Statewide Violence Prevention Plan for Illinois | 2025-2029

Background

Violence remains a global public health concern. Violence is defined as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.”^[1] Violence can include child abuse and neglect, bullying and cyberbullying, teen dating violence, youth physical fighting and weapon carrying, adult intimate partner violence, sexual violence, violent crime (e.g., homicides, aggravated assault, criminal sexual assault, robbery), and abuse against older adults and adults with disabilities. People are exposed to violence within their homes, at school or work, and in their communities.

In Illinois, violence is prevalent.^[2] For example:

• Rates of child maltreatment are higher in Illinois than national rates (2018-2021).
• About 12% of high school youth have experienced sexual violence (2019-2021).
• 1 in 3 youth in 6th to 12th grades report experiencing a form of bullying, and 1 in 5 report having been in a physical fight in the past 12 months (2018-2022).
• In 2020 and 2021, Illinois saw an increase in the firearm mortality rate.

Across these rates of violence in Illinois, disparities exist for minoritized groups. For example, Black or African American men who are between the ages of 15-34 faced significant disparities in rates of experiencing gun violence and violent offenses. Also, transgender (i.e., gender identity or expression is not congruent with traits culturally associated with sex assigned at birth) and gender expansive (i.e., gender is beyond the male-female binary or not identifying with one specific gender) youth reported substantially higher rates of violence compared to male and female youth.

Societal inequities result from oppression and discrimination, and these inequities result in limited economic opportunities, a disinvestment in education, fewer social services, fewer affordable and quality housing options, and systemic racism, all of which can increase the likelihood of experiencing violence and trauma.^[3]

Due to the high prevalence of violence, and the persistent disparities, violence is seen as an epidemic impacting our state and our society. Violence prevention efforts are crucial so that we can reduce rates of violence and prevent future violence. Additionally, work is needed to address societal inequities to prevent violence and begin the healing process (i.e., healing-centered care)^[4] in communities impacted by these persistent inequities.

Creation of a Statewide Violence Prevention Plan

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) is a state agency whose mission is to improve the administration of justice in Illinois. ICJIA brings together key leaders from the justice system and the public to identify critical issues facing the justice system in Illinois, and to propose and evaluate policies, programs, and legislation that address those issues. ICJIA aims to continue funding and supporting violence prevention efforts across Illinois. In 2020, ICJIA’s authorizing statue included the requirement of a four-year statewide violence prevention plan:

To coordinate statewide violence prevention efforts and assist in the implementation of trauma recovery centers and analyze trauma recovery services, the Authority shall develop, publish, and facilitate the implementation of a 4-year statewide violence prevention plan, which shall incorporate public health, public safety, victim services, and trauma recovery centers and services. 20 ILCS 3930/ 7(x).

The first four-year Statewide Violence Prevention Plan was released in 2021. Since then, a variety of implementation, research, and activities have taken place. ICJIA created the Violence Prevention Ad Hoc Committee, a group that convenes quarterly under the ICJIA Board. This committee meets to coordinate violence prevention funding in Illinois, share updates and resources, and stay informed about partnerships and opportunities.

The current report was written to inform ICJIA’s violence prevention planning for the next four years (2025-2029). Also, this report was written for any state or community group interested in violence prevention efforts or in developing their own localized plan. This report utilizes a public health approach to violence prevention.

Evidence-informed violence prevention efforts utilize a public health framework to prevent violence. This approach is grounded in the scientific method and includes four steps:^[5]

