testing An innovative approach to Reducing gun violence in chicago
Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago (SC2) is an innovative public-private initiative uniting practitioners, philanthropy, business and government to implement and test new approaches to addressing violence in seven Chicago communities experiencing high levels of violence.
About Our Work
SC2 is an ambitious, cross-sector community violence intervention (CVI) initiative. Our goal is to demonstrate that expanding evidence-informed CVI services to meet real-time community needs will result reduce shootings and homicides and impact weapon-carrying behavior through spill-over effects.
The initiative is a collaborative effort that brings together local organizations in each participating community, CVI leaders at Chicago CRED and Metropolitan Peace Initiatives, the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities collaboration, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the public sector (City of Chicago, Cook County, and State of Illinois).
A Timeline of Action, Evidence, and Collaboration
2016
A City in Crisis
Following the tragic killing of Laquan McDonald, Chicago experienced a sharp rise in gun violence. This catalyzed a new urgency to supplement policing and systemic reforms with community-based interventions focused on those at highest risk.
2017–2019
Laying the Groundwork for CVI
Early investments in Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs like READI Chicago, Chicago CRED, and Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) begin to show promising results. These programs provide outreach, trauma care, and life pathways for individuals most likely to be involved in gun violence.
2020–2021
Violence Resurges, Commitment Deepens
Chicago faced another surge in violence amid the COVID-19 pandemic and national unrest after the murder of George Floyd. In response, civic, philanthropic, and government leaders initiated conversations to scale CVI citywide through a coordinated strategy.
2022
The North Lawndale Pilot Begins
North Lawndale served as a beta community, where implementation of a comprehensive CVI strategy began. This provided critical lessons in coalition building, program design, and service integration to guide future citywide efforts.
Early 2024
SC2 Is Born
Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago (SC2) is launched. Backed by a historic public-private collaboration, including PSPC, Chicago CRED, MPI, and the Civic Committee, SC2 aims to scale CVI to reach 50% of high-risk individuals within five years and 75% within ten.
Today
A Movement in Motion
SC2 is actively expanding CVI services across multiple neighborhoods, coordinating funding, training frontline workers, and measuring impact. With a growing momentum, SC2 is turning research into action and action into peace.
See our COMMUNITIES page for updates on our SC2 community coalitions.
Why This Work Matters
In 2025, Chicago experienced its lowest homicide rate in six decades and saw a nearly 50 percent decline in shootings since 2021. Despite this progress, the urgency of our work has not diminished. Gun violence and public safety remain top concerns for residents, underscoring the ongoing need for our collective efforts.
Turning this around requires a comprehensive approach to public safety and long-term investments in effective interventions to reduce violence. It requires multi-sector partnerships to combat inequities and historical disinvestment. It requires all of us.
To contribute, you can give to the Scaling Community Violence (SC2) General Fund, hosted at The Chicago Community Trust.
Backed by Chicago’s Leading Voices in CVI
SC2 is a shared initiative of:
Partnering with over 30 community-based organizations and supported by over 50 civic, philanthropic, and business institutions.