The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s School Safety and Security Committee on March 27 approved a total of $40 million in Violence Intervention and Prevention grant funding for 64 organizations working to address the epidemic of gun violence.

Since the VIP Grant program began in 2021, 256 projects across the Commonwealth have been approved for a combined total of approximately $185 million in grant funding to prevent, intervene in, and reduce gun and group-related violence, helping to make Pennsylvania communities safer.

Coordinated Community Violence Intervention Strategies Project organization in Lehigh County: Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley was approved for $1,571,805.

Violence Intervention and Prevention grants were awarded to Turning Point of Lehigh Valley, Inc. in the amount of $562,080.

“Last summer I visited with a number of organizations across the Commonwealth that have received VIP grants,” Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who serves as PCCD chair said. “I was impressed with how impactful these organizations have been and continue to be in their communities.

“They are doing important work, and the VIP program is an essential part of addressing the epidemic of gun violence and making our communities safer. I look forward to connecting with the large number of new recipients of this funding to learn about their innovative projects within across the Commonwealth.”

Last November, as part of the Shapiro-Davis Administration’s commitment to making communities safer and reducing violence, PCCD announced the availability of $40 million in state funding to support fiscal year 2023-24 Violence Intervention and Prevention competitive grants, secured and signed into law by Gov. Shapiro in the bipartisan 2023-24 budget.

Gov. Shapiro has proposed a $37.5 million increase for the VIP grant program in his 2024-25 budget proposal in order to continue to address community violence and build safer communities.

Under this solicitation, eligible applicants including community-based or nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, municipalities, counties, and district attorney’s offices.

Applicants were able to apply for funding under one of two tracks: a VIP grant or a Coordinated Community Violence Intervention Strategies Project.

VIP Grant funding supports a wide range of effective, community-led strategies to prevent gun violence and address its impacts – from street outreach and violence interruption programs to victim services to neighborhood revitalization efforts, among others.

This year, a large share of approved VIP projects sought funding for prevention programming, including youth-focused mentoring and intervention models (such as afterschool and out-of-school-time programs).

Many of these approved projects went to organizations that had not previously received funding from PCCD for violence prevention efforts (77 percent).

Most approved applicants (91 percent) are community-based organizations.

In addition to 63 VIP projects, the Committee approved one Coordinated Community Violence Intervention project focused on building collaborative gun violence prevention and response efforts in Allentown.

This new site builds on five previously awarded CCVI pilot sites in four counties across Pennsylvania.

All Pennsylvanians deserve to be and feel safe in their communities.

That’s why Gov. Shapiro has proposed more than $100 million to address gun violence in the 2024-25 state budget, including increasing resources for the VIP Grants program and $1 million to stand up the Office of Gun Violence Prevention within PCCD.

The Shapiro-Davis Administration will continue to fight to ensure Pennsylvanians can live in communities free from gun violence.

More information about the projects approved by the School Safety and Security Committee, including county/ies served, project details, and approved amounts can be found in the Project Summary document on PCCD’s website.

To learn more about PCCD’s VIP grant funding program, visit pccd.pa.gov.