SACRAMENTO (Feb. 13, 2020) – A Requests for Proposals for a grant designed to stem violence in vulnerable communities will be available tomorrow after the Board of State and Community Corrections today unanimously approved its requirements.

The California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant makes available $27.5 million over 42 months to assist cities and community-based organizations in developing and evaluating local, evidence-based approaches to reduce violence locally. CalVIP also earmarks an additional $1 million for the City of Los Angeles.

The authorizing legislation for the Break the Cycle of Violence Act was signed by the Governor last year. The new statute focuses the grant on programs that “improve public health and safety by supporting effective violence reduction initiatives” in communities disproportionately impacted by violence.

There are 95 eligible cities in California, defined by their homicide and violent crime rates. All are listed in the Board’s agenda packet for this item that is available here.

Briefly, 29 cities met the criteria for “disproportionately impacted by violence” and both the cities and any community-based organizations providing services to the residents of those cities may apply for up to $1.5 million; another 66 small cities met a special criteria of “need” determined by the Executive Steering Committee that developed the RFP and may apply for up to $600,000. Successful applicant cities must pass through 50 percent of the funding to either CBOs or non-law enforcement public agencies dedicated to safety or violence prevention.

All successful applicants must provide a 100 percent funding match. Applications are due back to the BSCC on April 10, 2020. The grant funding cycle will begin July 1, 2020.

CalVIP is similar to the California Gang Reduction and Intervention Program (CalGRIP), which had been in existence since 2007-08. It became CalVIP in 2017-18, when the focus broadened to include community violence from all sources. Successful applicants will focus services on the small segment of the population identified as having the highest risk of perpetrating or being victimized by violence.

The BSCC is a multi-faceted agency that provides leadership and technical assistance to local adult and juvenile correction facilities and administers millions of dollars in grants to reduce recidivism and make Californians safer.

For more information please contact Colleen Curtin at Colleen.Curtin@bscc.ca.gov or at 916-445-8066.

In other action the Board awarded $5 million from the Adult Reentry Grant Program to the Amity Foundation of Los Angeles to rehabilitate a former hotel building in downtown LA for use as transitional housing and for reentry services.

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