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Kingdom Kare, Inc has been selected to lead the violence interruption program in Eastport in partnership with local organization A Glimpse of Paradise. The program will apply the Cure Violence Global model for reducing community gun violence using a public health approach. The program has hired and trained staff as of March 2024 and has begun offering services to the residents of Eastport, including:
- Youth mentorship and programs
- Connection and referrals to community services
- Interpersonal conflict mediation
- Violence incident response
- Community events
Starting in April 2024, CVA staff began to record daily logs that are compiled into monthly reports. The Department of Health compiles those reports into a program status report that will be released on a quarterly basis.
In September 2024, staff from CVG came to Anne Arundel County to conduct an assessment visit to determine if the county had the capacity to implement a second program site in the northern region of the county. The results of that assessment were provided in an Evaluation Report and presented to the community at the Gun Violence Intervention Team’s quarterly meeting on October 24, 2024.
What is a Violence Interruption Program?
Violence Interruption Programs (VIPs) are a proven strategy for preventing gun violence by interrupting interpersonal violence, mediating conflicts to reduce the risk of escalation, changing norms around community violence to create a culture of non-tolerance, teaching non-violence conflict resolution skills, and tackling underlying risk factors of gun violence through resource navigation. Anne Arundel County seeks to bring this model to the neighborhoods experiencing the highest levels of interpersonal gun violence as part of a coordinated strategy to reduce violence incidents, injuries and deaths.
In August 2022, CVG conducted an assessment with partners, stakeholders and community members in Annapolis City neighborhoods. Their assessment determined that our community would be well-suited to implement a VIP using the CVG model. The County Executive’s Office has since funded the Department of Health to pilot a site in Eastport, Annapolis. CVA launched in March of 2024 and is led by Kingdom Kare, Inc.
On September 11-13, 2024, CVG conducted an additional assessment in the northern region of the county to assess the county’s capacity for an additional program site. Staff met with partners, stakeholders and community members in Glen Burnie and Brooklyn Park neighborhoods. Their assessment determined that these communities are well-suited for a second VIP under the CVG model. Next steps for the Health Department include community conversations and a review of violent incident data to narrow down neighborhoods of focus. The Health Department will seek funding to solicit a credible community-based organization to establish and lead the site.
Why start a VIP in Anne Arundel County?
Gun violence is a public health issue on the national forefront with more than 20,000 gun deaths reported in the United States in 2021. Anne Arundel County is not immune; in 2023 the county lost 18 lives to gun homicide and 32 lives to suicide by firearm. Over 100 individuals visited county hospitals after suffering from a gun injury and there were over 650 gun-related crimes throughout the county. A VIP would interrupt these incidents of violence and work towards preventing new ones.
The Department of Health released a bid for funding in fall 2023 to identify a suitable community-based organization (CBO) to lead a VIP in the Eastport neighborhood. A review panel of city, county and community leaders scored applicants to ultimately select Kingdom Kare, Inc. to run the VIP site. Since the program launched in April 2024, the site has established a physical space for the program in the target neighborhood, hired a team of staff, received training on the Cure Violence Model, and began to record daily logs of program impact. In adherence to the Cure Violence Model, the site is staffed by a Program Manager, Site Supervisor, three Violence Interrupters, and two Outreach Workers. CVA continues to receive administrative support and financial oversight from the Department of Health and coordinate closely with the Department’s Program Coordinator for the site. CVA also received continued technical support and supplemental trainings from CVG staff.
About the Grant
The Violence Interruption Program Grant opportunity accepted applications through October 13, 2023. Proposals were reviewed by a panel that included city and county government, the Department of Health, representatives from the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis, Cure Violence Global staff, and several community members from Eastport.
The community-based organizations were selected based on their alignment with the following eligibility criteria:
- A credible and trusted partner with strong ties to Eastport, Annapolis.
- Able and willing to recruit, hire and work with individuals with criminal histories or who come from the groups in conflict in the target area.
- Experience of managing grants, contracts and producing detailed reports on a regular basis.
- Organizational capacity to support and supervise staff and to provide fiscal oversight.
Who is Cure Violence Global?
For more than 20 years, Cure Violence Global (CVG) has successfully worked to reduce violence in some of the most violent communities in the United States and around the world, advancing a public health approach for preventing violence. This approach is grounded in an understanding that violence can resemble an infectious disease. It can spread through households, workplaces and other public spaces. It is carried on through social norms and peer reinforcement, and it can be prevented using disease control methodology.
In neighborhoods with a CVG site, trained staff called violence interrupters and outreach workers prevent violence by identifying and mediating potentially lethal conflicts in the community. They follow up to make sure that the conflict does not reignite. Whenever a shooting happens, trained workers immediately mobilize in the community and at the hospital to cool down emotions and prevent retaliations – working with the victims, friends and family of the victim, and anyone else connected with the event. Workers also identify ongoing conflicts by talking to key people in the community about ongoing disputes, recent arrests, recent prison releases, and other situations and use mediation techniques to resolve them peacefully. Workers follow up with conflicts for as long as needed, sometimes for months, to ensure that the conflict does not become violent.
Impact of CVG Nationally:
| NYC | Philadelphia | Chicago | Baltimore |
| 63% reduction in shootings and a 50% reduction in gunshot wounds | 30% reduction in the rate of shootings | 31% reduction in homicides and a 19% reduction in shootings | Reduced killings up to 56% and shootings up to 44% |
* This data is specific to neighborhoods where Cure Violence was implemented in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
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