HAVI Commends Biden Push to Expand Access to Community Violence Intervention Funding as Congress Continues Fight Over Human Infrastructure Bill

October 7, 2021—While Congress continues to deliberate over the size and scope of the Build Back Better Act, which includes $5 billion in vital funding to support evidence-based community violence intervention (CVI) programs, the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention commends the Biden Administration for its recent actions to expand access to funding for CVI initiatives around the nation.

This week, Susan Rice, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and White House Intergovernmental Affairs Director Julie Rodriguez held a meeting with leaders from the White House Community Violence Intervention (CVI) Collaborative, a cohort of 16 jurisdictions committed to using public funding to strengthen and scale their community violence intervention infrastructure. The HAVI has been designated a lead technical assistance provider for the collaborative, along with Cities United, the Community Based Public Safety Collective, and the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform.

During the meeting, White House staff shared updates on a range of actions by the Biden-Harris administration to invest in and support CVI. These include:

  • The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced $187 million of funding to states from the Byrne JAG Program to support coordinated violence prevention and intervention. In the coming weeks, DOJ is expected to announce an additional $85 million in grants to local CVI programs.

  • The Administration launched a 4-part CVI webinar series to serve as a learning tool for local leaders looking to implement and scale evidence-based CVI strategies. The webinar series is a joint effort of the White House Domestic Policy Council and the Departments of Justice, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing & Urban Development, and Education.

  • The Department of Housing and Urban Development published a guide on how local governments can use Community Development Block Grants for CVI.

  • The National Institutes of Health awarded $12.5 million in grants for gun violence prevention research.

  • In the coming weeks, the Department of Education is expected to release a letter to state school associations explaining how 21st Century Learning Centers funds and the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program—both billion dollar formula grant funding streams—can be used to fund CVI strategies in schools.

  • Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that states can use Medicaid to reimburse HVIP services. Following this announcement, two states—Connecticut and Illinois—enacted laws to ensure HVIP services are a reimbursable Medicaid benefit for violently injured patients.

A full list of the changes to the 26 federal grant programs is available here.

The following is a statement from Fatimah Loren Dreier, Executive Director of the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (the HAVI), a group working to build a national network of hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs).

“The HAVI commends the Biden Administration for its continued support for evidence-informed community violence intervention strategies. The Administration’s actions to fund CVI and educate states about the need for these programs will ensure communities can access critically needed federal funding to address the gun violence that has spiked nationwide throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding will make a real difference for communities as they wait for Congress to pass the Build Back Better Act, which includes a historic investment of $5 billion to fund peace.”

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