Break the Cycle of Violence Roundtable and Press Conference

On Thursday, July 27, 2023, Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) hosted a roundtable and press conference to introduce the Break the Cycle of Violence Act. Evidence-based community violence intervention and prevention programs designed to interrupt cycles of violence and retaliation have proven to be highly effective at reducing rates of community violence, saving both lives and taxpayer dollars. From 2012 to 2013, a $2 million violence reduction program in two Massachusetts cities generated nearly $15 million in savings from decreases in crime. However, these programs require consistent and reliable federal funding to be successful. Currently, these effective programs have been implemented in only a handful of cities and lack a reliable or adequate stream of resources.

The Break the Cycle of Violence Act proposes to authorize $6.5 billion over 8 years to invest in effective community-based violence intervention programs and provide jobs to opportunity youth between the ages of 16-24:

$5 billion over 8 years for a competitive grant program to community-based organizations and local units of government that develop effective, prevention-oriented violence reduction initiatives focused on young people at highest risk for violence, and $1.5 billion over 8 years for the Improving Approaches for Communities to Thrive (IMPACT) grant for eligible organizations and units of local government to provide job training, education, apprenticeship, skilled trades training, or other paid and unpaid work experiences for opportunity youth in communities disproportionately affected by gun violence.