Every day, an average of more than 200 Americans are hospitalized due to nonfatal firearm injuries. Everytown for Gun Safety estimates that more than 73,000 nonfatal shootings take place across the nation each year. Yet the lasting toll of nonfatal gun violence is often hidden from view, especially in marginalized, under-resourced neighborhoods.
“More than likely…, [these victims] will be discharged back to the same communities where they were injured, without ever having any resources or plan for how to reintegrate back into their community, knowing that they are suffering from physical injuries, some of which may be permanent, and also suffering from the psychological effects of being injured,” said Joseph Richardson, a professor at the University of Maryland who studies the impact of gun violence in Black communities.
In our latest story, the first in a series of articles about the financial costs of gun violence, we investigated how these adverse effects affect one aspect of survivors’ lives: their ability to work.
Our reporting details the myriad challenges gun violence survivors face in returning to past work or finding new jobs after their injury. It also reveals inadequacies in the safety net of victim assistance and disability programs that are designed to provide financial support to those who cannot work.
Here are some of the key findings.
Many factors can prevent gun violence survivors from returning to work post-injury.
Recovering from a gunshot wound can involve adjusting to temporary or permanent physical disabilities such as paralysis; chronic pain; or difficulty in walking, standing, or lifting. Due to these physical limitations, many survivors cannot return to their old jobs. Those who were not working can struggle to find employment.
Gun violence survivors often face mental health challenges as well, such as suffering from PTSD or depression. For some survivors, walking through the neighborhood where they were shot can be traumatizing. Others can struggle to use public transportation, making traveling to and from work difficult.
Inadequacies in victims assistance and disability programs means that gun violence survivors with limited resources struggle financially post-injury.
If a gun violence survivor cannot work temporarily or permanently after their injury, there are few programs they can turn to for financial assistance. There are temporary or long-term disability programs, victim compensation, and public benefits—but restrictive eligibility requirements and complicated bureaucracy have made these programs difficult to access. Some of these programs are also out of date, and the benefit amounts provided have not kept up with the cost of living. This means that gun violence survivors can struggle to make ends meet even if they are awarded benefits.
One gun violence survivor, Kareem Nelson, received just $583 per month from Social Security after being paralyzed by a gunshot injury.
These inadequacies make some gun violence survivors vulnerable to re-injury, fueling a cycle of violence.
Survivors who are denied by these safety net programs, or those who still struggle financially even if they are accepted, might begin or resume participating in illicit markets for income, putting them at heightened risk for re-injury. Research has shown that survivors of gun violence are more likely to experience a subsequent injury and to be arrested on a violence- or weapons-related charge compared to the general population.
Before his injury, Nelson was involved in selling drugs. Because the $583 he received in disability benefits was not enough to cover his expenses, he began selling drugs again after his injury.
“You have to pay rent, you have to clothe yourself, you still might want to go to a movie. You don’t have money to do any of these things, so it pigeonholes you back into what you’re known to do. And what I was known to do was sell drugs,” he said.
Black and Brown Americans are disproportionately impacted.
Black and Brown Americans are concentrated in under-resourced neighborhoods with higher rates of violence. One study examining the relationship between gun violence and disability found that in these high-violence neighborhoods, nonfatal shootings are linked with functional disability among young men.
“This is a population that really shouldn’t be dealing with a lot of functional disability, and violence appears to be at least a partial driver of why this might be happening,” said study co-author Daniel Semenza, a professor at Rutgers University.
Community programs in impacted neighborhoods are stepping up to help survivors.
There is some good news: Some community groups have created their own programs to assist gun violence survivors. Kings Against Violence (KAVI), a Brooklyn-based gun violence prevention organization, runs a support group that provides gun violence survivors with a safe space as they recover from their injuries. Interested participants are also matched with caseworkers to help them pursue education and work opportunities.
“Employment and educational opportunities for victims of gun violence adds to their healing,” said Ramik Williams, KAVI’s co-executive director. “Yes, there’s the physical portion of the healing, but the mental and emotional portion of the healing is only aided by them gaining a sense of efficacy in themselves. As they achieve more, as they do more, they’re more likely to heal from their traumatic experience.”