On April 22, two unrelated but inextricably linked incidents rattled Bill McKinney, executive director of the New Kensington Community Development Corporation, a 40-year-old organization that provides social services to one of Philadelphia’s most troubled communities.

After a local business owner called to tell McKinney that two groups of men across the street were fighting and drawing guns, McKinney dispatched some of the violence interrupters from his organization’s Cure Violence program.

“They were able to contact that person, find out what was going on, and helped squash that situation, and a shooting did not occur,” McKinney says. “They know the players. They are involved.”

[Editor’s note: This story was also published by The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in America. Sign up for its newsletters here.]

But just how long New Kensington will be able to keep his six staffers — ex-offenders who use their street savvy and training to keep the peace — was also on his mind. Hours after the incident, New Kensington was one of more than 360 organizations to receive letters informing them that some of the grant dollars they’d been promised during President Joe Biden’s administration were being yanked.

The notice of termination from the Justice Department meant that $600,000 of New Kensington’s award was being cut because it “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.” Other organizations facing the latest round of budget cuts under the second Trump administration also work to combat gun violence, drug addiction and other social ills. Nationwide, they’re losing a combined $811 million, according to Reuters.

The email confirmed the realization of the fears that many on the frontlines of Philadelphia’s gun violence prevention community have harbored since President Donald Trump returned to office and empowered billionaire Elon Musk to eliminate thousands of federal government jobs and hundreds of millions in spending.

“We’re like the canary in the coal mine at this point. There’s more coming, and it’s going to come in these waves and it’s going to have a devastating effect.” — Bill McKinney, New Kensington Community Development Corporation

The funding pullback comes as Philadelphia’s shootings and homicides are down from historic highs during the Covid pandemic, which city officials and their partners attribute in large part to grassroots intervention programs. In March, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker proposed a fiscal year 2026 budget that left city violence prevention programs whole in the face of uncertainty from the Trump administration and the scheduled ending of a different federal funding stream, but it’s unclear how the city will respond to these latest cuts. Spokesperson Joe Grace did not respond to The Trace’s requests for comment.

Why defund a success?

The federal notice explained that organizations could appeal the decision, but that the department “has changed its priorities with respect to discretionary grant funding to focus on, among other things, more directly supporting certain law enforcement operations, combatting violent crime, protecting American children, and supporting American victims of trafficking and sexual assault, and better coordinating law enforcement efforts at all levels of government.” The Justice Department did not respond to The Trace’s request for comment.

New Kensington’s grant is a product of the Community-based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative, which the Biden administration established in 2022 to support anti-violence programs fostered by partnerships between residents and community groups, local governments and law enforcement agencies.

“There’s a national trend, including in Philly, of a reduction in violent crime which has been going on for the past couple of years that coincides with a lot of these programs. Why would you defund a positive trend? It doesn’t make any sense,” McKinney says. “This can’t be anything but political and vindictive.”

As of April 28, Philadelphia’s homicides were down 31 percent from the same time last year, and there were 18 percent fewer shooting victims, according to Philadelphia Police Department data. In 2024, homicides were down 37 percent and shooting victims were down 36 percent compared to 2023.

“Community-based approaches are one of the most efficacious approaches to reducing violence.” — Dr. Vivek Ashok, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

The Trump administration’s action means New Kensington will not receive about $600,000 in unspent money from its 2023 $1.5 million Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative grant. The money paid the salaries of McKinney’s six outreach workers. He’s hopeful that funds from a state grant and other sources can cover the lost federal money.

“We’re like the canary in the coal mine at this point. There’s more coming, and it’s going to come in these waves and it’s going to have a devastating effect,” McKinney predicts. “We’re going to turn the clock in the other direction at this point. Whether it’s the very direct things like this Cure Violence program, or all of those causal factors, we’re going to push back all of those things that create stability in people’s lives that prevent them from even getting involved in things where they even need interrupters.”

Cuts to gun violence prevention beyond Kensington

In addition to New Kensington, four other organizations in the Philadelphia area are facing funding cuts. Among them is Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which was granted $2.3 million in January 2023 to fund school safety research and evaluation through December 2028.

Children’s Hospital was already experiencing the fallout from another proposed round of federal grant cuts. In February, the National Institutes of Health announced it was slashing billions in payments made to research institutions, which a federal judge blocked in April. NIH has filed an appeal. Dr. Vivek Ashok, a violence prevention research fellow, said that because of the financial instability, Children’s Hospital was only able to offer some researchers one year of job security, so he began looking elsewhere. He’s found a new position at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he’ll start in June.

Ashok, a pediatrician, said he’ll be leaving Philadelphia with great concern about the impact of funding cuts. “We’ve made a lot of progress, especially last year, but really over the last four to five years with community violence intervention programs. Really, community-based approaches are one of the most efficacious approaches to reducing violence,” he says.

“This is not the time to cut funding for those programs. It’s going to exacerbate violence because a lot of these community-based organizations will be forced to shut down, forced to cut staff, and reduce their programming,” he adds. “We’re going to see an uptick in violence because those evidence-based solutions are going to go away.”

The other Philly area organizations subject to the cuts are: The Pennsylvania Innocence Project, awarded a $600,000 grant that was to expire in September 2027; the Village of Arts and Humanities Inc.; and Camden, N.J.-based Center for Family Services, Inc.

Parker, who has made public safety a top priority since taking office last January, has said she is open to working with the Trump administration. At the same time, she and her top advisors have also acknowledged the tumult the president has created.

At a community meeting on April 28, Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson called the latest Trump cuts “very, very alarming.” He, too, attributed Philadelphia’s decrease in gun violence to the work of community groups. “So, any cuts to those resources could have a significant impact,” he said.

The city received $2.8 billion in grants from the federal government last year, Philadelphia Finance Director Rob Dubow said in March, but some of them are now being “reexamined” and “temporarily held up,” creating uncertainty. Given “the large amount of grants that we get, any reduction could have a really big impact on our budget,” he says.

During her March budget address, Parker acknowledged that concern. “I know that there is uncertainty in the air right now,” she said. “People don’t know what to expect from their government. Uncertainty can breed fear.”

Mensah Dean is a staff writer at The Trace. Previously he was a staff writer on the Justice & Injustice team at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he focused on gun violence, corruption and wrongdoing in the public and private sectors for five years. Mensah also covered criminal courts, public schools and city government for the Philadelphia Daily News, the Inquirer’s sister publication.

MORE FROM THE TRACE