the victim, and case management is provided to ensure a pathway to holistic healing. In their guide to implementing HVIP programming, Everytown for Gun Safety highlights the impact HVIP has on decreasing potential re-victimization. A study of a San Francisco-based HVIP showed that HVIP participants had a 50% lower reinjury rate from those who did not participate. Additionally, evidence suggests that HVIP supports increased engagement in, and more likely utilization of, community health services for youth ages 10-24, potentially leading to improved physical and mental wellness outcomes. There’s also evidence suggesting that HVIP work leads to reductions of justice involvement.
    • Trauma Recovery Services: In urban communities many survivors of violence have distrust in the mainstream responses to their harm. Piggybacking on the work of HVIP, trauma recovery services provide safe spaces for youth survivors of violence of all sorts. Mental health services; linkages to legal resources; and referrals for housing are all only a portion of the services survivors can access when engaging with trauma recovery units. All services are provided confidentially and free of charge.This work is often conducted by licensed clinical CBVIP workers, but also by credible professionals who have lived through similar violent situations. 
    • Community Education: Many CBVIP organizations seek to empower youth and the local community through education. Youth and community members are educated on a variety of topics, ranging from financial literacy and economics, to generational trauma and the importance of self-care. The idea behind educating the community is to address root causes of violence such as trauma, ACES, and  low socio-economic status. CBVIP recognizes the power of information, and acknowledges that educating the people they serve can have a preventive impact on violence in their communities.

The Current Status of CBVIP Work in NJ
Through the Department of Law and Public Safety, New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (OAG), competitive funding for CBVIP work has been consistent. According to a September 2024 announcement by the OAG, almost $115 million in funding has been allocated to this work since 2021. The OAG has supported the work in other ways too. In 2022, the OAG established the Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance (VIVA) to bridge victims’ services with VIP work, and provide centralized support to the organizations conducting the work. In 2024, the OAG established the Office of Alternative and Community Responses (OACR) to assist law enforcement with connectivity to community safety leaders.  

However, because of the competitive nature of the OAG grants, and because of other funding-related issues reported by them, many grassroots CBVIP organizations are seeing their sustainability threatened. And, if this work decreases, or even disappears, youth and their families would lose an important initiative that positively impacts their health. With that, prioritizing funding organizations with fidelity to the model might be best, given their ability to robustly address youth and families’ health needs, and given the limited availability of funds. Understanding the extent of CBVIP’s holistic impact would also create pathways to sustainability. Therefore, it is also important to study the model’s impact on local youth institutions, specifically on schools, and how CBVIP reduces chronic absenteeism and over-discipline in them. 

Some Violence Intervention and Prevention Organizations in NJ:     

Atlanticare 
Anti-Violence Coalition of Hudson County
Capital Health System
Center for Family Services
Hackensack Meridian Health
The H.U.B.B. Arts and Trauma Center
Newark Community Street Team
Paterson Healing Collective
Reimaging Justice, Inc. 
RWJ Barnabas Health, Jersey City Medical Center
Salvation and Social Justice
Trenton Community Street Team @ Isles Inc.
Youth Advocate Programs, Inc.