Op-Ed: More dollars needed for community violence intervention
As the nation again mourns the senseless loss of innocents to an assault rifle in Texas, we in Pennsylvania need to act with urgency. The Republican majority has allowed sensible gun legislation to languish in the Judiciary Committee since February 2021. But there is something we can do right now. We can increase state funding for the School Safety and Security Grant Program. This community violence intervention program, established by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) in 2018, has a successful track record in reducing homicides.
In 2020, 788 Pennsylvanians died by firearm homicide, a 43% increase from 2019 and the highest number in recorded history, according to the CDC. While state totals from 2021 are forthcoming, data from cities such as York, Reading, Allentown, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Erie suggest violence remains at historically high levels. The PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency estimates that this violence costs Pennsylvania $12 billion per year in expenses such as medical costs, lost earnings and productivity, and property damage — including $567 million paid directly by taxpayers for expenses such as public safety, emergency medical services and criminal justice responses.
In addition to gun homicides, gun suicides take an average of 950 Pennsylvanians per year. Tragically, firearms are the leading cause of death for PA children. Over the course of five years, more than 1,100 children were shot before turning 18 — 313 were killed.
In spite of this carnage, no sensible gun safety legislation has been passed in Harrisburg since the signing of Act 79 in 2018 to disarm domestic abusers. Languishing in committee are bills that address universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders and reporting lost and stolen guns.
The School Safety and Security Grant Program offers a ray of hope. The program funnels money across the state for community and school violence intervention programs, and $45 million was set aside for this program in 2021. However, PCCD received applications for funding that amounted to $150 million, meeting only a fraction of the need. Despite the inadequacy of the available money, counties across the state from Pittsburgh to Bucks County received a total of 117 grants.
This year, the proposed budget allotment for PCCD is only $30 million, which will leave most counties with their hands out and result in more gun violence. The Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition supports the CeaseFirePA Coalition’s request for a minimum investment of $80 million for data-driven programs that are successful, cost-effective and nonpartisan.
This investment would support community-based programs that use credible messengers to identify potential violence and intervene before it occurs. The programs use targeted engagement and workforce development paired with support systems to provide alternative methods of conflict resolution. Temple University received funding for a targeted workforce program last year.
PCCD grants also support Group Violence Intervention programs. Partnering with law enforcement and community organizations, these programs use a “carrot and stick” approach to engage individuals at high risk for being involved in shootings. In the city of Chester, this strategy has reduced gun homicides by up to 44%, according to a report by WHYY. Similar efforts in York, Reading, Bucks County, and Harrisburg received funding last year in PCCD grants. Temple, Penn, and CHOP received grants for hospital-based, trauma-informed care that supports victims of violence as they recover from the trauma of injury and loss.
Since our leaders cannot agree on gun safety legislation, BCWAC urges them to take this opportunity to join in a bipartisan effort to increase the budget for community violence intervention programs like those that were funded in 2021. We should not go backward. We must provide sustained and adequate funding for data-driven reform that can help our communities prevent firearm homicides and suicides. We must also help survivors, who will be forever impacted by the trauma of loss, to heal and escape the cycle of violence.
There is a budget surplus of $8 to $9 billion in the PA coffers this year because of COVID relief money. Insist that your elected officials use a small fraction of it to interrupt the horror of gun violence. Call your legislator and use this link to sign the online petition: https://ceasefirepa.salsalabs.org/220408InvestBudget/index.html
Let us make Pennsylvania an example of informed and responsible action to stem the epidemic of gun violence. The coalition's suggested $80 million is a sensible, crucial investment in the health and safety of our citizens.
Peggy Walsh is an individual partner of the Bucks County Women’s Advocacy Coalition, a non-partisan coalition of individuals and non-profit organizations that serve women and families. Visit the Coalition website at https://bcwac.org/women-work/safety/ for more information about efforts to prevent harm from guns.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Op-Ed: More dollars needed for community violence intervention
