NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE 

PREVENTION UPDATE 

2010–2016 
The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, Community-Based 

Violence Prevention, and Defending Childhood initiatives reflect a 

movement of stakeholders that include communities, nonprofits, and 

NATIONAL 

YOUTH VIOLENCE 

local and federal governments to end youth violence. This movement PREVENTION gives voice to parents, youths, teachers, police officers, social workers, 

and others in the communities most affected by crime by providing 

scientific approaches that can make lasting impacts. This approach 

gives communities the tools to lessen the grip of violence and create 

social change that leads to increased child well-being and safety. 

“When a child opens fire on another child, there’s a hole in that child’s heart that government can’t fill, only community 

and parents and teachers and clergy can fill that hole... And so that means that this is not just a gun issue, it’s also an 

issue of the kinds of communities we are building—and in that, we all share a responsibility.” – President Barack Obama 
 

 

“It is easier to build strong children 

than to repair broken men.” 

– Frederick Douglass 

INTRODUCTION
 

Most Americans will agree that our children are our greatest national resource. 


The national youth violence prevention strategy comprises three 

signature initiatives: the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention 

(Forum), the Community-Based Violence Prevention (CBVP) program, 

and the Defending Childhood initiative. 

Taken as a whole, these initiatives represent a strategy and framework 

that leverages cross-sector, multilevel, and community-based 

collaborations. The strategy engages a broad spectrum of local 

leaders, law enforcement executives, educators, youth-serving 

practitioners, agency heads from various public systems, and youths 

and their families. 

To achieve their goals of violence prevention, crime reduction, norms 

change, and well-being, these innovative strategies employ joint 

decision-making, shared governance, and collective impact. 

Achieving our shared goals will not be easy. And progress may not 

come immediately. When Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at the March 

on Washington in 1963, he referred to the “fierce urgency of now.” 

He reminded a divided nation that we need one another—and that we 

are stronger when we march forward, together. Creating a better future 

for our children and youth is a cause that unifies us. 

This update provides a survey of the salient features and impacts 

of these three violence prevention initiatives. We invite you to learn 

more about these and other programs at http://www.youth.gov. 

Please join us in our efforts to ensure that children are healthy, safe, 

and educated. 

NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION | 1 
Overview: 

NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION
 Federal and local 

partnerships 

Today, 39 sites across the nation are 

working in partnership with the federal 

government to end youth violence by: 

• Drawing on expertise and resources 

from a shared framework 

• Addressing root causes rather than 

symptoms 

• Using a multidisciplinary approach 

to focus on common outcomes 

• Engaging important public and 

private stakeholders and assets 

• Using trauma-based approaches 

These partnerships are based on 

real-time and peer-to-peer information 

sharing. They also include widespread 

community support and engagement. 

And they have brought about real and 

lasting change. 

This effort also brings together law 

enforcement communities and faith 

communities, called “Communities 

of Practice.” Each group convenes 

either faith leaders or law enforcement 

officials from across the country to 

discuss success, common challenges, 

and emerging trends that may 

require different types and levels 

of intervention. 

Until recently, many cities lacked effective 

interventions that focused on prevention or addressed any root 

risk factors that lead to violent behavior. 

That changed in 2010, when the U.S. Departments of Justice, 

Education and other federal agencies united in a singular mission: 

to prevent and reduce youth violence across the nation. 

With this mission in mind, the initiatives coalesced around a 

definitive body of research demonstrating that youth violence is 

not inevitable. That understanding also prompted a governmentwide shift in the approach to juvenile justice—from enforcement 

to public health. 

Through an organized, well-coordinated, sustained, and 

resourced effort, we can go beyond interrupting the cycle of 

violence; we can prevent it. 

Addressing root causes 

Violence results from the complex interplay of multiple factors. 

Prevention and intervention strategies must be equally nuanced, 

addressing root causes beyond the symptoms. In addition, 

these strategies, when coupled with existing law enforcement 

efforts, have yielded important gains. 

The most effective violence prevention strategies are 

developmentally based responses, tailored to the individual. 

They also address risk and protective factors and provide 

opportunities for positive development. 

