Gun Violence Grants & Funding
Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) funding supports grants and technical assistance to address community violence throughout the Commonwealth, with a focus on preventing and intervening with gun and group-related violence.
Now Open! VIP Grants Evaluation Funding Announcement
On January 17, 2023, PCCD announced the availability of up to $3 million in VIP funding to support a new VIP Grants Evaluation Initiative. The goal of this program is to support a comprehensive evaluation and research initiative to determine early outcomes and short-term impacts of PCCD's investments in community violence prevention and intervention programs through the VIP Grant Program.
Applicants must submit a proposal in PCCD's Egrants System by Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. (ET).
More information about this competitive funding opportunity is available in the written funding announcement document, available here.
FY 2022-23 VIP Information & Resources
On September 6, 2022, PCCD announced the availability of $100.5 million in FY 2022-23 VIP funding for two competitive grant programs:
- VIP Competitive Grants Program: Under this solicitation, eligible applicants could request funding for a wide range of programs that address community violence and prevention efforts.
- Coordinated Community Violence Intervention (CVI) Strategies Pilot Grants Program: This new initiative invests in collaborative community violence prevention and response strategies within focused service areas. Grants will support local planning and implementation of short-term intervention, mid-term prevention, and long-term transformation strategies designed to increase local coordination to more effectively prevent, intervene, and respond to gun and group-related violence.
Community-based organizations, institutions of higher education, local municipalities, district attorneys, and counties were eligible to apply for funding under both solicitations.
On January 11, 2023, the School Safety and Security Committee (SSSC) approved 122 VIP Grants and 5 Coordinated CVI Strategies Pilot Grants projects totaling approximately $100 million. More information about these approved projects is available in this press release and in the project summaries below:
Accordion
Expand AllClick here for a more accessible version- PCCD's VIP Training & Technical Assistance initiative launched in 2022 and provides no-cost resources to community-based groups working to address violence in their communities. Interested in learning more? Contact the VIP TTA team at WestEd via email at pennviptta@wested.org.
- VIP Applicant Information Session: PCCD's VIP Technical Assistance partners at WestEd/LISC hosted an open webinar for community-based organizations interested in applying for funding on September 27, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. (ET). This online session focused on VIP grants with useful information and helpful tips to prepare and successfully apply for funding. The main focus of this webinar was to answer prospective applicant questions. Presenters were from WestEd, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and Community Capacity Builders.
- Webinar recording available HERE.
VIP & Gun Violence Grants Program Archive
Providing support for effective, community-led gun violence prevention efforts is one of PCCD's top strategic priorities. In recent years, PCCD has made investments to support local gun violence reduction efforts using available state and federal funds aligned with recommendations identified by the Special Council and responsive to the needs of local communities.
You can learn more about past VIP and Gun Violence Reduction Grants cycles and funded projects by visiting the interactive Gun Violence and VIP Grantees data dashboard and archived pages below:
Contact Information
Questions regarding PCCD's Gun Violence Grants & Funding initiatives, including VIP grants, can be directed to PCCD staff at RA-PCCD_ExecutiveOfc@pa.gov.