Community Violence Reduction Initiative
Building off decades of community violence reduction work led by community members, practitioners, community-based organizations, universities, and government institutions in Allegheny County, the Department of Human Services (DHS) launched the Community Violence Reduction Initiative (CVRI) in 2023.
CVRI supports evidence-based, coordinated, and comprehensive public health approaches to reducing community violence both within and across highly impacted communities.
CVRI uses a public health approach to guide its focus and decision-making. This approach begins with using data to better understand the nature and scope of gun violence in Allegheny County and researching the risk factors that increase gun violence risk and protective factors that decrease it. Building on this understanding, CVRI works to design, adopt, implement, and evaluate strategies aimed at reducing violence with a particular focus on the people and places at highest risk.
CVRI Focus Areas
Strategies to reduce gun violence tend to fall under three categories, many of which are informed by a disease control model.
Intervention
Intervention strategies focus on reducing harm where violence has already occurred or is highly likely. Programs include:
Street Outreach
Hospital-based Violence Intervention
Achieving Change through Transition Employment Services (ACTES)
Prevention
Prevention strategies focus on reducing risk factors before violence occurs. Programs include:
Targeted Prevention
Broad Prevention
Root Causes
These strategies focus on long-term change by addressing structural drivers of violence. Programs include:
Coordination
CVRI coordinates efforts across neighborhood, municipal, and county systems to prevent and respond to shootings in real time using a shared coordination platform supported by DHS. Coordination partners include:
In partnership with stakeholders within and across highly impacted communities, DHS also leads the Allegheny County Peace Collective (ACPC). ACPC is a space to understand and respond to gun violence trends across municipal lines, including working with other government institutions, community development partners and advocacy groups like Ceasefire PA and Brady United to address root causes and transform communities highly impacted by disinvestment and gun violence.
CVRI Provider Tools
Program Applications
Dashboards and Analytics
Data Sharing
Resources
Contact
For any questions, please email DHS-CVRI@alleghenycounty.us.