Neighborhoods greatly influence health and education 

outcomes, too. Effective prevention and intervention strategies 

must account for the impact of impoverished or segregated 

neighborhoods on youth and children, such as environmental 

hazards, high crime rates, poor quality of housing and schools, 

and lack of access to healthy food and physical activities. 

A Shared Framework 

The Shared Framework to Reduce Youth Violence and Promote 

Well-Being (Shared Framework) was developed by the Office 

of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and 

the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That 

framework is common ground for those working to reduce youth 

violence, and it extends across all three initiatives. 

The framework engenders understanding and collective 

action with a unifying paradigm and common language. It also 

describes values, action principles, and a theory of change built 

on three decades of research and practice. 

Stakeholders use the Shared Framework to bring their own 

perspectives into alignment with others, propelling their work 

with families, communities, and states working toward the 

same goals. 
 

Funders and policymakers use the Shared Framework to develop joint 

policy statements, standardize language for funding requests, and develop 

shared program and funding priorities. 

The Shared Framework provides a common path for collective action. 

Evidenced-based programs 

Among the distinguishing features of the three initiatives is a strong 

emphasis on evidence-based programs (EBPs). One example of this is 

the Community-Based Violence Prevention initiative, which uses three 

evidence-based models that have demonstrated their efficacy through 

research and evaluation to high-risk, gang-affiliated violence. The 16 

cities that implement this initiative draw on the research and resources 

either from one, two, or all three models to provide interventions for 

violence, especially gang violence. 

Beyond this specialized intervention, EBPs are leveraged across the other 

two initiatives to provide strong causal evidence and provide confidence 

in the expected results and impact of the intervention. Rather than relying 

on anecdotal or qualitative evidence, rigorous research in youth violence 

prevention provides cities effective blueprints that can bring real gains. 

Using trauma-based approaches 

When children are exposed to violence, it can harm their developmental 

growth and create lasting scars. But applying what we know about youth 

development and the impact of trauma can help stop—and even prevent— 

the cycle of violence. 

The youth violence prevention strategy embeds both positive youth 

development activities and trauma-informed care practices. The cities 

implementing the Defending Childhood initiative, as well as most of the 

cities implementing the Forum, employ a plethora of trauma-based strategies. 

Trauma-informed care identifies, assesses, and heals people injured by or 

exposed to violence and other traumatic events. When youth workers and 

others recognize the signs of trauma, they can adapt their responses by 

applying best practices and policies to avoid retraumatizing individuals. 

Learn more at http://youth.gov/youth-topics/preventing-youth-violence/. 

The Forum has The Forum is centered on shared 

outcomes. We work as one to 

address youth violence and three goals: achieve common goals. 

1 Elevate youth and gang 

violence as an issue of Every community has different 

national significance. areas of focus and employs 

different models or methods. 

The Forum model accommodates Enhance the capacity of a range of system reforms and 

2 

participating localities, as well evidence-based strategies. as others across the country, to 


more effectively prevent youth 
 At the same time, the Forum and gang violence. model ensures consistency and 

accountability. It promotes the 

3 

Sustain progress and systems use of community assessments 

change through engagement, and strategic planning that use 

alignment and assessment. data to inform decision-making, 

improve programs and ensure 

that programming is relevant. 

NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION | 3 
Overview: 

THREE YOUTH 

VIOLENCE PREVENTION INITIATIVES 

Technical Support 

An interagency group—comprising 

OJJDP and its federal partners— 

aligns local site resources with 

federal resources. 

The group, in partnership with the 

training and technical assistance 

providers, administers technical 

assistance, oversight and capacity 

building to the 39 grantee sites, 

working directly with them to 

address emerging needs, spur local 

action, and improve operational 

efficiency to effectively address 

youth violence. 

Training and technical assistance 

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice, through its 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), 

funded three initiatives: 

• The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention (Forum) 

• Community-Based Violence Prevention (CBVP) 

• The Defending Childhood initiative 

Collectively, these initiatives reflect an important realization: 

Youth violence is not one sector’s problem to solve. It affects 

every aspect of a community’s health and vitality. 

