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SACRAMENTO (February 13, 2025) – The Board of State and Community Corrections approved the release of an additional $103 million in grant funding through the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) Grant Program, now totaling more than $350 million since 2018.

Established in 2017 and most recently updated by Assembly Bill 762 (Chapter 241, Statutes of 2023), the CalVIP grant program supports eligible cities, counties, tribes, and community-based organizations in their ability to improve public health and safety through effective gun violence reduction initiatives in communities that are disproportionately impacted by violence, including homicides, shootings, and aggravated assaults.

Per the 2023 Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act (effective July 1, 2024), the CalVIP grant program is now funded through fees collected from the retail sales of firearms and ammunition, up to the first $75 million collected each year. This RFP represents the first cohort funded by the new funding source and the fifth cohort of grants the BSCC has funded overall. For this round of funding, there are 63 cities, 19 counties, and 47 tribes that eligible to apply. Community-based organizations that serve these jurisdictions may also apply.

“CalVIP funding has had a remarkable impact by supporting communities impacted by violence,” said BSCC Board Chair Linda Penner. “In turn, many of these communities are seeing a reduction in violent crimes and individual lives redirected onto a positive path, which builds stronger neighborhoods, schools, and families.”

The positive impact of CalVIP funding is clear.  In the fourth cohort alone, 10,751 individual participants successfully completed grantee programs.  Grantees reported interrupting 12,787 incidents of violence through measures such as de-escalating gang violence through street outreach, conflict resolution and anger management development, and school-based mediation programs.

For more information on CalVIP funding, history, eligibility, and prior cohort projects, please visit the BSCC CalVIP webpage.  BSCC administers a wide range of public safety, reentry, violence reduction, and rehabilitative grants to state and local governments and community-based organizations.  More information on BSCC grants, or the various other functions of the agency, can be  found by visiting www.bscc.ca.gov, or by contacting Communications Director Jana Sanford-Miller@bscc.ca.gov.

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