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A crowded room with diverse attendees listening to a speaker at a podium. The Urban Family logo is visible on the wall, and various equipment including cameras and a digital clock can be seen.
Brent Cohen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for OJP provides opening remarks at the two-year commemoration ceremony for CVIPI at Urban Family in Seattle, WA.

Readout of OJP and White House Community Violence Intervention Announcements

Acting Assistant Attorney General Brent J. Cohen headlined an event in Seattle last week commemorating the two-year anniversary of the launch of OJP’s Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative. OJP made its first investments in community violence intervention programs – a centerpiece of the President’s Safer America Plan and the Justice Department’s Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Violent Crime – in the fall of 2022.

Acting AAG Cohen was joined by the Director of the National Institute of Justice, Dr. Nancy La Vigne, Senior Advisor for Community Violence Intervention Eddie Bocanegra and OJP staff, as well as local, county and state leaders.

A man in a navy suit speaks at a podium with "FAMILY" visible on the wall behind him. Several people are seated in the background.
Eddie Bocanegra, OJP Senior Advisor for Community Violence Intervention welcomes CVI professionals, law enforcement, state and local officials and community partners to the commemoration of the two-year anniversary of CVIPI at Urban Family in Seattle, WA.

The day after the event, President Biden announced major new actions and investments designed to curb gun violence, including funding from OJP to support promising community violence intervention programs. In remarks delivered from the White House, the President highlighted a wide range of new actions to reduce gun violence and save lives, including $85 million in new awards under OJP’s Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative.

These new investments will support 26 community-based organizations and government-led collaboratives implementing community violence intervention strategies, as well as four intermediary organizations that will deliver federal funding and capacity-building support to smaller grassroots groups on the frontlines of violence. Funding will also support training and technical assistance and related research and evaluation projects to grow the evidence base around lifesaving violence intervention models.

A woman with long dark hair in a teal blazer speaks into a microphone at a podium. The background shows a wall with horizontal stripes and chairs.
Dr. Nancy La Vigne, Director of the National Institute of Justice within OJP, addresses the audience at the two-year commemoration of CVIPI at Urban Family, a CVI organization in Seattle, WA.

“These local intervention programs stop shootings before they happen utilizing trusted messengers, community members, leaders who work directly with people at risk of or most vulnerable to gun violence,” said the President.

The Seattle event featured local leaders and organizations from King County, Washington, including Rachel Sottile, President and CEO of the Center for Children and Youth Justice, a Seattle-based non-profit dedicated to dedicated to supporting youth and strengthening communities. The center serves as a federal intermediary, awarding microgrant funding and providing capacity-building assistance to grassroots organizations throughout King County.

The line-up also included Shantel Patu, co-founder and Executive Director of Urban Family, one of the microgrant recipients working to tackle the systemic challenges associated with youth violence. The event followed a roundtable discussion with community violence intervention professionals and young people who serve as credible messengers to at-risk individuals in their communities.

Five people seated on a raised platform, in a panel discussion. The Urban Family logo is visible on the wall behind them. The panelists include both men and women of diverse backgrounds.
Paul Patu, Co-Founder of Urban Family in Seattle, Washington, addresses the panel and the audience in his remarks at the CVIPI two-year commemorative event.

With the new awards, OJP has awarded more than $272 million since 2022, including direct investments in more than 100 sites in 35 states nationwide. Funding comes, in part, from resources made available through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act signed by the President more than two years ago.

See below for a full list of FY 2024 grantees under OJP’s Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative, which is jointly administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, National Institute of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and Office for Victims of Crime.


 

Awards to Community-Based Organizations

GranteeState
Adult Friends for YouthHI
Center for Family Services Inc.NJ
FORCE DetroitMI
Heal MemphisTN
Life Camps Inc.NY
Northshore University Health SystemIL
Oklahoma County Diversion Hub, Inc.OK
Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, Inc.OR
Power4STL Inc.MO
Promise Neighborhoods of Lehigh ValleyPA
Selma CenterAL
St. Joseph's University Medical CenterNJ
The Connie Rice Institute for Urban PeaceCA
Youth Alive!CA

 

Awards to Local Governments

GranteeState
City of AuroraCO
City of ChattanoogaTN
City of IndianapolisIN
City of OaklandCA
City of OmahaNE
City of TulsaOK
County of Los AngelesCA
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas CourtOH
Milwaukee County, WisconsinWI

 

Awards to State Governments

GranteeState
D.C. Office of the Attorney GeneralDC
New York State Department of HealthNY
Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and DelinquencyPA

 

Awards to Capacity Building Intermediaries

GranteeState
Chicago CREDIL
Cure Violence GlobalIL
Research Foundation of the City University of New YorkNY
The Medical College of WisconsinWI

 

Awards to Training and Technical Assistance Providers

GranteeState
Health Resources in ActionMA
ICF IncorporatedVA
National Opinion Research CenterIL
Research Foundation of the City University of New YorkNY
The John Hopkins UniversityMD

 

Awards for Research and Evaluation

GranteeState
Moses-Weitzman Health System, IncCT
Research Triangle InstituteNC
University of California, DavisCA
University of New HavenCT
University of South CarolinaSC

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OFFICE: OAAG
CONTACT: OJP Media at ojpmedia@usdoj.gov

Date Published: September 30, 2024