2004

* The Partnership receives a two-year Clarian Health Values Grant to implement a suicide and firearm injury prevention program for faith leaders.

* The Partnership hosts a meeting for faith leaders to kick-off the two-year Clarian Values Grant program. About 75 faith leaders attend to learn more about suicide and firearm injury prevention and receive resource materials to use in their counseling efforts as well as training materials to train others on the topics.

* The Partnership collaborates with IPD on an educational and media campaign, entitled, “7 Sundays of Non-Violence,” that encourages the faith community to offer prevention resources and intervene with individuals who may be at risk for suicide or gun injury.

* John Aumage and Dr. Shen, epidemiologist, test the data surveillance system to ensure it’s reliability.

* Allen County (Ft Wayne) coroner as well as two of the Allen County hospital ER’s agree to provide data for the Partnership’s data surveillance system.

* The Partnership begins discussions with Indiana State Department of Health regarding the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). Over the past two years, federal funding has been distributed to states who have demonstrated readiness to participate in NVDRS.

* The Partnership receives a $40,000 additional grant from the Joyce Foundation to hire a researcher/grant writer.

* The Partnership contracts with the IU Center for Survey Research in Bloomington to repeat the random, statewide, telephone survey related to firearm injury prevention policy measures that was originally fielded in 2000. The results echo those of the 2000 survey and indicate that the majority of Hoosiers favor stricter gun laws, in spite of the fact that nearly half of Hoosier homes own at least one gun.

* The Partnership works with grassroots advocacy groups on Indiana HB 1349 which is approved into law. Originally the proposed bill as written granted complete immunity to gun owners for acts related to use of their gun by another person and was added to a “sure to pass” bill during the final hours of the session. Language was added which did add some degree of responsibility for gun owners. Now, the current law grants immunity to a gun owner ONLY if another person obtains his/her gun by means of burglary, robbery, theft, conversion, or receiving stolen property.

* The Partnership presents information to Indiana regional Head Start staff at their annual retreat. Staff have recently begun to routinely ask parents if they keep guns in the home, and are interested in creative ways to do this as well as available resources.

* The Partnership with funding from Clarian Health hosts it’s fifth annual meeting, entitled, “Youth Violence: Community-Wide Prevention and Intervention Strategies.” Keynote speakers are Marleen Wong, Executive Director of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress and Robert Woodson, Founder and Director of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise.

* Xun Shen, the Partnership’s epidemiologist resigns to move to Oregon to work on the NVDRS.

* The Partnership’s two-year renewal grant from the Joyce Foundation ends on December 31, 2004