About the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention (OFVP)
The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention (OFVP) mission is to address the statewide public health emergency that is firearm violence through increased community capacity to address root causes of violence, provide those most at-risk access to evidence-based and trauma-informed services and advance equity and racial justice.
Our vision for this future is that every community, every neighborhood, every home in Illinois will be free from violence.
Background
The Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA) (430 ILCS 69), was signed into law in June 2021 and amended in November 2021, created the Office of Firearm Violence and Prevention at IDHS.
Staff
Please click here to learn more about the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention Staff.
Administration
Send an email to the Office of Firearm Violence Prevention
Send an email to the Bureau of Violence Prevention
Eligible RPSA Chicago Neighborhood Areas
- Ashburn
- Auburn Gresham
- Austin
- Burnside
- Chatham
- Chicago Lawn
- East Garfield Park
- Englewood
- Fuller Park
- Greater Grand Crossing
- Humboldt Park
- New City
- North Lawndale
- Northside Cluster (Belmont Cragin, Hermosa, Logan Square, Avondale, Irving Park, Albany Park)
- Riverdale
- Roseland
- South Chicago
- South Deering
- South Lawndale
- South Shore
- Southwest Side (Lower West Side, Brighton Park, Gage Park, McKinley Park)
- Washington Park
- West Englewood
- West Garfield Park
- West Pullman
- Woodlawn
Eligible RPSA Municipalities Outside of Chicago
- Aurora
- Belleville Cluster (Belleville, East St. Louis, Cahokia Heights)
- Berwyn-Cicero Cluster
- Calumet City Cluster (Calumet City, Harvey, Dolton, Riverdale, South Holland, Markham, Lansing)
- Chicago Heights Cluster (Chicago Heights, Park Forest, Sauk Village)
- Danville
- Decatur
- Joliet
- Kankakee
- Maywood-Bellwood Cluster
- Peoria
- Rockford
- Springfield
- Urbana-Champaign Cluster
- Waukegan-North Chicago Cluster
- Rock Island
Partners
- UIC Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE)
- Department of Healthcare and Family Services - Violence Prevention Community Support Team (VP-CST) is a new service added to the Medicaid Community-Based Behavioral Health Services array effective May 1, 2022. VP-CST is intended to reduce traumatic stress symptoms and increase community functioning for individuals who have experienced chronic exposure to firearm violence using evidence-informed, trauma-specific interventions and techniques.
- Technical Assistance
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO's)
For a list of available and closed NOFO's, please visit the NOFO Opportunities page.
RPSA Local Advisory Councils / Violence Prevention Coordinating Councils
Violence Prevention Coordinating Councils (VPCCs) have replaced Local Advisory Councils (LACs). Information on the Violence Prevention Coordinating Councils of Greater Illinois can be found here.
Firearm Violence Research Group
The OFVP's Firearm Violence Research Group's (FVRG) supports OFVP in identifying outcome measures for RPSA funded programs, along with inform on metrics and data collection practices that best measure impact at a community level. The FVRG was created as result of the Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA) (430 ILCS 69), comprised of recommended research experts experienced in examining data trends related to firearm violence prevention and interpreting these trends to identify effective interventions that support impacted communities. More information on the FVRG.
OFVP Reports
2023 End of the Year Report (pdf) and 2022 End of the Year Report (pdf): The Office of Firearm Violence Prevention (OFVP) was created as a result of the Reimagine Public Safety Act (RPSA) (430 ILCS 69). The OFVP was tasked with creating a study that identifies high violence communities as well as to fund programs that would address the underlying causes of crime and violence in those RPSA communities. The research documented in this report, End of the Year Report, discusses metrics and data collection practices that best measure the impact of violence prevention strategies at a community level. This report according to Public Act 0004 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY (ilga.gov) was due to the General Assembly by December 31, 2021. The deadline was then extended to December 31, 2022 according to Public Act 0674 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY (ilga.gov).
