Part 3: Exploring Community-Based Violence Intervention Programs

A group of students gathered at the state Capital in 2025 to discuss legislation to support a reduction in gun violence (photo by Mikki Morrissette)

In early 2026, a panel discussion talked about how effective community-based violence intervention (CVI) programs are in resolving behaviors in the long term. The programs discussed included:

• Don’t Shoot Guns, Shoot Hoops, which uses mentorship, structured camps, and life-skills training to pull youth out of “survival mode” and replace street-level norms with healthier coping tools.
• Narcan training, gun safety education, and early intervention strategies that address risks before violence occurs.
• Conflict mediation by trusted community members (“validators”), who intervene before disputes escalate.

Research cited from other states shows that CVI strategies can reduce violence by up to nearly 100 percent in certain neighborhoods when consistently supported. It relies on people rooted in the community — moms, grandmas, former justice-involved individuals, residents — who can reach youth at the cultural level.

Programs provide stability — such as food, clothing, showers, and safe spaces — as well as purpose through sports, leadership development, and life skills. They feature honest conversations about consequences of gun use and “street codes,” as well as alternatives that break cycles of retaliation and pride-based decision-making.

Root causes that lead to gun violence, according to lawmakers and others on the panel, include poverty, unstable housing, poor educational access, job scarcity, and loneliness.

Minnesota made an historic $71-million five-year investment in CVI work in 2023. One goal cited is to make this funding permanent as part of a statewide Office of Violence Prevention.

Dozens of bills related to gun violence prevention, reducing gun violence, and developing a violence prevention office were proposed in the 2026 legislative session, but they did not pass. A comprehensive gun violence prevention package passed in the Senate — including an assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban — but it was not brought to a House discussion by Speaker Lisa Demuth.

One of the issues raised by panelists is that federal and state bans on gun-violence research are barriers that limit data-driven approaches.

Research data is available in mental health, however, which shows that loneliness is the strongest predictor of all forms of gun violence. It is also known that formerly incarcerated people will return to survival-based behaviors if they don’t have access to jobs and economic stability, with community reintegration.

Panelists included Maggiy Emery of Protect Minnesota; Rana Alexander and Bridget Liverca of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office; New Hope’s Rep. Cedrick Frazier; Golden Valley’s Rep. Mike Freiberg; Tommy McBrayer of Don’t Shoot Guns, Shoot Hoops; and violence disruptor Muhammad Abdul-Ahad.

Resources

The Trace, a national organization focused on tracking gun violence, has started to compile data related to the funding and impact of community violence intervention organizations. The dataset it still limited to those organizations that have received federal funding, not yet including state and more local groups. Find it here.

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