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Advocacy

The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI) actively collaborates with community members, lawmakers, and healthcare providers to advance legislation and advocacy efforts promoting hospital-based violence intervention programs and other public health approaches to violence. We’ve been a leader in the growing momentum to create a state-by-state strategy to identify and establish sustainable funding sources for supporting hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) and community-based violence prevention initiatives. As part of our commitment to shaping public policies through a health and racial equity lens related to community violence, the HAVI strategically produces policy papers, facilitates policy working groups, drafts legislation, serve on coalitions, and advocates within professional associations. These efforts aim to drive systems transformation, ensuring the allocation of adequate resources and infrastructure that end violence and foster community well-being. 

 
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Key Accomplishments

Federal level 

  • ​​​Successful​ly​ petitioned the National Uniform Claim Committee ​​to include ​violence ​prevention professionals ​in the Health Care Provider Taxonomy, making them eligible to ​​​be reimbursed through traditional insurance payers​​ such as Medicaid. 

  • The HAVI’s Community Violence Intervention Federal Funding Plan laid the foundation for the largest investment in community violence intervention in American history. The HAVI used this to successfully advocate for: 

  • $250 million in funding through the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act 

  • $100 million in direct Congressional appropriations for the DOJ’s Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative 

  • >$2 billion allocated to cities, counties, and states through American Rescue Plan Act funds 

  • Successfully engaged the White House Office of the President to include Medicaid reimbursement for violence intervention as part of the President’s Community Violence Intervention Plan, leading to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid clarifying that states can, and should, use Medicaid for violence prevention 

  • Advocated for the first ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention 

  • Working with the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma to increase access to ​community ​violence intervention work at trauma centers that treat a significant number of gunshot wounds. 

State level

  • ​​​​​​​​​Successfully advocated for legislation to add a Medicaid benefit to fund the work of Violence Prevention Professionals in seven states, covering 28.2 million Americans.  

  • Advanced efforts to utilize Victim of Crime Assistance funds for hospital-based violence intervention, resulting in significant investments in New Jersey ($20m), North Carolina ($2.5m), and a provision in New York state that at least 10% of state VOCA funds be allocated for community violence intervention and prevention. 

  • Led advocacy campaigns for the creation of state violence intervention and prevention funds, such as Minnesota which resulted in the creation of a 2-year, $70 million fund for CVI work and Maryland’s VIPP Fund. 

  • Working with the CalVIP Coalition, secured the permanent reauthorization of the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (CalVIP) as well as a successful long-term funding source for the program through AB28, a historic bill creating a firearm and ammunition excise tax. 

  • Supported state coalition efforts to establish state level Offices of Violence Prevention, including victories in North Carolina and California.  

  • Advocating for trauma-informed practices across health care and all other settings that work with victims of violence, who are disproportionately boys and men of color. 

 

Advocacy and Policy Tools

The HAVI provides technical assistance and policy tools for the community advocates, lawmakers, and health care providers in our network. This support includes factsheets, policy briefs, implementation guides, and talking points.