ST. LOUIS — The Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement after the city of St. Louis voted to increase funding for Cure Violence by $5 million over the next three years.
“Across St. Louis, people are asking our leaders to do more to fight gun violence, and we’re happy to see the Board of Alderman make it clear that they’re listening,” said Christine Novalis, a volunteer with the Missouri chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “This is an important statement about our values, and it’s a meaningful commitment that will bring more robust violence intervention program to the St. Louis neighborhoods that are working hard to prevent shootings. Implementation matters, and we hope to see strong processes for community input, but already, this is a major step forward. It’s investing in what works.”
Cure Violence starts with a premise that violence is contagious and employs a public health approach to fight the disease of violence. The hallmark of the program are street outreach workers, who actively work to mediate conflicts and prevent retaliatory violence between those who are at-risk to commit or become the victims of gun violence. Street outreach workers are often former members of street groups, allowing them to speak with credibility and understanding.
In Philadelphia, the program resulted in 2.4 fewer shootings per month for every 10,000 residents in the areas served by the program. Similarly, an evaluation of the Cure Violence program in the South Bronx found that it was associated with a 37 percent decline in gun injuries and a 63 percent decline in shooting victimizations while a similar neighborhood without the program did not experience the same rate of reduction.
