CHICAGO - The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) released a new $3 million Request For Proposals (RFP) in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for qualified hospitals and community-based organizations to deliver hospital-based violence intervention programming and wrap around services to victims of violence who are at risk of repeat violent injury.

Because victims of violence are at increased risk for re-injury and retaliatory violence, reaching victims and their families during their initial hospital stay is key to interrupting cycles of violence and advancing physical and emotional healing. This funding opportunity seeks to promote partnerships between hospitals that provide care to the highest volume of patients with violence related injuries in Chicago and community-based organizations with a documented history of providing services for these individuals.

“The Mayor’s Office of Community Safety is building a comprehensive, healing-centered approach to community safety through violence intervention programs, alternate crisis response initiatives, survivor and victim services, and police accountability initiatives,” said Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood. “Part of this strategy is to expand access to trauma-informed care for victims and survivors within communities disproportionately burdened by violence.”

Hospital-based violence interventions are multidisciplinary programs that seek to identify patients who are at risk of repeat violent injury while they are recovering in a hospital and link them with hospital- and community-based resources to address underlying risk factors for violence and trauma. Culturally responsive intervention specialists engage victims of violence through relationship-based mentoring and case management to provide them with individualized support.

“Violence is a public health crisis, and just as we treat the physical manifestations of violence, we must also treat the psychological and emotional aspects for both victims and their families, and the community at large,” said CDPH Commissioner Olusimbo ‘Simbo’ Ige, MD, MPH. “As part of their care, it is critical that victims of violence are transitioned into community-based programs to promote ongoing physical and psychosocial recovery and increased safety.”

Hospital-based violence intervention programs have been proven to address the risk factors associated with violence, reduce recidivism rates, and result in other positive outcomes for enrollees including return to work and school, increased self-esteem, decreased retaliatory violence, decreased substance use, and decreased trauma and recidivism. The program is based on findings and best practices identified by the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI). Additional research underscores that providing timely, wrap-around support in a hospital setting can yield positive outcomes for program participants, including a decrease in hospital readmission and cost of treatment.

The program will focus on neighborhoods in Chicago on the South and West sides that account for a disproportionate burden of violence. In the last three years, 15 community areas accounted for over 50 percent of all shootings . Residents in these 15 community areas are exposed to significant community violence, which leads to higher risk of becoming a victim of and/or perpetrating violence , chronic or “toxic” stress, poorer long-term health outcomes, and decreased life expectancy.

This funding opportunity is responsive to data that points to significant disparities in victimization of violence between Black and non-Black individuals in Chicago. While Black residents make up 30 percent of the city’s total population, Black residents make up 80 percent of the city’s shooting victimizations. This disparity is even more apparent among Black individuals aged 15-34, who represent over half of the city’s homicide victims. Up to $3 million is available for the initial contract period of August 2024 through December 2026, with the possibility of an optional one-year extension pending availability of funds.

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