National Network for Safe Communities

07/23/2026

Director Laurie Owen and Senior Advisor Jaime Ortiz spent the last two days in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as part of a peer exchange for our St. Louis partners. We are so excited to get to share the success of the team in Cedar Rapids and the amazing work they are doing. We appreciate their hospitality. It was a great learning opportunity for St Louis and they will be taking back valuable lessons. Thank you Cedar Rapids!!


Foundation 2 Mobile Crisis Outreach
City of St. Louis Office of Violence Prevention
City of Cedar Rapids Police Department

07/06/2026

The recording is now available!

How can communities adapt Group Violence Intervention (GVI) to better meet the needs of young people involved in serious violence?

In this National Network for Safe Communities webinar, practitioners from Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Pine Bluff share early lessons from implementing youth-focused adaptations of GVI.

The discussion explores how communities are combining focused accountability with intensive wraparound supports, family engagement, mentorship, behavioral health services, education, and workforce opportunities to improve outcomes for youth.

Thank you to our panelists:

Sasha Cotton, Executive Director, National Network for Safe Communities (Moderator)
Destyn Land, Community Safety Manager, Neighborhood Safety Department, City of Minneapolis Government
Jennifer White, Director of Community Affairs & Victim Services, Hennepin County Attorney's Office, and Youth GVI Project Manager
Kevin Crumpton, Director of the Group Violence Intervention - Pine Bluff, AR
Mark Johnson-Taylor, Program Coordinator, Group Violence Intervention Juvenile Initiative, Office of Public Safety, City of Philadelphia Governmentiladelphia

Watch the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfztd44mRNg

NNSC presents a conversation about emerging efforts to adapt the ev...

06/30/2026

Since 2016, we have supported Kingston, New York with designing and implementing our Intimate Partner Violence Intervention (IPVI). Partners in Kingston—and the larger Ulster County area—took a chance on doing something new to address intimate partner violence (IPV). This collaborative, multidisciplinary approach provided critical support to victim-survivors and engaged directly with those causing harm, thereby using a comprehensive response to violence. These efforts resulted in sustained reductions in IPV reoffending and established a model for coordinated response in Kingston.

As NNSC’s advising comes to a close in Kingston, we thank all the partners for their hard work, diligence, and commitment to addressing IPV. Over the years, partners have included: Kingston Police Department, Ulster County District Attorney's Office, Ulster County Department of Probation, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Service, Ulster County Crime Victims Assistance ProgramGroup, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Family of Woodstock, Ulster County Sheriff's Office, New Paltz Police Department, Saugerties Town Police, Town of Ulster Police Department, and Ulster County Social Services Department.

06/24/2026

Thank you to the team at John Jay College of Criminal Justice for hosting the conference and including us in the Breaking Cycles of Harm: Addressing the Intersection of Community and Intimate Partner Violence.

The NNSC team included Sasha Cotton, Executive Director, Fatma Zahra, Director of Intimate Partner Violence Strategies, and Alexis Acevedo, Senior Research Advisor.

The participants and panelists had inspiring conversations. The panelists below were: Erica Bond, Vice President of Justice Initiatives, John Jay College, david rogers, Program Officer, Ford Foundation, Anthony Smith, Executive Director, Cities United, Dr. Monique Williams, CEO, Cure Violence Global, Daniela Gilbert, Senior Advisor, NYC Deputy Mayor for Community Safety, Rebecca Atkinson, Programs and Partnerships Director, Future of Public Safety Initiative, John Jay College, Devin Deane, Senior Program Manager of Transformative Initiatives, Center for Justice Innovation, Shavonesia Kennedy, RISE Survivors Board, Nyasia West, RISE Survivors Board, Karolin Betacanes, RISE Program Director, Center for Justice Innovation, Reverand Cornell Jones, Assistant Public Safety Director, City of Pittsburgh, and Ashley Woolheater, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Program Manager, Allegheny County Department of Human Services

https://www.instagram.com/p/DZ5pGZnHO8D/?img_index=3

06/23/2026

When communities come together around data, partnership, and a shared commitment to safety, meaningful change becomes possible—that’s the power of partnership.

NNSC was honored to participate in the Seattle Violence Prevention Symposium, hosted by Councilmember Maritza Rivera, alongside leaders from across government and the community. It was a meaningful opportunity to better understand what Seattle’s data is telling us about gun violence and explore solutions tailored to the city’s unique needs.

