Bridge Magazine recently published an article detailing the impact of cutting funding to Michigan violence prevention programs, including the FORCE program in Detroit and MPHI’s Advance Peace Initiative in Lansing. According to the article, Michigan nonprofits lost a combined $4.5 million in grant funding due to recent cuts to Department of Justice (DOJ). Advance Peace Lansing saw the termination of a $1 million research grant from the DOJ, and the remaining $11,000 of a past $1 million grant funding the program’s implementation.

Dr. Paul Elam, Chief Strategy Officer, was featured in the article. He shared his thoughts on the current cuts and the threat they pose to the mission and future of violence prevention programs.

“Our goal is to get people to stop shooting people — not just to do what you think is right, but to do what we know works,” Dr. Elam said. If nationwide cuts to community violence intervention programs stand, he said, “this decision will cost lives.”

Dr. Elam explained that he can understand the administration seeking to align grants with their new goals and priorities but urged the administration to communicate their intentions and rationale. Additionally, Elam expressed that the administration should allow organizations to weigh in and have the opportunity to explain their purpose and mission.

“We understand that maybe this administration doesn’t want to support a Biden administration initiative,” he said. “Well, what do you want to support? Talk to us about what that is. But just to cut the funding across the board, across the country, with no conversation, no interaction with folks who’ve been on the ground doing this work for years, is not something we would be recommending.”

To view the full article, visit:
Trump cuts hit Michigan violence prevention programs: ‘This will cost lives’ | Bridge Michigan