NY Lawmakers Seek To Create A "Predictable Funding Stream" For Anti-Violence Programs

The bill sponsored by Brooklyn state Senator Zellnor Myrie would allow these programs, including the Cure Violence program—where reformed gang members are hired to defuse tensions between gangs before violence erupts—to access a portion of the federally-allocated funds through the state Office of Victims Services. The office administers the fund that was created following the passage of the 1984 Victims of Crime Act by Congress. The funding sources—made available those who've been the victims of a crime, which include victims under the age of 18 or those of a terror attack in New York—are often derived from fines, penalties, or donations and doled out to states yearly.