Boston medical centers violence intervention advocacy program (VIAP) was conceived in 2006 to help stem the tide of bostons gun and knife violence

The Boston Medical Center Corporation (BMC) was awarded a $370,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) under the Congressionally Recommended Awards program (CFDA 16.753). The grant funding will support the Boston Medical Center's Violence Intervention Advocacy Program (VIAP), which provides comprehensive services to assist victims of violence and their families in recovering from physical and emotional trauma. Through the grant, VIAP will pair patient victims and their families with a multidisciplinary team of a case manager, mental health clinician, and family support advocate. This team will help victims overcome barriers, access needed services, and make positive changes to build better lives and communities. The grant has an award date of July 1, 2023 and an ultimate completion date of June 30, 2024.

Over the past seventeen years, VIAP has become a vital component of violence intervention in the city and beyond. With the knowledge that violent injury is the strongest predictor of future violent injury, viaps mission is to assist victims of violence and their families to recover from physical and emotional trauma and empower them with skills, services and opportunities so they may return to their communities, make positive changes in their lives, and contribute to building better communities. To accomplish this, patient victims and their families are paired with a team comprised of a case manager, a mental health clinician, and a family support advocate to help them overcome barriers and turn their lives around.