CT Violence Intervention Program
Connecticut Violence Intervention Program (CTVIP) is a group of trusted, trained community members that disrupt, prevent, and stop the spread of community violence that results in trauma in the greater New Haven area. We partner with systems that impact the lives of the highest-risk young people to promote safer communities.
Using evidence-informed practices, we build transformative relationships with young people to empower them to think differently and change their behavior to achieve educational attainment and/or gainful employment.
Target Population
CTVIP works with young people ages 15-24 who are from or live in New Haven, Hamden, East Haven, and West Haven. They have one or more of the following risk factors:
- Currently engaged in numerous community/school fights, risk of being shot, history of stealing cars (3X or more), influence over peers to commit violent crimes
- Known to carry a weapon, willing to shoot, unconfirmed shooter, confirmed or unconfirmed crime with a weapon
- Actively carrying a weapon, known shooter, has confirmed shooting history/chargers.
- High ranking gang/group member, violence through a gang/group association, active bounty
Long-term Outcomes
After completing CTVIP programming, participants will sustain these long-term outcomes for 12+ months after graduation:
- Education
- Successful transition into post-secondary plan with opportunities for contunued education or job placement
- Completion of trade or vocational school or graduation from college
- Employment
- Sustained continuous employment with successfuve wage increases and/or opportunities for advamcement and skill development
- Enrollment in the military
Justice Involvement
- No new probation, parole, or supervision
- No new pending cases
- No recidivism
- Law-abiding
- Emotional Regulation
- Proactively seeking opportunities to advance in their life
- Has disengaged from negative behaviors
- Independently engaging in emotional regulation skill development
Program Summary
CTVIP’s staff is a group of credible messengers who work with high-risk young people across New Haven to disrupt the cycle of violence and prevent occurrences of gun violence before they start. CTVIP reduces the likelihood that individuals will become victims or perpetrators of community violence by working with young people in school and with individuals returning home from incarceration to build skills that support their self-sufficiency. Because of their deep ties in the New Haven community and transformative relationships with young people, they mediate disputes and resolve conflicts to lower the chances of violence erupting in the Elm City. These efforts are bolstered by their critical partnerships with New Haven’s Office of Violence Prevention, the New Haven Police Department, mental health providers, victim response services, and several other critical community-based organizations in New Haven.
CTOP has equipped our agency with internal support that has resulted in an improvement in service quality and performance management. CTVIP is growing rapidly but intentionally, from a singular program to a fully functioning organization, in fewer than four years of operations.