TRENTON — Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced 11 recipients of a combined $10 million in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds allocated for the continued support of the New Jersey Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (NJHVIP).

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 this past summer to secure ARP dollars to maintain HVIPs across the state. As a result of that funding, these awards bring the State’s HVIP programming into its fourth year.

These programs connect victims of community violence to services beginning at the hospital bedside, providing comprehensive support that provides the healing and stability needed to reduce the risk of retaliation or revictimization. NJHVIP’s teams of medical and community service providers are an integral part of the State’s public safety strategy.

This announcement builds on Attorney General Platkin’s creation of the Division of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance (VIVA) in September.  VIVA advances the Department of Law and Public Safety’s unified strategy for public safety that includes a public health approach to reducing and responding to community and interpersonal violence.  VIVA’s Office of Violence Intervention and Prevention provides a permanent infrastructure and support for the NJHVIP and the related Community-Based Violence Intervention (CBVI) Program. Through these initiatives, the State continues to invest in the network of community-based public safety providers that operate in the places where we need them the most.

“These innovative violence interventions programs support survivors of gun violence from the very early stages of their healing journey to help disrupt the cycles of violence that have claimed the lives of too many New Jerseyans,” said Governor Murphy. “Attorney General Platkin and I will continue to do the work to provide these necessary services to communities who have suffered enough from the epidemic of gun violence.”

“Keeping New Jerseyans safe is my number one priority, and these groundbreaking violence intervention programs stop cycles of violence before they start,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Thanks to Governor Murphy, we are providing essential funding to continue their successes and reinvest in their work. These innovative community-based partnerships with our leading medical institutions across the state are what happens when we treat public safety as a shared responsibility and as a matter of public health.”

The success of HVIP is rooted in meeting the victim where they are at a critical moment. 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. As a result, victims leave the hospital engaged in services and with the supports needed to continue on a healing path.

“Continued support of HVIP’s multi-disciplinary approach to disrupting cycles of community violence is aligned with VIVA’s trauma-informed, survivor-centered commitment to building safer, more resilient communities all throughout the state,” said Patricia Teffenhart, Executive Director of VIVA. “HVIP partnerships support victims’ holistic healing by placing the victim in the center of the service-delivery model.”

“Providing victims of violence with immediate access to comprehensive care is an important step towards preventing further victimization,” said Steven Campos, Director of VIVA’s Office of Violence Intervention and Victim Assistance. “The programs help improve outcomes and empower community leaders to work together to create sustainable change.”

The federal dollars allow the Attorney General’s Office to continue and expand this program: of the 11 HVIPs funded under this award, nine are returning hospital-provider teams, and two are new. These awards are crucial to providing continuity of service to the providers and communities where these programs have developed, and to help the State develop an infrastructure of community-based public safety.

Together, these awards will fund HVIP programming in ten counties that are inclusive of the cities that are the biggest drivers of gun violence in the state.

The programs funded through this award are:

*indicates new HVIP site