BALTIMORE – With his dad in prison and his mom suffering from alcoholism, Malik Grant faced abandonment and instability early on. He got used to people letting him down.

So when outreach workers from a Baltimore anti-violence program offered to help him stay safe and leave the streets behind, he didn’t necessarily have high expectations.

Two years later, Grant has an apartment and a full-time job with the city’s Department of Public Works. He recently started his own business that provides cleaning, landscaping and junk removal services. He plans to hire other young men from his old neighborhood to show them what is possible with hard work.

“I just needed a push,” he said with a smile.

Grant, 29, is among about 200 people receiving support through Baltimore’s relatively new Group Violence Reduction Strategy, which targets the root causes of gun violence: hopelessness, joblessness, poverty, mental health, substance abuse, housing instability, poor conflict resolution and more.

The program uses a “carrot and stick” approach. Where possible, it offers resources and social services to those most likely to become shooters or victims. But if they stay involved in crime, they face police investigation and potential prosecution, which has led to over 350 arrests since the new strategy launched in January 2022.

The early results are promising.

Baltimore’s homicides plummet

Baltimore recorded 201 homicides in 2024, the lowest annual total in over a decade, according to police data. It marks a 23% drop from the previous year, a downward trend that began in 2023. Nonfatal shootings also have fallen significantly.

To some extent, the data echoes nationwide trends since many cities saw violence peak during the pandemic. Philadelphia and Detroit are among those recording a recent drop in homicides.

It’s a relief for Baltimore, where gun violence surged after the 2015 death of Freddie Gray exposed an urgent need for police reform. And while other factors almost certainly contributed to the decrease, including changes in policing and strong detective work, city leaders are quick to credit efforts like the Group Violence Reduction Strategy.

The program assigns each participant a life coach to help navigate everything from obtaining a driver’s license and opening a bank account to applying for food stamps, earning a GED, finding stable housing and holding down a job.

That often means leaving behind familiar patterns and embracing the unknown, even when a brighter future seems inaccessible or unlikely, said Sterling Herring with Youth Advocate Programs, which contracts with the city to provide services.

“A lot of our guys won’t know their social security number, but know their jail ID,” Herring said. “That’s the mindset that we have to change.”

Grant survived a shooting in 2020 that left him hospitalized in a coma. After he connected with Youth Advocate Programs, he was eligible for emergency relocation and spent several months in hotels before moving to his current apartment. It’s the first place he can proudly call home, and he shares the space with his beloved husky-pit bull mix.

After months of receiving rental assistance, he will soon start fully covering the rent on his own.

And Grant’s company recently signed its first contract. He joked that being diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder makes him uniquely suited to run a cleaning business.

“He turned his childhood trauma into treasure,” life coach Sacha Smith said.

A city finds success in systemic change

Experts say so-called “focused deterrence” programs are among the best ways to reduce gun violence, but Baltimore has tried and failed to implement similar strategies in the past.

For them to succeed, participants need a life-changing level of support, which requires dedicated and effective staff with access to sufficient resources. The law enforcement side of the equation requires building strong cases that lead to successful prosecutions.

“It’s a hard thing to get right,” said Daniel Webster, a professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Gun Violence Solutions in Baltimore. “What you really want that program to do is change an entire system of how law enforcement works to combat gun violence.”

While praising the city’s recent efforts, Webster also pointed to federal and state legislation to tighten gun laws and a more aggressive approach to prosecuting illegal firearm cases in Baltimore.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore Police Department is undergoing significant court-ordered changes aimed at curbing unconstitutional practices. The agency was placed under a federal consent decree after the Justice Department launched an investigation in the wake of Gray’s death from spinal injuries sustained during police transport.

Homicides spiked around that time and remained elevated for years.

Police Commissioner Richard Worley said the city is now proving it’s possible to simultaneously reduce violent crime and reform law enforcement. He attributed the success to strong partnerships between city agencies, community groups and law enforcement.

A strategy set to go citywide

The new anti-violence strategy now operates in four of nine police districts, with plans to expand citywide. Researchers found it was responsible for reducing shootings and homicides by roughly a quarter in the 18 months after it was implemented in the city’s notoriously violent Western District.

Worley said increased community trust and lower caseloads are also helping detectives solve more homicides. Officers are going after the relatively small number of known shooters, rather than conducting large-scale arrests.

Mayor Brandon Scott, who won reelection last year, released a five-year plan in 2021 that he hoped would reduce Baltimore gun violence by 15% annually. He created a new office to oversee anti-violence efforts, including the city’s flagship Safe Streets program, which employs conflict mediators with credibility and knowledge of the streets.

“We’re talking about really a herculean effort,” Scott said in a recent interview.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore visited Baltimore earlier this month for a news conference about the homicide numbers, praising what he called “an ‘all of the above’ approach.”

But officials also acknowledged the still-staggering loss of life.

Kierra Morrison, whose 17-year-old son was shot and killed on Christmas Eve, attended a candlelight vigil this month in downtown Baltimore to mourn last year’s 201 victims. The city’s recent accomplishments brought her little comfort.

“I’m lost for words,” she said.

Morrison said her son had recently been talking about enrolling in a job training program. It made her hopeful he would find a bright future despite recent challenges. If only he’d had more time.