TRENTON — Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced that $5.5 million would be made available through a competitive grant process to support continuation of the New Jersey Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (NJHVIP). Funding for this program is provided from the Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Fund, which is dedicated to reinvestment in communities most impacted by cannabis criminalization. Grant awards for this cycle will begin in 2024.

With this announcement, the State will enter its fifth year of the NJHVIP initiative, funding partnerships between hospitals and community-based organizations to connect victims of violent crime, including gun violence, to services starting at their bedside. NJHVIP was launched in 2020 with support for nine hospital-community partnerships, and grew to 11 programs in January 2023. Overall, the Murphy Administration has now made available more than $45 million in federal and state funding for NJHVIP sites across the state.

NJHVIP is overseen by the Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance (VIVA) through the Office of Violence Intervention and Prevention (OVIP). VIVA was established by Attorney General Platkin in September 2022 with the goal of elevating and formalizing violence intervention and victim services work within the Department of Law and Public Safety.

“Through the New Jersey Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program, our Administration is making progress on our commitment to creating a safer state for all New Jerseyans,” said Governor Murphy. “These innovative violence intervention programs allow providers to tend to vulnerable victims of violent crimes in the early days of their road to recovery in order to break the patterns of violence that have tragically taken the lives of too many New Jerseyans. We will continue to do what we can to support this work to prevent and overcome violence in our communities across the state.”

“New Jersey’s Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs are essential aspects of our comprehensive approach to public safety, and they empower communities to interrupt cycles of victimization and violence,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Under Governor Murphy’s leadership, we are continuing our historic investment in NJHVIPs by making available $5.5 million for these innovative services. Through this funding, we are making clear that we will use every tool and resource available to combat gun violence and violent crime that affects too many of our communities.”

“Our NJHVIP partners are a key part of Attorney General Platkin’s trauma-informed, survivor-centered commitment to building safer, more resilient communities in New Jersey,” said Patricia Teffenhart, Executive Director of VIVA. “By bringing together medical and community-based violence intervention teams that put victims at the center of service, their work supports the kind of healing that helps put victims on the road to recovery and a path to safety.”

Hospital-based violence intervention programs begin in a hospital or other medical setting, and connect victims to services outside of the hospital, in order to increase support for victims of crime, improve their outcomes, and reduce future victimization. Teams of medical and community provider staff – consisting of hospital clinicians, social workers, case managers, violence interventionists, and community health workers – come together in the immediate aftermath of a violent incident to provide a range of services for victims and their families. These services include crisis intervention, conflict mediation, victim compensation, and mental health and substance use interventions.

The NJHVIP initiative supports the State’s work in developing a continuum of violence prevention services, including the Community-Based Violence Intervention Program, for which $15 million in funding was announced in August 2023 as part of the program’s third year of operation. These initiatives include targeted services for at-risk youth and street intervention services that are grounded in a public health approach for violence intervention and prevention.

NJHVIP Grant Opportunities

The Department of Law and Public Safety is now accepting applications from hospital-based service providers for NJHVIP work. Detailed information can be found in the Notice of Availability of Funds (NOAF) that is being released to the public today.

The NOAF and associated grant documents can be accessed here.

Applications must be completed and filed on or before 11:59 pm on October 18, 2023. As explained in the NOAF, applicants can apply for a maximum of $995,000 per project.

Interested applicants are encouraged to attend a September 29, 2023 pre-application webinar. Registration information can be found in the NOAF. A recording of the webinar will be made available by October 3, 2023.

NJHVIP Background

NJHVIP launched in 2020 using funds from the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) program. Following a reduction in VOCA grant dollars that necessitated seeking alternative funding sources, Attorney General Platkin worked with the Murphy Administration in 2022 to secure $10 million in American Rescue Plan dollars to continue support for NJHVIPs across the state. The Administration is now continuing the NJHVIP through the use of Cannabis Impact Zone funding.

NJHVIP funding reflects a key component of the Murphy Administration’s efforts to address the effects of violent crime. Under Attorney General Platkin’s leadership, the program provides hospital-based service providers with funding for the development and implementation of programming for communities impacted by higher-than-average rates of violence, with a focus on gun violence.

###