Preventing Domestic Violence by Reaching People Who Cause Harm

August 21, 2026

The research involved a landscape scan of Cook County, Illinois’ policies, funding, and services for people who cause harm with a goal of engaging the stakeholders and providers doing this work as well as survivors and those who receive services to identify barriers, challenges, and strengths of domestic violence prevention programs. The research examined Partner Abuse Intervention Programs (PAIP) in particular, a standard intervention for people who cause harm that is overseen by the Illinois Department of Human Services.

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From Intractable to Solvable: Narrative Change as a Strategy for Firearm Violence Prevention

August 11, 2026

Firearm violence is a public health crisis, but the story we hear often is of intractability, “too entrenched”, “politically frozen”, “too big to move”. That framing suppresses both public will and philanthropic investment because a problem believed to be unsolvable rarely attracts the resources to solve it. This two-part series makes a distinction that matters for how funders act. A story is a single account, but a narrative is the deeper frame that tells audiences what every story means. Changing that frame is slow, cumulative work, and it is a long-term strategy. Part I examines why narrative change is hard and long, and how solutions-focused journalism shifts public understanding of firearm violence and reframes the crisis as solvable. Part II shares examples of funder support around journalism, data infrastructure, and grantee stories as ways health funders can invest in the frame shift alongside their direct FVP grantmaking efforts.

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Reports

Michael Reese Health Trust: July 2026

July 17, 2026

Michael Reese Health Trust, in partnership with the VNA Foundation, conducted a landscape scan of domestic violence prevention efforts focused on people who cause harm. The resulting report, Reaching People Who Cause Harm: Policies, Funding, and Strategies in Cook County, identifies urgent challenges as well as new opportunities for how Cook County, Illinois supports survivors, interrupts cycles of harm, and keeps families safe.

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Funding Without Alignment Is Just Spending: Colorado’s Model for Alignment to Maximize Impacts on Youth Well-being

May 20, 2026

Public funding for youth well-being isn’t lacking in effort or investment. But when dollars move through disconnected systems, even the best intentions can fail to translate into meaningful outcomes. What if the challenge isn’t how much we fund, but how those investments work together? Colorado is testing a different approach: aligning funding, data, and strategy across agencies so that public dollars can operate as a more coordinated system rather than a collection of parallel but sometimes siloed efforts.

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Mental Health Meets Firearm Safety: Innovative Strategies to Reduce Firearm Suicide

March 16, 2026

Firearms are involved in 55 percent of suicides in the United States, accounting for more than 27,000 deaths every year as documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.  Yet this crisis remains largely invisible in public discourse. This webinar makes the case that the tools to act are already within reach.

This webinar brings together practitioners, funders, and public health leaders working at the intersection of mental health and firearm safety. Hear how mental health systems can integrate firearm access screening across the continuum of care, and why culturally responsive assessments are essential to making these approaches effective and equitable. Learn from Stanislaus County’s firsthand experience adopting this model and join a candid conversation about the funding strategies, system changes, and community partnerships that make this work possible. 

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The Keys to Successful Collaboration Between a State-based Health Foundation and a National Funder Collaborative

March 16, 2026

Discussions about firearms in the US are often focused on urban gun violence and mass shootings. But firearm injury and death is a public health crisis that touches every community—urban and rural, red states and blue—and it intersects with issues many health funders care about: mental health, suicide prevention, and health equity.

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Meeting the Moment to Prevent Violence: How Cross-Sector Collaborators Are Leading the Way

March 3, 2026

What happens when hospitals start treating violence as preventable? Across the country, health systems are pioneering models that connect clinical care to community violence intervention (CVI), and the early evidence is compelling.

This panel brings together three institutions at the forefront of this shift. Massachusetts General Hospital’s Gun Violence Prevention Center is training the next generation of clinicians to identify risk and navigate difficult conversations through case-based simulations. New research from Boston University offers findings from the first large-scale study of Boston Medical Center’s Violence Intervention Advocacy Program (VIAP), showing how in-depth interventions for young adult survivors of violence can reduce their risk of future involvement. And the Milken Institute’s survey findings discuss the funding landscape and strategies that sustain these approaches as federal support fluctuates.

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Medicaid and Community Violence: Pathways to Sustainable Care

January 23, 2026

American cities are witnessing historic declines in gun violence. In recent years, cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Chicago have all seen precipitous drops in homicides, with some reaching multi-decade record lows (Washington Post 2025). While there are many causes of this decline, experts in the field point to community violence intervention as driving the trend.

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Communities Fighting Back to Prevent Firearm Violence

October 31, 2025

Can communities sustain the fight against firearm violence amid shrinking federal support? In Newark, New Jersey, local funders and advocates are showing what’s possible.

This panel brings together public health leaders, funders, and community advocates for a conversation on how democratizing access to data can empower community organizations as collaborators for public safety, and how funders can invest in, scale, and sustain these efforts. Although this discussion is rooted in Newark’s urban setting, the approaches highlighted offer valuable lessons for all funders interested in community safety.

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Reducing Gun Violence in New Orleans through Cross-Sector Collaboration with Philanthropy

May 9, 2025

Firearm violence is a preventable public health issue that affects communities across the United States. Yet, rates of exposure vary significantly from one region to another, shaped by socio-economic disparities, demographics, and local gun policies. This webinar explores the role of multi-sector partnerships, including the philanthropic sector, to effectively reduce firearm violence. 

The moderated discussion will be a candid conversation about best practices and key challenges in developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining violence intervention programs. Panelists include credible messengers from a community-based organization, local government, and an academic research partner, who are collaborating to reduce violence through community and hospital-based programs in New Orleans, Louisiana. Participants will leave the session with a better understanding of the critical role of philanthropy in advancing efforts to reduce firearm violence, along with insights to facilitate successful cross-sector collaboration.  

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