Orginal Article Here on The Detroit News
As our country is grieving another school shooting, this time in Minneapolis, where two students were killed and 17 others were wounded, first lady Melania Trump responded by calling for us to do better for our children.
“The tragic mass killing in Minnesota illuminates the need for preemptive intervention in identifying potential school shooters,” she wrote recently on X. “Early warning signs are often evident, with many individuals exhibiting concerning behaviors and making violent threats online prior to their actions.”
She is right. And what she is asking for is exactly what Community Violence Intervention (CVI) provides. This is first responder work that nonprofit organizations nationwide are currently doing everyday to prevent gun violence. This work must happen fully in every city nationwide and it must be immediately funded as fully as we fund all first responder work.
This work prevents gun violence and is a solution to preventing school shootings.
CVI is not about punishment. It is about connection, resources, compassion, kindness and community. It is about reaching people who feel disconnected, angry or hopeless and showing them they matter, and have alternatives to picking up a gun. It’s about providing resources needed to heal, and providing hope for a real future. It is effective, and the numbers prove it saves lives.
That is why FORCE Detroit has built a CVI model that, according to data from the Detroit Police Department, has cut shootings in half in the areas where we work. In one three-month period, homicides and non-fatal shootings dropped by more than 50%.
We do this work by hiring trusted community leaders: citizens who have lived through the same struggles as the young people most at risk of violence. These outreach workers connect with them every day, offering mentorship, mediation, access to support resources and, when needed, emergency rapid relocation to prevent violence.
We connect people to mental health care, education and job pathways; We observe social media for brewing situations that might be red flags; and we work to provide a sense of belonging and accountability. This is how you bring hope into the lives of those who need it most.
But instead of expanding CVI, federal leaders have slashed it. FORCE Detroit recently lost nearly $2 million in funding that was supposed to sustain our work through 2027. Nationwide, more than $150 million in violence prevention grants have been cut. These cuts mean fewer outreach workers, fewer interventions and more funerals.
The Minneapolis shooting is tragic and not isolated. More than 4,000 children and teenagers are killed by firearms in the United States every year. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for American youth. We all know that behind every statistic is a mother, a father, a community forever broken.
Importantly, schools cannot do this work alone. Parents can’t do it alone, either. Law enforcement responds after violence happens. CVI fills the gap by stepping in before a tragedy unfolds — by identifying who is struggling, angry or isolated, and surrounding them with support.
Detroit proves it works, but we cannot carry this burden alone. From New York to Los Angeles, cities that fund CVI see reductions in shootings. Independent studies show that every dollar invested in CVI saves taxpayers many more in avoided hospital, incarceration and policing costs. The return on CVI investment is measured by saved money for some, but the real return is in lives saved.
Mrs. Trump, you are right that pre-emptive intervention is crucial to stop gun violence: that is Community Violence Intervention. I invite you to champion CVI as your platform and call on Congress and the White House to restore and expand funding for this work nationwide.
Our children should not fear going to school. Parents should not wonder if their kids will come home. We know what works, and we need the courage to fund it.
Dujuan Kennedy is executive director of FORCE Detroit, a nonprofit that works to prevent gun violence and build safer communities through Community Violence Intervention.
