Enhancing the Violence Intervention Ecosystem in Baltimore

Although Baltimore’s population has declined over the past few years, violent crime continues to rise. Baltimore was recently named the fourth most dangerous city in the country, with the direct economic cost of crime, including victim medical needs, calculated at $7,230 per capita. In 2022, the city reported 333 homicides and 688 nonfatal shootings. This was the seventh consecutive year the city has seen more than 300 homicides.

Enhancing the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Ecosystem in Baltimore (CVIP Ecosystem) engages young people, primarily between the ages of 17–24, at the highest risk for retaliatory or escalating violence, including individuals recently released from prison, those known to carry weapons, individuals who have recently survived a gunshot wound, individuals with gang affiliation, and those with histories of violent behaviors. The CVIP Ecosystem focuses services on the six CFH Safe Streets sites’ catchment areas, four on the east side of Baltimore and two on the west side.

Recent Safe Streets site expansion has created a unique opportunity to enhance and deepen the impact of the Safe Streets program, which is proven to reduce gun violence.

The CVIP Ecosystem will enhance the impact of Safe Streets from the ground up, expanding frontline services, improving coordination and strategic planning from the top down, utilizing the Cure Violence model, and integrating principles of Positive Youth Development to engage high-risk youth. Funding for the CVIP Ecosystem will create deliverables including a gap analysis, a CVIP working group of invested community stakeholders, a comprehensive strategic plan, and an expanded and enhanced program team at CFH. The implementation of this strategic, data-driven project will allow CFH to measure the effectiveness of the CVIP Ecosystem’s ability to effectively change community norms around violence.