Ending youth violence is a many-faceted mission. It means 

that families, neighborhoods and communities must work 

to address prevention, intervention, treatment, and reentry 

strategies. It requires diverse partners to coordinate and 

integrate multiple strategies. 

These three initiatives reflect that thinking. They embed evidencebased programs, best practices, and promising strategies. 

They draw on multiple disciplines and broad federal agency 

expertise, including the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, 

Labor, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban 

Development, as well as the White House Office of National Drug 

Control Policy. And they address the essential components of 

community life and youth development through the combined 

efforts of local businesses, philanthropic organizations, faith-based 

organizations, and other youth- and community-serving groups. 

Together, the Forum, CBVP, and Defending Childhood provide 

a comprehensive, balanced roadmap to promote the healthy 

development and well-being of children and youth by eliminating 

violence and victimization. 

also provides strategic plan 

development and crisis 

management, aligning 

enhancements with other local 

initiatives, onsite trainings, and 

cross-initiative learning. 9 National Forum 

cities reported 

reductions in 

OUT OF homicides and

15 juvenile violent 

crime during 2014 

The Community-Based Violence Prevention 


Program cities reported 


reduced gun increased community 

violence engagement 

The Defending Childhood Initiative has built local 

capacity by supporting: 

600 723 538
 professional awareness publications and 

trainings events advertisements 
 

 

The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention 

(Forum) represents a network of 15 communities and federal agencies that 

work together, share information, and build local capacity. Communities 

use prevention, intervention, enforcement and reentry strategies to stop 

violence and sustain their accomplishments. 

The Forum is supported by a Federal Coordinating Team that includes the 

U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, Housing, Labor, and Health and 

Human Services, among others, to align efforts and resources. 

The Community-Based Violence Prevention Program 

(CBVP) concentrates on stopping youth gang and gun violence in 16 cities 

through evidenced-based deterrence and public health approaches. CBVP 

is characterized by partnerships among law enforcement, service providers, 

residents, and community- and faith-based organizations. 

The Defending Childhood initiative seeks to prevent and more 

fully understand the impact of trauma resulting from children’s exposure 

to violence (CEV). CEV is associated with long-term physical, mental, and 

emotional harm. It puts children and youth at greater risk of failure in school 

and in the workforce, making future victimization and involvement in the 

juvenile and criminal justice system more likely. 

To interrupt the cycle of violence and its negative consequences, the 

Department of Justice awarded grants to six communities and two tribal 

nations to implement evidence-based treatment, community-based 

solutions for violence prevention, and to revise policies and practices within 

the public systems that serve children and families. 

“We don’t view this [National Forum] as just 

another government program or another 

initiative, this is about life and death.” 

– Angel Rios, Jr., Director of the Parks Recreation Services Dept., San Jose 

A Forum grant was Micah’s lifeline 

“Life is defined by your hurdles, and my hardest hurdle started when I was 13,” 

says Micah. His family became homeless. Then he was on his own in Boston. 

A Forum grant was Micah’s lifeline. He had the chance to learn coding at 

Resilient Lab in Boston. Today, Micah is a software engineer at the Boston 

Globe. When asked about who he looks up to, his response was: 

“My mission is to try to make [myself] someone to look up to.” 

Learn more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU1UunsFgpU 

The Defending Childhood initiative at work 

in Grand Forks, North Dakota 

It’s hard to concentrate at school when you know your mother is being 

physically abused at home. “My mom had a broken nose and two black eyes,” 

says Kyle. “I was still a kid, but I felt like it was my fault, because I wasn’t there 

to protect her.” 

Today, Kyle is 18 and has a promising future. A Defending Childhood initiative 

grant helped him get through school. “I learned how to concentrate and handle 

situations, which made my life less lonely and a lot happier,” he says. 

NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION | 5 
CITIES AND SITES 

Profiles and Achievements 

Site Initiative Achievements Evidence-Based Strategies 

Baltimore is leveraging its Forum grant to support a 

Cradle-to-Career pipeline of positive youth development 

opportunities through B’More for Youth! Collaborative. 

