The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 18 : Health

Chapter 001 : Department of Health; General Provisions

Subchapter 001 : GENERAL PROVISIONS

• § 13. Community Violence Prevention Program

  (a)(1) There is established the Community Violence Prevention Program to be administered by the Department of Health in consultation and collaboration with the Chief Prevention Officer, the Department of Public Safety, the Director of Violence Prevention, the Executive Director of Racial Equity, and the Council for Equitable Youth Justice. The Program shall work with communities to implement innovative, evidence-based, and evidence-informed programs addressing causes of youth and community violence.

  (2) Grants awarded pursuant to this section shall be at the discretion of the Commissioner of Health. Preference shall be given to communities where there has been an increase in violence associated with illegal drug sales and trafficking, gang activity, or human trafficking. Grants shall:

  (A) build on and complement existing programs addressing the causes of youth and community violence; and

  (B) be for the purpose of funding efforts that address violence and associated community harm using approaches that may include the following:

  (i) best available research evidence;

  (ii) experiential evidence;

  (iii) contextual evidence;

  (iv) lived experience of impacted communities;

  (v) trauma-responsive programming; and

  (vi) other qualitative or quantitative factors that may inform the decision making of the Commissioner.

  (b)(1) A Vermont municipality or nonprofit organization may submit an application for a Community Violence Prevention Program grant to the Commissioner of Health. Grants awarded under this section shall be for the purpose of funding innovative, evidence-based, or evidence-informed approaches to reducing violence and associated community harm.

  (2) The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the Department of Public Safety and the Executive Director of Racial Equity, shall develop and publish guidelines for the award of Community Violence Prevention Program grants. The guidelines shall include a focus on increasing community capacity to implement approaches for human services, public health, and public safety collaboration to address root causes of community violence and substance use through data-driven projects.

  (c) The Community Violence Prevention Program shall collect data to monitor youth and community violence and its related risk and protective factors and to evaluate the impact of prevention efforts and shall use the data to plan and implement programs. The Program shall use monitoring and evaluation data to track the impact of interventions.

  (d)(1) The Commissioner of Health, in consultation and collaboration with the Chief Prevention Officer, the Department of Public Safety, the Director of Violence Prevention, the Executive Director of Racial Equity, and the Council for Equitable Youth Justice, shall report on the Community Violence Prevention Program:

  (A) on or before September 1, 2023 and December 1, 2023 to the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee; and

  (B) on or before January 15, 2024, and annually on that date thereafter, to the Senate and House Committees on Judiciary, the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, the House Committee on Human Services, and the House Committee on Health Care.

  (2) The report required by this subsection shall include:

  (A) a complete description of the Community Violence Prevention Program grant application and award process;

  (B) guidelines for the award of grants developed under subdivision (b)(2) of this section;

  (C) the number of applications submitted and grants awarded, and the amount of each grant awarded;

  (D) detailed descriptions of the programs and purposes for which all grants were awarded;

  (E) the impacts and outcomes of funded projects; and

  (F) descriptions of any grants applied for or awarded. (Added 2023, No. 23, § 10, eff. May 30, 2023.)