CROSS-COUNTRY COLLABORATION OF PRACTITIONERS & ADVOCATES ADDRESSES NEED FOR ACTION TO STYMIE EPIDEMIC OF URBAN GUN VIOLENCE
A new coalition unites experts, practitioners, policy makers, and researchers from across the country to ensure that successful local interventions and lessons translate to safer communities for all Americans. This fall, the National Coalition for Gun Violence Interventions (NCGI) is building on successes from earlier this year, including advocating for efficient use of the $5.6 billion in funding set aside for violence prevention through the American Jobs Plan.
Launched by Art of Social Impact Consulting, Heartland Alliance, READI Chicago, and other partners, NCGI works through a public health approach to ensure that individuals, families, and whole communities can thrive by preventing and ending urban gun violence and gun-related deaths nationwide.
Since NCGI launched at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 28 organizations from 15 cities across the nation have joined, helping to advise President Biden’s transition teams to set priorities around addressing gun violence. The group participated in national listening sessions and submitted policy recommendations, paving the way for a new era of public safety funding.
NCGI formed in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a sharp uptick in gun violence across the country, and an increase in individuals returning home from incarceration—all of which disproportionately impacted communities of color that have faced years of disinvestment, over-policing, and lack of opportunity. As the nation takes notice of these emerging challenges, peers, partners, and allies saw the necessity of joining forces to promote a unified, cross-country effort to promote safe communities.
“Knowing that there is a national coalition of like-minded, like-focused individuals committed to their own local communities strengthens the work we all do,” said coalition member Erica Atwood, senior director for the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Criminal Justice & Public Safety. “We understand the importance of investing in communities and engaging community members to be part of the solution.”
About National Coalition for Gun Violence Interventions
The National Coalition for Gun Violence Interventions (NCGI) is a collective working to increase safety and well-being in communities across the U.S. NCGI aims to decrease gun violence and incarceration; increase use of best practices and evidence-based interventions to create a national learning community and shared technical assistance; and advocate collectively for public policy solutions and resources to prevent and curb gun violence in communities nationwide. Learn more and see our partners at: www.heartlandalliance.org/program/national-coalition-for-gun-violence-interventions.
