The Kansas City Health Department and Kansas City Council, recognizing the urgent need to address the systemic and structural causes of violence, launched the Violence Prevention Fund (VPF) with a historic $30 million investment over five years. VPF’s goal is to reduce community violence and trauma in Kansas City by mobilizing residents, nonprofits, neighborhood groups, and faith communities while building trust between residents and local criminal justice entities.

The VPF evaluation employs a comprehensive four-pronged approach: (1) measuring self-professed outcomes established by funded programs through collaborative operationalization; (2) establishing consistent metrics across program categories to provide comparative context; (3) conducting in-depth interviews with program participants, staff, and community members to understand root causes of gun violence and program effectiveness; and (4) implementing the Core Collective Evaluation model that prioritizes community partnership and “working with, not for or at” those doing the work.

The evaluation reveals how the Fund serves as a culturally responsive model for violence prevention, particularly in communities east of Troost Avenue that have been most impacted by both historical inequities and contemporary gun violence.