The Limited-Government Case for Community Violence Intervention

Disclaimer: This research was funded in part by The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the R Street Institute. We thank them for their support; however, the findings and conclusions presented in this report are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of these organizations.

Youth violence is a tragic and persistent problem imposing devastating human and economic costs on communities across the country. For decades, the primary response has been a familiar cycle of policing, prosecution, and incarceration, which has proven harmful for both young people and state budgets.

Quietly in the background, community organizers and academics have collaborated on alternatives that minimize the role of the state. One such alternative, community violence intervention (CVI), treats violence as a public health problem—a contagion that can be diagnosed, treated, and hopefully stopped. Indeed, the latest research confirms that CVI programs not only reduce homicides and assaults, but also keep youth from getting locked up.

How CVI Works

The core concept behind CVI is that violence is like a disease. It spreads from person to person and neighborhood to neighborhood. A single shooting can trigger a chain reaction of retaliatory attacks, infecting social networks and engulfing whole cities. CVI programs interrupt this transmission, using street outreach to change attitudes and norms about gun violence.

The secret sauce are “credible messengers,” trusted individuals who share similar life experiences and backgrounds with the young people most at risk. Often former gang members that have been involved in the justice system themselves, credible messengers mediate disputes before they escalate; mentor young people; and connect them with services like job training, education, and therapy. Their lived experience not only models a pathway out of violence, it gives them a level of access and influence that even the best police officers, social workers, or government officials struggle to replicate.

Working around violence day in and day out can come at a high price. The murder of three Baltimore Safe Streets workers in 2021 and 2022—Dante Barksdale, Kenyell Wilson, and DaShawn McGrier—highlights the difficult task faced by outreach workers operating in two worlds at once: the streets and the system. While a close relationship with police can help them mediate conflicts and provide services, it can also make them seem like informants, undermining the trust that is essential for their work. This balancing act requires calibrated collaboration between CVI programs and government agencies.

CVI Gets Results

A new wave of program evaluations has emerged in the last five years, providing hard data on the effectiveness of these programs. For example, between 2019 and 2022, a randomized controlled trial found that participants in the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver were 70 percent less likely to perpetrate violence than the control group. Chicago’s Rapid Employment and Development Initiative, which combines subsidized employment with cognitive behavioral therapy, decreased firearm and homicide arrests by 65 percent. This translates to a stunning return on investment, with every $1 invested generating between $4 and $18 in public savings. Finally, one of the longest-running CVI programs, Safe Streets Baltimore, has demonstrated the model’s long-term staying power. An analysis over 19 years found that homicides decreased by 32 percent in Baltimore’s longest-running neighborhood sites.

The data is clear: When implemented with fidelity, CVI programs are a powerful tool for reducing violence and saving lives.

The Conservative Case for CVI

CVI’s effectiveness has given it bipartisan appeal for policymakers committed to fiscal responsibility, limited government, and personal accountability.

Beyond the obvious human toll, youth violence is costly across every conceivable metric. For example, gunshot wounds are complex injuries that are expensive to treat and manage. Preventing even a single firearm homicide can save the public more than $1 million across the healthcare, criminal justice, and social welfare systems. Preventing injuries and arrests caused by gun violence preempts those costs, producing meaningful taxpayer savings.

CVI programs embody the Jeffersonian principles of limited government and local control. They shift responsibility away from a large, centralized state apparatus and place it in the hands of local organizations and individuals who are closest to the problem. They are a bottom-up, grassroots movement that builds community capacity internally, giving people the tools and self-reliance necessary to resolve conflicts on their own. CVI promotes personal responsibility by requiring participants to take ownership of their actions and actively work to change their lives.

Finally, CVI programs provide former felons with a meaningful career uniquely suited to their life experience. Research studies demonstrate that stable employment is one of the best ways to reduce adult recidivism. Giving former offenders a productive career creates a pathway to rehabilitation for the millions of incarcerated individuals in the United States. Ironically, a career in CVI working as a credible messenger is one of the only places where a criminal conviction is an asset rather than a liability.

Real CVI Solutions

CVI is no longer a just a promising theory—it is a proven, data-driven public safety strategy that reduces violence without resorting to heavy-handed government programs that strain state and city budgets. For policymakers interested in pragmatic solutions, the evidence points toward a clear set of actions:

• Invest for the Long Term: Provide stable, multi-year funding to establish CVI programs and build the trust necessary for success.
• Build Smart Partnerships: Establish data-sharing and collaboration agreements to break down silos between CVI groups, law enforcement, hospitals, and schools to identify and support those most at risk.
• Demand Results: Fund independent evaluations to ensure programs are working effectively, hold them accountable for outcomes, and replicate what works.

For those interested in saving lives while advancing limited, effective government solutions, CVI is one of the most compelling tools available today.