The HAVI Applauds Biden-Harris Administration's Support for Evidence-Based
Violence Intervention Strategies

MAY 19, 2021 — Last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) hosted a webinar for states that, for the first time, encouraged administrators to include community violence intervention services, such as those provided by hospital-based violence intervention programs, in their Medicaid benefits packages. The CMS webinar was the direct result of recent efforts by the Fund Peace coalition and advocacy by the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (the HAVI) over many years. The HAVI applauds this groundbreaking step by the Biden-Harris administration to educate states about the vital services provided by community violence intervention professionals.

“The HAVI is thrilled that the Biden-Harris administration has explicitly instructed states that violence intervention services can be included in their Medicaid benefits packages,” says Fatimah Loren Dreier, Executive Director of the HAVI. “This support from the federal government comes at a critical time—when rates of gun violence are skyrocketing in cities across the country—and underscores the urgent need for cities and states to adopt evidence-based strategies, including hospital-based violence intervention programs, that prevent gun violence and heal the trauma it inflicts on entire communities.” 

Hospital-based violence intervention professionals intervene while violently injured patients are in the hospital to provide peer support for physical and psychological recovery, initiate crisis intervention services, and provide intensive case management. For violently injured patients, Medicaid is a lifeline. Research indicates that among victims of gunshot wounds, nearly two out of three patients are either on Medicaid or uninsured. This coverage is critical as victims of violence face significant health care needs both before and after being injured.

The Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (the HAVI) is a national network of hospital-based violence intervention programs that serve violently injured patients by addressing the social determinants of health. The HAVI has expanded health-based, trauma-informed care through innovative community-hospital partnerships and the cultivation of a powerful national alliance of violence intervention specialists, emergency room doctors, trauma surgeons, and researchers who work in communities affected by violence.