Special thanks to our partners from Philadelphia, South Bend, and Baltimore for helping create a powerful space for learning,

collaboration, and action.

Councilmember Rivera Convenes City Leaders to Learn About Successful Gun Violence Reduction Approach

06/11/2026

Join us for a virtual conversation on emerging efforts to adapt the evidence-based Group Violence Intervention (GVI) strategy for younger populations involved in serious violence.

While juveniles account for a relatively small share of those involved in gun violence, communities have a responsibility to respond in ways that recognize the unique developmental needs of young people. Effective intervention requires more than enforcement alone — it demands coordinated support, meaningful opportunities, and services tailored to adolescence.

Building on the core principles of GVI, this emerging work emphasizes intensive wraparound supports, family engagement, mentorship, behavioral health services, education, workforce pathways, and other youth-focused interventions. By strengthening connections to supportive adults and institutions and creating pathways to long-term success, communities can reduce violence and improve outcomes for young people.

Moderated by Sasha Cotton, Executive Director of NNSC, this webinar will feature practitioners and partners from Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Pine Bluff — three jurisdictions participating in NNSC’s pilot efforts to adapt GVI for youth. Panelists will share implementation challenges, promising practices, and early lessons from the field, offering practical insights for jurisdictions exploring youth-focused violence reduction strategies.

Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM (ET) | 10:00 AM (CT) | 9:00 AM (MT) | 8:00 AM (PT) | 5:00 PM (CEST)
Format: Virtual Webinar
Duration: 60 minutes

Register here: https://jjay-cuny.zoom.us/meeting/register/3ZyeTV0wRcKUtDbfDOp5nw

Please feel free to share this invitation with colleagues who may be interested.
We look forward to seeing you there.

05/28/2026

GVI uses the research from the problem analysis to identify drivers of violence - not gang databases.

05/21/2026

Alexis Acevedo, Senior Research Advisor, and Fatma Zahra, Director of Intimate Partner Violence Strategies, attended the 21st Annual Conference on Crimes Against Women, where they shared NNSC’s emerging research on the intersection of intimate partner and community violence. They connected with practitioners and emphasized the importance of trust building and collaboration across violence prevention fields to better support high-risk IPV victim-survivors.

05/01/2026

NNSC is proud to support the ongoing work in Nashville, where partnership is driving real impact through our Group Violence Intervention (GVI).

Through our technical assistance, the city and its partners are seeing powerful early results: 86% of individuals who received custom notifications have not been rearrested for new violent offenses. That level of impact speaks to what’s possible when strategy, relationships, and support align.

This work is made possible through strong collaboration with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the Nashville/Davidson County Health Department, and the Urban League of Middle Tennessee—the anchor agency leading social services and community-based support.

We were honored to participate in the Urban League’s first annual GVI Conference, bringing together leaders committed to building safer, more resilient communities.

The power of partnership is showing up in Nashville—and this is what progress looks like.



If you want, I can:https://www.newschannel5.com/news/state/tennessee/davidson-county/nashvilles-group-violence-intervention-program-aims-to-break-the-cycle-of-crime-and-violence?fbclid=IwY2xjawRh1CxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFTMEZQREdqQUsyN0NCVlhpc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHs_qwxnPkht5MS_rB19ktj3V1si3H54f2woDjQOV-FdOeBivc0_eGmD0y3b1_aem_46WnBlknpBjOguh6RJQxsA

Nashville's Group Violence Intervention program unites police, health leaders, and community groups to prevent violence through job training and mental health support.

04/22/2026

NNSC Field Advisor Debra Higens and Director Laurie Allison Owen were in Albany NY delivering GVI training to partners from
Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region/GVI
Albany 518 SNUG
Bridge Tha Gap Resource & Outreach Inc.
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
Downtown Albany BID
Albany County Sheriffs Office
Albany County Probation
Albany County District Attorney's Office
NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (Parole)
Center for Law and Justice
City School District of Albany
City of Albany Department of Recreation
Albany Community Land Trust (Gun Violence Prevention)
Greece Police Department, NY
Monroe County, NY
Rochester, NY
Mayor Dorcey Applyrs and Chief Brendan Cox provided opening remarks and committed their leadership to support the GVI work going forward. We are excited to be working with the capital city!