DPH to Create Statewide Plan to Prevent Community Violence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 30, 2024

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH) is seeking community input to help develop the first statewide strategic plan to support Community Violence Intervention and Prevention (CVIP) programs in South Carolina.

In late-October, DPH, in conjunction with ISI Consulting, will distribute a survey to gather information from community members throughout the state about the influences of community violence where they live. The survey will be active from Oct. 30, 2024, to December 20, 2024. DPH encourages South Carolina residents to take the survey, which is available in English and Spanish.

Data from the survey will be shared in January 2025 and will be used to determine high-level goals for the state and strategies to reach them through the newly formed Community Violence Intervention and Prevention program. Those, in turn, may be used to inform crucial local decisions and coordinate initiatives among various groups.  

“Community violence is a prevalent issue in South Carolina, like many other states,” said Constance Lake, DPH’s CVIP program manager. “DPH is excited to fund local programs with the ultimate goal of reducing violence and keeping South Carolinians and our communities safe.”

CVIP awards mini-grants to nonprofit and community-based partnerships that serve communities disproportionately affected by violence and are to be used to implement initiatives aimed at reducing violence.

Grant recipients have included entities such as Be Strong Families in Richland and Darlington counties, which educates parents and youth on gun violence and prevention, and the Medical University of South Carolina Turning the Tide Violence Intervention Program (Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties), which started the first hospital-based violence intervention program.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, South Carolina has consistently ranked in the top 10 states with the highest firearm-related homicides for the past 20 years. DPH data shows firearms as the leading cause of death for South Carolina children and adolescents ages 0-17 in 2021.

DPH’s CVIP program was established by a proviso from the South Carolina Legislature in 2022. Grant funds were made available through the CDC’s “Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce and Data Systems” grant.

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