Through Cure Violence, it targets violence in key 

neighborhoods, developing community relationships, 

identifying survivors and engaging in conflict mediation. 

Baltimore’s CBVP program, known as Safe Streets, 

uses targeted intervention to specifically address gun 

violence, in the hopes of reducing fatal and non-fatal 

shootings in targeted neighborhoods. 

Forum 

CBVP 

- Working to reduce fatal and non-fatal shootings through Safe Streets 

- Connecting youth to job training, education or employment 

- Expanded intervention activities to 5 community sites 

- Improving outcomes in mediations 

Forum: 

- Cure Violence 

- Functional Family Therapy (FFT) 

- Nurse Family Practitioners 

- CeaseFire 

CBVP: 

- Cure Violence 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 

Baton Rouge is focusing on preventing youth violence in 

at-risk neighborhoods with positive activities for younger 

children. It’s also implementing trauma-informed care in 

schools. The community has replaced hopelessness with 

the belief that they can solve their problems together. 

CBVP - Developed collaborative community response to violence, partnering 

with law enforcement 

- Improved case management results 

- Ongoing training in substance abuse and mental illness for law enforcement 

- Implementing trauma-informed care into school/social programs 

- Launched a youth summer wellness program 

- Gun Violence Reduction Strategy 

- Multisystemic Therapy (MST) 

Forum 

CBVP 

Defending 

Childhood 

- Decreased homicides in 2015 by 25% vs. 2014: lowest in 16 years 

- Continuous declines in Part One Crime and arrests 

- Expanded Violence Interrupter program, including gang intervention and 

prevention outreach 

- Creating new opportunities for youth through police/faith community 

partnerships 

- Trained 230 youth program peer leaders 

- Reached 185 families through Family Nurturing Programs 

Forum: 

- Positive Behavior Interventions 

& Supports (PBIS) 

- Trauma Informed Care 

- Boston About Results 

Defending Childhood: 

- Attachment Self-Regulation and 

Competency (ARC) 

- Nurturing Parenting Program 

- Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) 

- Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior 

Therapy (TF-CBT) 

CBVP: 

- CeaseFire 

- Cure Violence (violence interrupter) 

- Richmond Homicide Units social 

norms model 

Baltimore, Maryland 

Boston, Massachusetts 

Building on its history of collaboration, community 

involvement and innovation to address youth 

violence, Boston is enhancing and coordinating its 

multidisciplinary and data-driven strategies around 

prevention, intervention, enforcement and reentry. 

Planning with partners has clarified the city’s 

strengths, challenges and long-term focus areas. 
 

Site Initiative Achievements Evidence-Based Strategies 

CBVP - Cure Violence 

Brooklyn, New York 

Brooklyn is taking a multifaceted approach to reduce 

shooting and killings, beginning with norm change 

and community mobilization to shift beliefs and 

promote healthy changes. Save Our Streets tracks 

gun violence incidences in Crown Heights, engaging a 

wide population and many community organizations to 

mobilize prevention efforts. 

Camden, New Jersey 

- Reducing gun violence through Save Our Streets (S.O.S.) 

- Leveraged CBVP grant for additional $14 million in funding from NYC/nonprofits 

- Provided case management and employment assistance to 25 youth 

outreach workers 

- Expanded Cure Violence model across NYC 

Forum 

CBVP 

- Created a Cure4Camden Community Survey to assess violence beliefs in 

4 target neighborhoods 

- Increased percentage of Camden residents with appropriate beliefs about 

violence and its risks 

- Established goals to reduce shootings, homicides, ER visits related to gunshot 

injuries and juvenile arrests 

Forum: 

- Cure Violence 

- Positive Behavioral Intervention 

& Supports (PBIS) 

CBVP: 

- Cure Violence 

Camden focuses on the root causes of violence, 

including urgent public safety issues. The Camden 

Forum on Youth Violence Prevention Task Force 

addresses hot spots for crime/violence: neighborhoods 

that align with Promise Neighborhoods and Choice 

Neighborhoods initiatives, leveraging existing 

investments and collaborations for greater, faster impact. 

