(Harrisburg, PA) — CeaseFirePA today applauded the passage and signing of Pennsylvania’s 2025-26 state budget, which delivers an increase funding for community violence intervention (CVI) programs. The budget allocates $62 million to funding for the evidence-based Violence Intervention Programs, an increase of 10% over last year. These resources have driven historic decreases in gun homicides across Pennsylvania.
Adam Garber, Executive Director of CeaseFirePA, made the following statement:
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and this budget proves it. Pennsylvania’s huge investment in community violence prevention will save up to over $250 million for the state by reducing the human and economic costs of gun violence.
This historic funding means more interrupters on the ground, more reentry programs , and more neighborhoods freed from the trauma of gun violence.
Thanks to the determination of advocates, survivors, community leaders, and public safety champions, lawmakers and Governor Shapiro have put another downpayment on a Pennsylvania free from gun violence.
Together, we are showing that bipartisan solutions to end gun violence are possible, and we are committed to building on this progress until every community can thrive in safety.
Across Pennsylvania, CVI programs have already helped communities achieve historic reductions in gun violence. According to an analysis by the CeaseFirePA Education Fund of Gun Violence Archive data between 2022 and 2024:
- Statewide, total gun violence victims have dropped by 42%.
- Gun deaths have decreased by 38% in the same period.
- Philadelphia saw a 52% reduction in gun violence over two years — the lowest levels in a decade.
- Allegheny County reported a 30% drop in gun violence in that same timeframe.
Those numbers have continued to decline this year.
“The dollars that go into violence prevention pay off as lives saved, families spared, and communities kept whole,” said Jeani Garcia of Promise Neighborhoods, a grantee of the CVI program. “On behalf of my organization and the many other CVI programs across the state, I want to thank the General Assembly for this investment in our lives. In a budget that was clearly a difficult process with many hard funding decisions, they ultimately put money where it matters most.”
“Investing in the safety of our communities will undoubtedly lead to a healthier Pennsylvania in which no neighborhoods are forsaken,” said Paul Abernathy at Neighborhood Resilience Project in Pittsburgh. “The numbers show the decline in violence, but what they can’t adequately convey is the change in how we live, the families that feel safer, the children that grow up without firsthand experiences of gun violence. We are all better, safer and healthier because of this program.”
These numbers underscore the impact of long-term, community-driven violence prevention strategies. CeaseFirePA and its partners remain committed to ensuring this funding reaches communities swiftly and effectively so that all Pennsylvanians can live free from fear.
###
CeaseFirePA Education Fund does not receive funding from the PA Commission on Crime & Delinquency or the Violence Intervention Program.
