California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program

The law centralizes statewide support, oversight, data collection, and planning for programs serving people at highest near-term risk of gun violence. It also sets funding, grant-distribution, reporting, and public-transparency requirements.

What the law does ​

• Creates the Office of Community Violence Intervention within the Board of State and Community Corrections, led by a board-selected director with relevant lived and professional experience.
• Transfers CalVIP administration to the new office, which will recommend grantees, assist applicants and grantees, convene the program steering committee, and evaluate funded initiatives.
• Directs the office to coordinate with the Department of Justice’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention on a statewide strategic plan, gather grantee data, measure field capacity, seek outside funding, and publish biennial statewide reports beginning July 1, 2028.
• Keeps CalVIP competitive grants available to disproportionately impacted cities, counties, tribal governments, and qualifying community organizations for evidence-based gun-violence reduction programs.
• Caps awards at $2.5 million per applicant annually, requires grant cycles of at least three years, and requires at least two awards for jurisdictions with populations of 200,000 or fewer.
• Requires at least 20% of each approved grant to be available at the start of the grant period and requires recipient cities and counties to pass at least 50% of funds to eligible community organizations, non-law-enforcement safety entities, or tribal governments.
• Requires at least $1 million, and permits up to 5% of annual CalVIP appropriations, for program administration and effectiveness; separately permits up to 5% for workforce capacity and gun-violence problem analyses.

Who it affects ​

• Cities, counties, tribal governments, and community-based organizations applying for CalVIP funding.
• People identified as at high near-term risk of committing or experiencing community gun violence.
• Frontline violence-intervention workers and organizations receiving training, technical assistance, mental-health support, or capacity-building funds.
• The Board of State and Community Corrections and the Department of Justice’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Context ​

The changes apply only to CalVIP applications and awards made after January 1, 2024.