The Johnson County Board of Supervisors recently enacted a new way to curb gun violence and community violence as a whole throughout the county: the establishment of a Community Violence Intervention Program, also known as CVI. During its Sept. 26 formal session, the board established the program through an agreement with the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County for $208,000 for their role in implementing the program over the next two years.

Funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, the program runs until December 2026 to address underlying causes of violence in the county. The program, officially launched in June 2023, aims to address the underlying causes of violence.

“The goals are to keep people in the community safe, alive, and out of prison,” Jessica Lang, the CVI program coordinator, said. “We work closely with law enforcement and community partners as well as credible messengers, and those are people with lived experience to help us identify people who are at high risk for gun violence or community violence.”

The program identifies these “high-risk” individuals through communication efforts with Johnson County residents, inviting those with concerns to voice them to the program.

County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith said the program doesn’t follow a strict criteria for identifying high-risk individuals.

She said decisions operate on a case-by-case basis, citing instances where residents are invited to report concerning behavior indicative of further violence.

High-risk individuals “may be engaging in behaviors in the community that indicates that they may be participating in community violence, whether that’s engaging on social media with showing weapons, whether that’s being in areas where there have been fights reported, or shots fired reported,” she said.

Once a report is validated and verified, CVI members can take action to provide outreach and help.

Lang explained that high-risk individuals will be given a needs assessment to uncover what barriers or needs are drawing people into violence in the community.

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Barriers could range from mental health, substance abuse, transportation issues, or food shortages.

A young person could also be given a needs assessment for potential factors such as struggling in school or lack of a 504 or IEP plan.

“We essentially have a very authentic and genuine conversation to figure out what some frustrations and struggles are that they’re having, and then we go from there,” Lang said. “To figure out how to get them to where they want to be and where they need to be in order to not participate in the activities that they’re involved in.”

Lang emphasized the importance of building trust with those whom the program interacts.

“This is a long-term kind of relationship that we build, and it is constant follow up, constant check in, constantly letting them know where things are,” she said. “You have to build trust, and you have to build rapport.”

In order to measure the program’s effect on communal violence reduction, CVI is working with the University of Iowa Center for Social Science Innovation to collect data and measure the program’s success.

The program also works closely with law enforcement, both in identifying high-risk individuals and strategizing outreach methods for them in monthly law enforcement work group meetings.

Iowa City Police Department’s Sergeant Matthew Ties said while gun violence and community violence as a whole have declined over the years in Iowa City, the program is still needed to provide those same results across the county.

“It’s good when you have collaboration with law enforcement and the community all trying to solve this problem,” he said. “I foresee it being a great thing for this community.”

While funding is secured for the next two years from ARPA and the county, program coordinators are looking to explore other sources, such as grants or partnerships with neighborhood centers.