Dec. 15—Community Missions of Niagara Falls was awarded a $626,076 grant from the SNUG Street Outreach programs.

The award was among $20.3 million given to 16 different community-based organizations and hospitals that fund outreach workers, hospital responders, social workers and case managers and work to reduce shootings and save lives. New York State’s SNUG program uses a public health approach to address gun violence by identifying the source, interrupting transmission, and treating individuals, families and communities affected by the violence.

Locally, the only award was $2.8 million given to the Erie County Medical Center.

“Public safety is my top priority, and we are working to reduce gun violence in the communities most affected by it,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “With these funds, we are expanding on the proven success of the SNUG program, which has been a key component of my administration’s efforts to drive down incidents of gun violence and tackle this issue across the state.”

In addition to the $20.3 million for the SNUG Street Outreach program, the state budget included $36.2 million for the state’s nationally recognized Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative and $17 million for its unique network of 11 Crime Analysis Centers.

This multifaceted approach has contributed to significant progress in the state’s efforts to address gun violence, which increased in New York and other states throughout 2020 and 2021. SNUG programs work in 13 communities that also participate in GIVE and through Dec. 3, those communities reported 692 shooting incidents with injury, a 36% reduction when compared to same timeframe in 2021.

All 20 police departments participating in the GIVE initiative collectively reported double-digit declines in shooting incidents with injury and the number of individuals killed by gun violence during the same timeframe: 36 percent decreases in both the number of individuals killed (130 vs. 204) and shooting incidents with injury (742 vs. 1,155). SNUG also operates in the Bronx and New York City, which are experiencing similar declines in gun violence. The New York City Police Department reported a 25 percent reduction in shooting incidents (911 vs. 1,216) and a 27 percent decrease in individuals injured by gunfire (1,071 vs. 1,472), through December 3, 2023, versus the same time last year.

Administered and supported by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, the SNUG Street Outreach program employs outreach workers, social workers, case managers and hospital responders who work in neighborhoods experiencing elevated levels of gun violence in Albany, the Bronx, Buffalo, Hempstead, Mt. Vernon, Newburgh, Niagara Falls, Poughkeepsie, Syracuse, Rochester, Troy, Utica, Wyandanch and Yonkers. The program also embeds social workers at trauma centers in Albany, Rochester and Syracuse who work with individual and families in the aftermath of a violent incident to offer support, services and connect them to the SNUG program in their communities for additional assistance.

The $20.3 million will fund staff, programs, services, equipment and technology for the SNUG locations and includes $254,000 to support DCJS’s administration of the program during the 2024 calendar year. The program supports 178 full-time and 43 part-time employees.