Chicago, Illinois 

Forum - Violent crime dropped to a 50-year low recently in 67/77 communities 

- 33% reduction in public school suspensions for 2013/2014 school year 

- Placing high-risk youth in summer jobs 

- Gang Enforcement officers visiting victims’ schools 

Forum: 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions 

& Supports (PBIS) 

- Becoming a Man (BAM) 

- Match Tutoring 

- CeaseFire 

- Youth Shooting Review 

Chicago is investing deeply in primary prevention 

programs with a broad reach, deploying targeted, 

evidence-based strategies. The Mayor’s Commission 

for a Safer Chicago includes 130+ staff, youth experts, 

community leaders, parents and youth who are 

managing the implementation of the city’s youth violence 

prevention plan. 

Chippewa Cree Tribe, Montana 

Together with law enforcement, Social Services and 

other partners, the Tribe is educating community 

members on the impacts of youth violence, and 

providing needed services to victims. It is reinforcing 

traditions and spirituality and engaging many families in 

positive events. 

Defending 

Childhood 

- Providing services to those exposed to violence 

- New program serving domestic/sexual violence victims 

- Created child advocacy program 

- Creating action plans for child welfare cases shared by social service entities 

- American Indian Life Skills 

- Chippewa Cree Positive Indian 

Parenting curriculum 

Cleveland, Ohio 

Cleveland draws on its past success with an ongoing 

anti-gang initiative, integrating multiple data streams, 

ideas from community listening sessions, and lessons 

from its Defending Childhood initiative. Diverse 

stakeholders are collaborating to reduce violence. 

Forum - Expanding programs to include violence prevention and development needs 

for 15 – 25 year-olds 

- Gun violence Reduction Strategy 

- Improving policy/community relations with youth through engagement 

activities and training 

- Functional Family Therapy (FFT) 

- Multisystemic Therapy (MST) 

- Trauma Informed Care 

- G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance 

Education and Training) 

- Operation Night Light 

NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION | 7 
Site Initiative Achievements Evidence-Based Strategies 

Cuyahoga County, Ohio 

The county is increasing awareness of and responses 

to childhood exposure to violence, developing traumainformed policies, and expanding prevention/treatment 

services. A strong network of organizations signed a 

pledge of commitment to defending childhood. 

Denver, Colorado 

Defending 

Childhood 

- Identified need for agencies to improve screening for youth trauma and violence 

exposure 

- Implemented a system response for early detection of trauma symptoms and 

violence exposure 

- Screened 30,000 at-risk children 

- Trauma-Focused Cognitive 

Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) 

- Alternatives for Families: a Cognitive 

Behavior Therapy (AF-CBT) 

- Parent Child Interaction Therapy 

- Multisystemic Therapy (MST) 

- Adult and Children Together (ACT) 

- Families and Schools Together 

(FAST) 

CBVP - 200+ agencies working to reduce gang violence 

- Strengthened criminal justice partnerships through collaboration 

- Improved gang intervention process 

- G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance 

Education and Training) 

- CeaseFire 

- Multisystemic Therapy (MST)/ 

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) 

- Moral Reconcation Therapy (MRT) 

Aggression Replacement Training 

(ART)/Thinking for a Change (T4C) 

- Comprehensive Gang Model 

The Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver (GRID) fosters 

partnerships to curtail youth and gang violence through 

intervention and redirection, offering youth more prosocial activities and skills that will deter and sustain 

them through strong schools, communities, services 

and families. 

Detroit, Michigan 

Forum 

CBVP 

Significantly reduced shootings and homicides in target precincts, including: 

- 5th precinct: 20% reduction in homicides YTD 

- 9th precinct: 52% reduction in non-fatal shootings; 43% reduction in homicides 

- Improved community engagement and positive perception of police 

Forum: 

- CeaseFire 

- Positive Behaviors Interventions 

& Supports (PBIS) 

CBVP: 

- CeaseFire 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions 

& Supports (PBIS) 

Detroit’s community stakeholders identified priorities 

as: adult involvement, education, employment, law 

enforcement and public safety. It is rebuilding youth 

employment systems for access to job and career 

opportunities. The city, foundations and nonprofits are 

investing in the city. 

