This case study is part of the Reimagining Public Safety Impact Updates Resource, which highlights successful programs in cities, towns and villages across the country. View the Reimagining Public Safety Initiative to learn more about NLC’s work in creating safe, equitable communities for all. TThis is one of four municipalities illustrating Hospital-Based Violence Interventions, which provide trauma-informed care and support services to patients with violent injuries in order to reduce criminal involvement and rehospitalization.
Baltimore, MD (pop. 585,708): Violence Intervention Program (VIP)
Since 1998, Baltimore’s Violence Intervention Program (VIP) has worked with University of Maryland Medical Center patients admitted due to violent injury. When a patient agrees to participate in the VIP, they are paired with a case manager or outreach worker who helps the participant form an individualized plan to combat risk factors associated with reinjury.
Services provided include:
- Mental health referral
- Connection to legal services
- Job readiness and training
- Needs assessment for participant and immediate family
A 2006 evaluation found that only 5 percent of participating patients who received intervention treatment were re-hospitalized, compared with 36 percent of nonparticipants. The reduction in re-hospitalization was associated with an estimated health care savings of $598,000. Patients participating in the program were four times less likely to be convicted of a violent crime, saving the state approximately $1.25 million in incarceration costs.
Some key performance metrics collected include:
- Clients arrested (disaggregated by violent and nonviolent crimes)
- Clients re-hospitalized
- Cost of medical care
- Client employment at time of follow-up
The University of Maryland, Baltimore, received a two-year $497,000 grant to cover FY 2022-2024 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, with the purpose of evaluating their VIP outcomes and building an evidence-based violence intervention model. In recent years, several additional Baltimore hospitals have started their own HVIPs.
- Break the Cycle Violence Intervention Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital has been operating since 2021
- Center for Hope from LifeBridge Health has been operating since 2022
- Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center at the University of Maryland started in 2022
- Youth Advocate Programs (YAP) has been operating in Baltimore since 2021
View the Reimagining Public Safety Impact Update
Learn more about what different cities have done to support public safety, including qualitative and quantitative measures highlighting the impact of community responder models, group violence interventions, hospital-based violence interventions and community violence interventions.