Violence Prevention Resources

Selecting Strategies

Much has been learned about youth violence prevention over the last 5 years and many cities – large and small – have successfully reduced violent injuries and crime. The leader in the public health approach to violence prevention, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has created “Veto Violence,” which offers training, tips and tools designed specifically for prevention practitioners, in a friendly and interactive format. The CDC has also developed technical packages on youth violence prevention and intimate partner violence. These packages offer programs, policies and practices that are state of the art to help those building a violence prevention program or wanting new ideas to enhance an existing program.

Maybe you’ve found the right program, but it’s not a perfect fit for your population and you’d like to make some adaptations.  Download CDC’s  “Using Essential Elements to Select, Adapt, and Evaluate Violence Prevention Approaches,” to make sure that your changes do not affect the program’s outcomes.  

Another tool from the CDC is their “Connecting the Dots” publication that shows how multiple forms of violence share risk and protective factors. Practitioners know that multiple forms of violence often coexist in the same community, such as youth violence and violence in the home. By identifying the shared root cause for these problems, communities are better able to address the violence and to select strategies that impact multiple forms of violence.

The Prevention Institute, in Oakland CA helps communities prevent violence, through a wealth of projects and initiatives. Does your city’s comprehensive plan include all of the basic strategies shown to reduce violence? Check out their UNITY Policy Platform with strategies from primary prevention to re-entry. Then review “Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience: Understanding, Addressing and Preventing Community Trauma,” to address trauma resulting from on-going violence that can undermine efforts to promote health, safety and well-being.

In addition to their “Model Programs Guide,” the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) offers literature reviews on dozens of topics, from afterschool programs to the wrap around process. These reviews provide descriptions of various strategies, their theoretical foundations, expected outcomes, research results and extensive references.