1. Define and monitor the problem. Understanding who experiences violence, as well as when and where it occurs, is the first step in preventing violence. Data can help us understand the prevalence of violence, where it occurs, trends in violence rates over time, and who it impacts. In defining violence, it is also critical to find appropriate, validated measurements.
2. Identify risk and protective factors. We need to understand what factors protect individuals from experiencing or perpetrating violence, and what factors place individuals at greater risk for victimization or perpetration. These factors can help providers know where to focus violence prevention efforts.
3. Develop and test prevention strategies. Prevention efforts are developed and modified based on community needs, practitioner and organizational expertise and experience, and participant, stakeholder, and collaborator feedback. Once prevention strategies are developed or identified for implementation, strategies should be evaluated to ensure they are effective. Evidence-based practices are vital to ensure programs are doing what they set out to do.
4. Assure widespread adoption. Communities are encouraged to implement evidence-based programs. Additionally, they should continually assess if the strategy is a good match for their participants or community area, evaluating any adaptations or changes. The growing evidence-base for violence prevention practices will fuel widespread adoption of evidence-based strategies.

Within the public health approach, further guidance is provided to organize strategies for better synergy. This guidance includes utilizing the social-ecological model to examine risk and protective factors, as well as providing organization for prevention strategies based on when and to whom services are targeted. The social-ecological model is a framework for understanding where to target violence prevention efforts, including addressing factors at the individual, relational, community, or society level.

Violence prevention efforts aim to decrease risks (i.e., factors that place individuals at a higher risk for violence victimization or perpetration) and strengthen protection (i.e., factors that protect individuals from experiencing or perpetrating violence). Risk and protective factors exist at various levels of the social-ecological model, including individual, relational, community, and societal factors.^[6][7] Comprehensive efforts that address prevention across multiple levels of the social-ecological model are more sustainable and can have more of a long-term impact. Thus, violence prevention efforts should aim to address factors across the social-ecological model whenever possible.

Figure 1

Social-Ecological Model

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have urged researchers to consider how multiple forms of violence can share many of the same risk and protective factors. By considering these shared factors, programs can be expanded or enhanced to prevent multiple forms of violence.

Violence prevention efforts can also be organized by when they take place and who is the focus of prevention efforts.^[8]

• Primary prevention is considered universal, occurring for an entire population; primary prevention efforts take place before violence occurs.

• Secondary prevention is considered selected, or focused on those with one or more risk factors for violence. Secondary prevention efforts take place immediately after violence occurs, or interventions occur when violence is about to occur.

• Tertiary prevention is considered indicated, or efforts for those who have already experienced or perpetrated violence. Tertiary prevention efforts, or long-term recovery services and supports, occur after violence has occurred.

Figure 2

Primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention efforts

Finally, a public health approach aims to achieve health equity (i.e., all people have the opportunity to attain their highest level of health).^[9] By addressing systemic inequities in social and healthcare systems, like increasing access to affordable housing, income, education, and healthcare, we can reduce the risk of violence that is associated with these inequities. Thus, in aims to achieve health equity, collective work is needed from all sectors, stakeholders, and policymakers.

Planning Process

In preparation for the 2025-2029 Violence Prevention Plan, several groups were convened to review data and research, hear updates on violence prevention efforts across the state, review previous recommendations, and contribute feedback. The goals and recommendations in this plan are a result of this collaborative effort.

Violence Prevention Goals & Recommendations

Violence Prevention Goal #1- Prevent violence and promote health and safety through trauma-informed,^[10] evidence-based, ^[11] and comprehensive primary, secondary, and/or tertiary prevention efforts.

Recommendations for violence prevention programs and services include:

• Honor people’s complex histories (i.e., multi-generational adversity and trauma, multiple victimizations and perpetrations), and provide holistic services that address multiple forms of violence.
• Aim to engage families, schools, communities, and other important relationships and contexts in prevention efforts.
• Aim to address multiple risk and protective factors within an individual’s social ecology and shared risk and protective factors.
• Focus on groups of individuals at a higher risk for violence (e.g., individuals with minoritized identities, individuals with high levels of adversity), aiming to minimize or eliminate inequities.
• Address local needs using evidence-based practices (i.e., using research or evaluation evidence, clinical expertise, and client values).

