For Immediate Release
April 25, 2024
Media Contact: caps@evergreenstrategygroup.com
CVI organizations in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Oakland will receive
on-the-ground support and up to $500,000 in grant funding per jurisdiction to enhance strategies
Coalition hosts panel on leveraging CVI strategies to keep communities safe at African American Mayors Association Conference
ATLANTA, GA – Today, the Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS) announced that four cities – Atlanta, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Oakland – have been selected to receive on-the-ground assessment, technical assistance, coordination, narrative change, and funding support to save lives and heal communities. CAPS joined mayors, policymakers, and national community violence intervention (CVI) leaders at the 10th Annual African American Mayors Association Conference in Atlanta to highlight the new partnerships and discuss how city leaders can help expand and strengthen the CVI ecosystem.
“Gun violence continues to ravage Black and Brown communities across the country, and more than ever before, cities are leaning on CVI to end this public health crisis,” said Anthony Smith of Cities United, Aqeela Sherrills of Community-Based Public Safety Collective, Fatimah Loren of the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, and David Muhammad of the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, the four prominent national Black-led technical assistance providers to CVI ecosystem partners who lead CAPS. “We have seen a substantial decrease in gun homicides across the country, and CAPS is leveraging this momentum to support CVI organizations as they continue developing infrastructure, processes, and strategies to deliver high-quality programs to communities most impacted by violence.”
CAPS is a collaborative effort focused on reducing near-term violence over the next five years by 10-20% across 12 cities at the center of America’s battle against gun violence. The coalition partners with cities and direct service providers on the frontlines to increase the capacity of under-resourced CVI organizations and support governments that lack sustainable CVI infrastructure due to inconsistent funding. Cities were selected based on several factors including rates of homicide and non-fatal shootings, readiness for implementation, existing training and technical assistance, and local government support.
Last year, CAPS launched in Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Indianapolis, and Newark, forming the inaugural cohort of cities. Many of these cities have seen steady declines in homicides over the past years, illustrating the importance of sustained investments in CVI and the need to scale effective strategies. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that CVI strategies work. Indianapolis launched a Gun Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) that identifies individuals who are at very high risk of being involved in gun violence and employs intensive interventions with those individuals to prevent retaliatory shootings. In 2023, Indianapolis achieved a 19% decline in murders and a 7% decline in nonfatal shootings from 2022. In Newark, the city saw a 32% reduction in shootings in 2022 and has seen a more than 50% reduction in homicides in the past decade, which has been fueled by the Newark Community Street Team (NCST) and investments in and the establishment of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery.
“I am excited about what CAPS has to offer,” said Ras Baraka, Mayor of Newark. “CVI organizations led by Black and Brown people traditionally do not have enough resources, and this initiative helps us to support the good work that we are doing in Newark.”
Cities receive the following support from CAPS to expand and strengthen their programs:
ASSESSMENT: We begin our partnerships by reviewing a city’s existing CVI ecosystem – including its government investments, provider infrastructure, and cost of gun violence – to identify existing strengths, diagnose gaps, and inform our city-specific work plan.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: To support the implementation of a range of CVI strategies, we provide training, technical assistance, and coaching to government agencies and direct service providers, including on data use, staff management, administrative functions, and program evaluation.
COORDINATION: We facilitate coordination and collaboration on the ground between providers, city government, and the national CVI field through the CVI Ecosystem website, a robust online platform offering comprehensive data and analysis of CVI ecosystems in 50 U.S. cities with elevated homicide rates.
NARRATIVE CHANGE: We help our partners share their stories and drive narrative change and thought leadership to make the case for additional public and private sector CVI investment in their cities.
GRANT FUNDING: We provide direct grant funding of up to $500,000 per jurisdiction for community organizations to support the implementation of program strengthening and expansion.
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The Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS) is a collaborative effort focused on reducing near-term violence by expanding and strengthening the community violence intervention (CVI) ecosystem. CAPS is comprised of four national Black-led technical assistance providers to CVI and ecosystem partners, Cities United, the Community-Based Public Safety Collective, the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, and the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform.