Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention (CVIPI)

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched the Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI) grant program, allocating funds to support comprehensive, evidence-based violence intervention and prevention strategies designed to prevent and reduce violent crime in communities. These multidisciplinary strategies engage individuals and groups to prevent and disrupt cycles of violence and retaliation and connect individuals with community assets to deliver services that save lives, address trauma, provide opportunities, and mitigate the physical, social, and economic conditions that drive violence.

Community Safety Councils

In 2024, OFSVP allocated the CVIPI $4 million funds to establish Community Safety Councils in seven communities throughout Washington with a high rate of gun violence. These councils, consisting of 9-12 members, guide and create a tailored violence reduction plan to implement in their community. They will also conduct a landscape analysis on community violence data to address key issues. The landscape analysis includes gun violence problem analysis – detailing the who, what, when, where and why of gun violence within their jurisdiction.

• Community asset map – identify local organizations, resource and community features that can be leveraged to reduce violence.
• Qualitative analysis – conducting focus groups and interviews with local community residents and experts about gun violence.

Program Plan – Intervention and prevention consists of three components:

Commerce has partnered with The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR), known for its expertise in violence intervention and prevention.

• Provides targeted technical assistance empowering organizations to design and implement sustainable violence reduction initiatives to address community needs,
• Support the community safety councils in developing a community-driven strategic plan, and
• Assist in the creation and expansion of violence intervention and prevention programs in underserved areas.

Community Safety Council Training

The Community Safety Council operates in three project phases: conducting a landscape analysis, creating a community violence reduction plan, and awarding grants to local organizations executing the violence reduction plan. Commerce, in collaboration with NICJR and other community violence intervention experts, provided targeted trainings to the council members on key aspects of a Community Violence Intervention ecosystem. The trainings include:

• Social determinants of health (University of Washington – Center for Firearm Injury Prevention): foundational public health insights on the root causes of violence.
• Landscape analysis (National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform): defining key components of a landscape analysis and using data, while understanding it’s limitations, to inform violence reduction strategies.
• Community violence intervention history and developments (John Hopkins University – CVI Solutions): core principles and evolving best practices.
• Leveraging a theory of change (John Hopkins University – CVI Solutions): a framework for developing a strong theory of change and addressing challenges grassroot programs face.
• Cross-sector collaboration (Cities United): strategies and techniques promoting effective collaboration with key stakeholders within the public safety ecosystem.
• Community violence reduction plan (Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Office of Violence Prevention): understanding key components of a community violence reduction plan and practicing plan development using hypothetical community scenarios.
• Community violence intervention capacity and readiness (University of Chicago Crime Lab): examining how the CVIPI field’s history shapes capacity challenges and identifying key individual and organizational capacities needed for effective community violence intervention strategies.
• Effective Community Violence Intervention Plans (National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform): identifying core elements of an effective community violence intervention plan, applying data-driven identification, and distinguishing key community violence intervention strategies (prevention, community transformation, intervention).