Joyce Foundation – Investing in community violence intervention strategies: new evidence from Illinois’ Government Alliance for Safe Communities
May
1:00pm EST
Community violence intervention (CVI) strategies are a set of non-punitive, community-led strategies that are designed to interrupt the transmission of violence by engaging those at highest risk through the provision of individually tailored support services. Since 2021, and in response to the rise in gun violence across the state, the State of Illinois, Cook County and the City of Chicago came together to coordinate and target public funding for CVI and other community safety investments. As of 2026, that partnership – now formally known as the Government Alliance for Safe Communities (GASC) – has invested nearly $350 million in public resources for community safety.
In this webinar, leaders from the GASC and the Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science (CORNERS) at Northwestern University will discuss findings from a newly published impact evaluation. The conversation will explore where and at what scale public funds for CVI were invested, and the GASC investment’s overall impact on community safety outcomes. Panelists will also discuss the findings’ implications for policymakers in Illinois and beyond.
Speakers
Quiwana Bell, Assistant Secretary of the Office of Firearms Violence Prevention · Illinois Department of Human Services
Gretchen Cusick, Senior Research Director, Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science · Northwestern University
Marisa Ross, Director of Research and Policy, Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science · Northwestern University
Lanetta Haynes Turner, Chief of Staff, Office of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle · Cook County Board of Commissioners