Recommendations for organizations providing violence prevention programs and services:

• Strengthen the capacity of providers to implement trauma-informed/healing-centered policies, training, and organizational practices.
• Foster culturally responsive, trauma-informed and healing-centered environments that provide safe and developmentally appropriate opportunities.
• Equip providers with developmentally and culturally appropriate screening practices and referral networks for providers to actively implement.
• Use evidence-based practices or discuss a plan for conducting an evaluation of proposed efforts.
• Support prevention staff’s health and well-being using organizational trauma-informed/healing-centered practices and aiming for pay equity, to the extent possible.

Violence Prevention Goal #2- Advance equity by increasing access to grants and other economic opportunities.

Continue improving access to funding.

• Funding opportunities should be flexible to accommodate the priorities identified by the local community and support the unique traits and strengths of grassroots community organizations that are doing this work but have been unable to gain access to federal or state resources.
• Funding notices should use accessible language.
• The application review process should include community members.
• Provide incentives, such as extra application points, to disenfranchised agencies and communities; for addressing underserved groups; and/or for the applicant agency’s board and leadership to engage in racial equity training and planning.

Provide more support for small and medium-sized organizations.

• Conduct active and rigorous outreach to communities and provide accessible education on upcoming solicitations and capacity building opportunities (e.g., in areas of writing grants and budgets, proposing implementation or evaluation plans).
• Develop a mentoring program so small and medium-sized, or new organizations can learn from more experienced or larger organizations.
• Enhance capacity building curricula, and its accessibility, for prospective grantees and current grantees.

Improve reimbursement and budget processes.

• Improve the overall infrastructure for reimbursements, streamlining budgetary and reporting requirements to reduce burden on grantees.
• Evaluate the workflow within fiscal and grant departments to identify opportunities that will decrease time to reimbursement.
• Enhance grantee budgetary and reporting training.
• Prioritize pay equity across community agencies (to the extent possible), investing in people in the local community who provide support for those impacted by violence.

Promote and connect grantee work.

• Develop media and materials to promote the exceptional work of violence prevention grantees.
• Foster grantee engagement activities throughout implementation.

Improve systems and communication.

• Update grant monitoring systems and include a more centralized approach (e.g., where to submit and track reports, budgets, requests).
• Encourage communication between state agencies to increase use of best practices for Notice of Funding Opportunities, reporting, budgets, and training.

Violence Prevention Goal #3- Promote collaboration across state, municipal, and community-based agencies, informed by research and data, sharing of best practices and lessons learned, and ongoing discussions.

• Analyze and disseminate statewide data trends, and continue to collect data to inform future violence prevention planning efforts. This ongoing data analysis and collection should incorporate youth, family, and community feedback and utilize quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods, including rigorous comparison group data. ICJIA should determine its capacity to complete this objective internally or through a contract with research partners.
• Coordinate violence prevention funding in Illinois by continuing the Ad Hoc Violence Prevention Committee under the ICJIA Board structure.
  • Identify and invite organizations to address missing representation.
  • Convene a quarterly meeting in which committee members stay in conversation with each other. Regular communication and convening fosters collaboration between agencies. This committee will determine sub-committee projects.
  • Identify possible projects, key contacts within agencies, and develop a project timeline. This collaborative project should include at least two state agencies and relevant community partners.
• Host a statewide violence prevention event to highlight research and program evaluation findings, as well as the work of community-based organizations leading violence prevention work. This event could also encourage governmental partnerships and build community across grantees, evaluators, governmental officials, stakeholders, and researchers.

Conclusion

As this work continues, ICJIA is committed to supporting violence prevention initiatives. The goals of this plan aim to address inequities by increasing access to grant and economic opportunities and prioritizing trauma-informed/healing-centered practices across the state and within communities most impacted by violence. Focused and deliberate efforts are critically needed to begin the process of healing and finding justice within communities that have faced persistent inequities and disinvestment, structural racism, and other systemic barriers. Furthermore, Illinois is committed to violence prevention efforts from a public health perspective, utilizing evidence-based practices.