On Wednesday, after news stations declared Donald Trump America’s next president, Chicago trauma surgeon Dr. Tanya Zakrison was in shock. As she continued to process the results, she wondered: What will happen to the billions in federal funding that’s allowing gun violence prevention work, like hers, to take place in her city? “I’m at a loss,” she said. Cutting funding, she said, “has the potential to undo everything.” Zakrison, and other leaders in Chicago, worry for the effects of the possibility that Trump may cute federal funding for gun violence prevention work, the Trace reports. Violence prevention work is benefiting from the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which included several provisions like removing firearms from people who abuse their dating partners and clarifying when a gun seller must obtain a federal license. Crucially, it provided more than $13 billion in funding for intervention measures like red flag laws, school safety, mental health services, and community-based violence intervention programs. While the Safer Communities Act funding is to last through 2026, the Trump administration could alter its grant programs or shift them toward law enforcement initiatives, which his campaign said he would prioritize. Then there’s the question of what takes the place of that funding in 2027. Leaders worry it could disappear. “That’s really unfortunate and sad and frustrating because we do know that a lot of violence prevention programs work,” said Veronica Arreola, the 24th District councilor for Chicago’s Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. “Every time that they prevent a shooting, they are saving two lives — the person who would have done the shooting and the person who would have been shot.”
Zakrison, a professor of surgery and trauma surgeon at the University of Chicago’s Level I Trauma Center, said a funding cut would threaten her team. In 2022, she and others at the trauma center’s Violence Recovery Program created a medical-legal partnership, which provides patients with legal assistance. They currently depend on a three-year grant of $4.9 million from the National Institutes of Health. Zakrison said they would lobby to maintain funding by showing their program’s positive outcomes, in part because she worries that the philanthropic money that could replace government grants may come with strings and limitations. “When we’re funded on behalf of the federal government, we’re doing work on behalf of the people within the United States,” she said. “That’s our service to the population, coming up with public health solutions.” Zakrison emphasized the importance of maintaining scientific integrity and freedom. Illinois has consistently passed strong gun laws and invested in violence prevention, but Zakrison said it’s important to realize that a lot of grants distributed through the state, city, and county are backed by federal dollars. Federal cuts could directly affect Chicago’s communities. Leaders like Pastor Corey Brooks, the founder of Project H.O.O.D, a violence prevention organization on the South Side, also emphasized the importance of continuing funding. But unlike Zakrison and Arreola, he does not believe Trump will reduce recent investments. He said the Trump campaign’s focus on reducing crime and violence assures him funding will continue. “It would be really tough to decrease crime without emphasizing some of these grassroots organizations that deal directly with it,” he said.
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