15PBJA22GK04724JAGP

Heartland Alliance (HA) envisions a public safety ecosystem in which evidence-informed, high-impact community-based organizations (CBOs) drive individual and community safety, health, and well-being. To help realize this vision, HA has recently launched the READI National Center for Safe Communities (the Center), an ambitious undertaking that brings together field support, program innovation, and knowledge advancement to build and elevate the field of community violence intervention.

The Center's field support efforts are focused on partnering with communities most impacted by gun violence to identify and reinforce their strengths and develop their opportunity areas. They also work with other Technical Assistance (TA) providers to define standards of practices and harmonize indicators. Additionally, the Center documents and promotes best and promising practices to a broad range of stakeholders.

Through the OJP grant, the Center will work to disrupt the way CVI technical assistance is delivered. Typically, TA is presented as an external expert imparting their insight and experiences to help an individual or an organization solve a problem. The role between expert and learner is clearly delineated, and the demand for TA is driven by a problem. Instead, the Center aims to help communities re-envision TA engagements as an opportunity to exchange knowledge.

The Center will serve as an intermediary for knowledge exchange, identifying organizations interested in partnering to mutually strengthen their capacities. They will support these exchanges by working with interested partners to identify their strengths and areas of expertise and matching them with sites who have expressed interest in those areas. Furthermore, the Center will develop and test new and engaging processes and tools to support knowledge exchange. They will also play a key role in gathering, developing, curating, and sharing knowledge resources across partners.

The mutual capacity strengthening approach to technical assistance is not only strength-based but also supports improved collaboration and accountability across the sector. By encouraging and expecting organizations seeking TA to see themselves as experts, they are more likely to proactively monitor and evaluate their interventions and adopt evidence-informed approaches. As a result, the CVI field will be better equipped to design, implement, monitor, and sustain effective programs.

Travelers & Immigrants Aid's Heartland Alliance For Human Needs & Human Rights

THE COMMUNITY BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION INITIATIVE (CVIPL) WILL SUPPORT COMMUNITIES IN DEVELOPING COMPREHENSIVE, EVIDENCE-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS, INCLUDING EFFORTS TO ADDRESS GANG AND GUN VIOLENCE, BASED ON PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN COMMUNITY RESIDENTS, LAW ENFORCEMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, AND OTHER COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS. PRIORITY WILL BE GIVEN TO COMMUNITY-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAMS, IN COMMUNITIES WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF HOMICIDES AND THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF HOMICIDES PER CAPITA. FUNDING CATEGORIES WILL SUPPORT: - PROGRAMMATIC FUNDING FOR (1) PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION FOR NEW PROGRAMS; AND (2) ENHANCEMENT AND EXPANSION OF EXISTING PROGRAMS. - CAPACITY BUILDING FOR COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS - TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR SITE-BASED AWARDS - COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION FIELD SUPPORT RESOURCE CENTER

16.045 - Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative

Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) [DOJ - OJP]

Chicago, Illinois 60604-1286 United States

Single Zip Code

BJA FY 22 Office of Justice Programs Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (O-BJA-2022-171282)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 09/30/25 to 09/30/26 and the total obligations have decreased 20% from $1,750,000 to $1,394,276.