National Mass Violence Center honored with inaugural Congressional Award in Washington D.C.

Bipartisan leaders recognize center’s outstanding services for mass violence victims, survivors and affected communities

The National Mass Violence Center (NMVC) was honored with the United States Congressional Crime Survivors & Justice Caucus Award of Excellence today on Capitol Hill.

Caucus co-chairs, U.S. Reps. Jim Costa, D-California, and Anthony D’Esposito, D-New York, announced the inaugural award during its annual National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. This bipartisan recognition is presented at the discretion of the co-chairs to individuals and organizations that have been outstanding partners to the Crime Survivors & Justice Caucus.

“The National Mass Violence Center works to be a hub for evidence-based responses to instances of mass violence,” Costa said. “It is our nation’s go-to organization to help communities and their leaders and their allies to prepare for and to respond to and, more importantly, to recover after a mass violence crime has taken place in their community.”

When a mass violence incident (MVI) occurs in the United States, the NMVC team immediately curates a Resource Guide for leaders in the affected community, and the center’s professionals may be activated by the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) to provide on-the-ground guidance and technical support in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“We are incredibly honored to receive this award, grateful for the opportunity to serve victims and survivors of mass violence and appreciative that the Office for Victims of Crime has provided us with funding to accomplish our mission,” said NMVC director Dean Kilpatrick, Ph.D. “The NMVC team delivers year-round training, technical assistance, outreach and resources for mass violence preparation, response, recovery and resilience in addition to responding to mass violence incidents in real time around the country.”

At Costa’s request, the NMVC provides him with customized resource guides to share with the Congressional member in the affected community, along with a personal note. NMVC staff promptly responded directly to Costa’s request following mass violence incidents in Fresno, California, including a spree shooting in 2017 and a mass shooting in the Hmong community in 2019.

“When an incident happens in a community, I have leaned on the center to provide support and services,” Costa added. “While we all wish there was no need for a National Mass Violence Center to exist, I’m grateful that the NMVC works to help countless communities that are devastated by mass violence, and the center is truly deserving of our Caucus Award of Excellence.”

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-South Carolina, was invited to present the Award of Excellence to NMVC co-director Angela Moreland, Ph.D., at Tuesday’s ceremony. “The impact of your work extends far beyond individual survivors. Your knowledge and best practices equip the families and communities’ leaders, mental health professionals, journalists and policy-makers with an understanding of mass violence trauma and the tools to support survivors,” Clyburn said. “Your work is saving lives, not just physically, but emotionally as well.”

Moreland emphasized that the center strives for excellence by listening to mass violence survivors. “OVC had a big vision for us,” Moreland said. “It is survivors’ experiences, their personal stories and their lives that really help us to augment the research that we’re doing in those days, years and decades after mass violence so we can recover and build resilience moving forward.”

For nearly 20 years, the U.S. Congressional Crime Survivors & Justice Caucus has worked to elevate the voices of crime victims and survivors in Congress in a bipartisan manner. The caucus works diligently to protect the Crime Victims Fund that supports thousands of victim service organizations nationwide and emphasizes the importance of listening to crime survivors and those who serve them to guide Congressional actions and improve services and rights for crime victims.

“The goals of the caucus align with the values of the NMVC to guide community leaders, including emergency planners, elected officials and mental health professionals, to develop MVI response and resilience plans that are centered around victims and survivors,” Kilpatrick said.

Video of the awards ceremony is available online.

About NMVC 

Mass violence is a major problem in America that has killed and injured thousands and has a devastating impact on countless communities and our nation as a whole. The NMVC was established in October 2017, based at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), through a cooperative agreement by the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). The mission of the NMVC is to improve community preparedness and the nation’s capacity to serve victims and communities recovering from mass violence through research, planning, training, technology and collaboration.

About MUSC
 
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a unique mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates more than 3,200 students in six colleges – Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy – and trains more than 900 residents and fellows in its health system. MUSC brought in more than $300 million in research funds in fiscal year 2023, leading the state overall in research funding. MUSC also leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health funding. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.
 
As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Patient care is provided at 16 hospitals (includes owned or governing interest), with approximately 2,700 beds and four additional hospital locations in development, more than 350 telehealth sites and nearly 750 care locations situated in all regions of South Carolina. In 2023, for the ninth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.
 
MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $5.9 billion. The 31,000 MUSC family members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, students, contract employees, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.