Everytown and the HAVI Release a Guide to Implementation and Cost of Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs
Shown to Reduce Gun Violence in Cities Nationwide, Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program Guide Offers a Tailored Tool to Help Cities, Funders Understand Budgets Necessary to Implement Programs
April 22, 2024 – Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, in partnership with the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI), today released a new guide that makes the social and economic case for investing in hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) as a means to reduce repeat hospitalizations of gunshot victims and subsequently lower the human and financial costs of this violence.
The guide also outlines a clear roadmap for successful HVIP implementation, offering a costing tool that can be tailored to specific needs and budgets by adjusting for factors like cost of living, number of participants, crisis support needs, and others.
“The choice is clear: we can continue to pay for countless lives lost to gun violence, or we can fund efforts like hospital-based violence intervention programs, which keep survivors from coming back to the hospital with new gunshot wounds,” said Sarah Burd-Sharps, Senior Director of Research at Everytown for Gun Safety. “A strong predictor of future violent injury is having been hospitalized for a past one and we hope this new resource will not only help break the cycle of violence, but also empower cities nationwide to build sustainable programs to fuel this prevention effort.”
“The needs of violently injured patients are often considerable and extend beyond medical treatment for their physical wounds,” said Ruth Abaya, MD, MPH, Senior Director of Health Systems and Community Violence Intervention Integration at the HAVI. “This guide will provide support for those looking to implement HVIPs to better serve violently injured patients through intensive case management and services that help them to heal and thrive physically, mentally, and emotionally in the critical months following their injuries.”
In the United States, 18,000 people die from gun homicides annually, and at least twice as many are wounded by nonfatal gun assaults. This violence carries an immense human and economic toll, with survivors facing lifelong physical, emotional, and financial challenges, as well as an increased risk for violent reinjury.
HVIPs work to break this cycle by intervening with gun violence survivors while they’re in the hospital and connecting them with violence prevention professionals – staff members with cultural competence, lived experience of violence, and/or expertise in navigating victim and violence prevention services. The violence prevention professional then develops an individualized care plan that includes case management, counseling, crisis support, and connections to wraparound services.
A critical component of HVIPs is that they follow survivors beyond the hospital walls, addressing the social determinants and root causes of violence through sustained engagement and access to resources in the vulnerable months immediately following a violent injury.
In the first year post-injury alone, nonfatal firearm assault injuries cost an estimated $37,435 in medical expenses—much of which hospitals carry when survivors are underinsured, as is often the case. And because research shows prior violent injuries are a risk factor for future ones, these costs can balloon quickly without intervention. However, the new guide from Everytown and the HAVI estimates that an HVIP operating out of a midsize city hospital’s emergency department and serving 100 participants annually will cost just under $1.1 million for each of the first three years—averaging slightly less than $10,800 per participant.
Compared to the social and economic price of gun violence, investing in an HVIP is a cost-effective way to help prevent violence in cities. Today, HVIPs are present in over 85 cities, and research shows they are associated with reduced risks of future violence and crime.
About Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund
Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund (the “Everytown Support Fund”) is the education, research and litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country with more than 10 million supporters and more than 700,000 donors. The Everytown Support Fund seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of gun violence and help to reduce it by conducting groundbreaking original research, developing evidence-based policies, communicating this knowledge to the American public, and advancing gun safety and gun violence prevention in communities and the courts. Learn more at www.everytownsupportfund.org.
About the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention
Founded in 2009, the HAVI is a national organization that fosters a network of HVIPs, which provide services for victims of community violence while they are recovering from their injuries. These programs address the social determinants of health for victims of firearm injury and are a critical component of a comprehensive community violence intervention (CVI) ecosystem. The HAVI has 72 members—including 63 HVIPs, six organizational members, and three student/trainee members—and serves over 85 cities in the U.S. and beyond, providing training and technical assistance and support with strategic communications, policy development, peer learning, and research. The HAVI also works to shift narratives about violence and trauma in communities of color and partners with its members to advance policy and research that address violence as a public health emergency.