Statewide Violence Reduction Infrastructure

Michigan was investing in community violence intervention at both the state and local level, but the architecture connecting those investments was uneven. Detroit, Lansing, Saginaw, and Benton Harbor each had jurisdiction-specific violence reduction work underway, with different funders, different program models, and different relationships to state government. Without a coordinated framework, the state risked the same pattern that had played out elsewhere: significant investment, sincere intent, and outcomes that were difficult to demonstrate because the work wasn't structurally aligned. State leadership needed a partner who could move between Lansing and the local level — translating between state strategy and on-the-ground implementation without imposing a one-size-fits-all model.

Shantay supported and shaped statewide violence reduction planning across Michigan through a recurring engagement that combined training, technical assistance, ecosystem convenings, and jurisdiction-level assessments. She worked alongside state leadership, local governments, community-based organizations, and public safety stakeholders — bringing operational frameworks from the OVP field while adapting them to Michigan's specific political and procurement environment. The work focused on strengthening coordination across the state, defining shared CVI frameworks that jurisdictions could implement at their own pace, and building the cross-sector relationships that long-term sustainability requires.

The engagement contributed to violence reduction planning and ecosystem development efforts across four Michigan jurisdictions and the state's broader CVI infrastructure. Local stakeholders gained shared frameworks and a clearer line of sight to state-level coordination. State leadership gained an operational partner with cross-sector experience and direct knowledge of how other states have built — and failed to build — durable violence reduction infrastructure. The work continues to inform Michigan's statewide approach.