Insights from NJ GVRC Summit: The Future of Community Violence Intervention (CVI)
By Devon Ziminski, Brielle Savage, Dan Semenza  

This fall we hosted our annual NJ GVRC Summit in East Brunswick – bringing together researchers, community leaders, policymakers, and practitioners from the tri-state area and beyond. Our goal for the day was to learn about recent work in the firearm violence prevention field and provide a space for open dialogue and connection. Four keynote speakers presented on different topics across the firearm injury field:

•  Craig Bryan, “Military and Veteran Firearm Suicide Prevention"
• Kerri Raissian, "The Limits of Passing Policy"
• Brooklynn Hitchens, "Unpacking the Triggers: The Evolving Roles of Street-Identified Black Women and Girls in Urban Gun Violence"
• Mike Sodini, "At the Intersection of Guns and Mental Health

We held breakout sessions where attendees shared their work and discussed what challenges and opportunities they see moving forward. Breakout sessions addressed suicide prevention, community violence, current political divides, and domestic and family violence prevention.

The NJ GVRC Summit offered an opportunity to come together across our work in the firearm violence prevention space. The day highlighted the impact of the support we have in New Jersey and how we will keep the momentum towards community well-being and safety going.

The packed Future of Community Violence Intervention (CVI) session underscored its critical role in supporting safe communities across New Jersey. CVI initiatives engage with individuals most at risk of violence to disrupt community violence and reduce retribution through multi-strategy, community-centered efforts.  Common CVI initiatives include street outreach, community mediation, and hospital-based violence intervention programs, among others.

Many CVI programs exist across the state that are supported by both public and private funding. The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance’s (VIVA) created the New Jersey Community-Based Violence Intervention (CBVI) Program to support community safety programming. Funding for fiscal year 2025 supports 27 CBVI programs in 13 counties, which include services to New Jersey’s communities most impacted by shooting incidents.

Attendees who work in government and state funded CVI programs were in the session, offering dialogue about their current CVI work and recent successes.

One CVI program shared the success story of an individual returning home from incarceration. The individual was trained as a credible messenger to re-engage with the community in a positive way, and then went on to lead healing circles and conduct community outreach. The community member now has a CDL license and owns multiple businesses. The leader of this CVI program shared, “Success is giving them the right opportunity and following up on what we said we were gonna do in those [funding] proposals.”

The conversation also discussed what is needed to sustain this work. Key takeaways included:

Realistic Funding Timelines. Making funding rollout timelines realistic, as it can be very hard to implement a program in only one year. Longer-term grants can help support program sustainability.

Federal funding cuts earlier this year challenged many local programs to continue their efforts. One attendee highlighted the funding cut impacts for their program,

“When funding is depleted, we really lose trust. My organization went from 38 staff to 11, because of funding cuts. Can’t do the work, because we don’t have the staff. We are under-resourced and just cant. Trusted places are being taken away and we can’t continue to do the things we were used to doing and what they were used to seeing… kids don’t understand that.”

Local Implementation. While state-wide initiatives serve an imperative purpose, localized implementation is key to CVI work. Local staff provide assistance in real time and can connect with the community in authentic ways.

Constant Conversation and Connections.  Continuing to break down silos and gaps in the CVI field in NJ. Attendees remarked that while they knew some people in the room, they should all know each other if they are working towards the same violence reduction goals.

The conversation highlighted continuing CVI work with recent funding cuts and how CVI partners in New Jersey can continue to align community needs with policy and program implementation.

“Once we learn, we can build, so let's talk. Let's make sure we can all identify and know the need(s). I don’t have the answers, but I do believe you gotta be at the table and get to know each other.”

CVI is a blossoming field with robust support in New Jersey, and continued conversations between researchers, community leaders, and policymakers will move the work forward.

Get in touch with the NJ GVRC at our website or reach out to njgvrc@sph.rutgers.edu