On November 3 and 4, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) held the first ever Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grantee symposium. The symposium brought together more than 200 representatives from 73 Grantees and partner organizations, to share promising practices, increase awareness of available DHS resources, and foster professional relationships among prevention practitioners. DHS, through its Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3), works to prevent targeted violence and terrorism through funding, training, increasing public awareness, and developing partnerships across every level of government, the private sector, law enforcement, and in local communities across our country.
“Our Department is fundamentally one of partnerships. Through CP3 we support our partners and stakeholders in their efforts to prevent targeted violence and terrorism in their communities,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “DHS is committed to bolstering our partners’ capacity to identify potential risks and prevent tragedies.”
CP3 works to build safer communities that work together to prevent targeted violence and terrorism, by providing individuals and organizations with funding, training, increased public awareness, and the development of partnerships across every level of government, the private sector, and in local communities across our country. DHS’s approach to prevention mirrors other forms of prevention – like suicide prevention – with the focus on health and well-being. DHS believes prevention works because of the strong evidence base for prevention of other types of violence, like suicide and domestic violence prevention.
The TVTP Grants Program is administered by CP3 and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and is the only federal grant program solely dedicated to enhancing targeted violence and terrorism prevention capabilities in local communities. Over the past three years, CP3 has invested $50 million in communities across the United States to prevent acts of targeted violence and terrorism, to include $20 million to 43 organizations in 2022.
“Our grantees are our partners, they are force multipliers, and they bring unique expertise and experiences that allow for the development of promising practices that are relevant to specific communities and across the country,” said Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism, Threat Prevention, and Law Enforcement Policy Samantha Vinograd. “Many of the TVTP grantees have been collaborating online, but this inaugural symposium is essential to ensure grantees can share promising practices that will enable them to better support their communities.”
The symposium allowed for grantees to create and foster new partnerships, share the impact of their work, and make plans for future collaboration. Grantees organized panels on Building Awareness and Resiliency; Threat Assessment and Management Teams; and Evaluation and Metrics for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention. Breakout sessions were held on Achieving Sustainability; Community Engagement and Communications; and School-based Interventions and Prevention Programming (K-12). One of the key discussions at the symposium was K-12 school-based interventions and prevention programming. The discussions centered around youth empowerment as a protective factor, communication and outreach with school administrators, and youth engagement and retention.
Following the symposium, CP3 will disseminate the promising practices, models for replication, and lessons learned through its Regional Prevention Coordinators and other engagement opportunities to allow partners to continue enhancing their prevention programming and further support strong partnerships amongst TVTP grant recipients.
For additional information on Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program, visit www.dhs.gov/tvtpgrants.