Grand Forks, North Dakota 

40+ organizations created the Safer Tomorrows Project, 

raising awareness of violence, developing social norms 

for healthy relationships and offering services to aid 

healing. Teaching violence prevention to every K-12 

child in the county. Also promoting respect/nonviolence 

through school sports. 

Defending 

Childhood 

- Trained 320+ teachers on violence prevention/ healthy relationships 

- Reduced reported bullying 35% 

- Serving 250% more students with school therapists 

- Trained 600+ youth professionals 

- Building Native American cultural competency in youth workers 

- Olweus Bullying Prevention Program 

(OBPP) 

- Eye-Movement Desensitization and 

Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) 

- Healthy Families 

- Al’s Pals and Al’s Caring Pals 

- The Fourth R 

- Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) 

- Restorative Justice Practices 

- Specialized Therapeutic Services 

- Friendships that Work 
 

Site Initiative Achievements Evidence-Based Strategies 

Kansas City, Missouri 

The Aim4Peace program works with individuals and the - Reduced killings/shootings in priority area: 8% decrease in total violent 

community to detect, interrupt and reduce violence. It incidences from 2013 to 2014 and 16% reduction in total violent incidents 

engages through street outreach, conflict mediations between 2008 and 2014 

and in community activities that support violence - Trained professionals to de-escalate crises, mediate disputes and intercede 

prevention efforts. The program is impacting violence - Increasing prevention activities in deadliest city sectors 

throughout the community. - Attracted additional funding for police department 

- Connecting high-risk youth to opportunities and resources 

Long Beach, California 

CBVP - Cure Violence 

Forum - Establishing interagency data and information-sharing practices 

- Over 60 stakeholders collaborated on vision/strategic plan for the Central Long 

Beach Promise Zone Application 

- Identifying model practices in data collection and information-sharing with 

partner organizations to improve responses and interventions to public safety 

challenges 

- California Gang Reduction, 

Intervention/Prevention Program 

- Trauma Informed Care 

- Mentoring 

- Wrap Around Case Management 

- Triple P – Positive Parenting Program 

The Long Beach Forum grant supports implementation 

of Safe Long Beach, a violence prevention plan that 

shares information across city components. Its broad 

safety agenda is aimed at reducing all forms of violence. 

The city’s crime statistics continue to show a positive trend. 

Los Angeles, California 

CBVP - Creating Proyecto Palabra, a specially trained “gang specific” intervention 

team to reduce gang violence in a target zone 

- Creating connections throughout the city/govt. leaders to leverage resources 

and drive cross-sector cooperation 

- Providing family case management services to gang members 

- Family Case Management Model 

based on Bowen Family Systems 

Therapy 

- GRYD Strategy, modeled after the 

Gang Reduction Comprehensive 

Model 

Forum - Violence Interrupter 

- Hospital-Based Strategies 

- Restorative Justice 

LA’s CBVP initiative is linked to other city organizations 

and service providers, creating efficiencies between 

projects, events and resources. To improve 

communications and reduce retaliation, the team 

works with the LAPD to identify violent crimes by gang 

members and coordinate its intervention efforts. 

Louisville, Kentucky 

Louisville is working across sectors and bringing young 

people to the table to inform its efforts. Its new action 

plan, One Love Louisville – Youth Edition, is addressing 

youth violence by focusing on systemic challenges that 

impact youth. 

Memphis, Tennessee 

Through the Forum network, Memphis launched a 

comprehensive public safety plan in 2011. Focused 

on violence suppression, prevention, intervention, 

and reentry, it involves 100+ partner organizations. 

It also coordinates efforts with Defending Childhood 

Initiative and the Forum to avoid duplication and 

leverage new resources. 

- Developing partnerships between University Hospital, Health Department and 

Mayor’s Office to implement a hospital-based intervention program for shooting 

and stabbing victims 

- Providing Psychological First Aid training to 60 community members 

- Successfully intervening for children exposed to violence through cross-agency 

partnerships 

- Reducing disparities and homicides of boys and men of color 

- Nearly tripled levels of community engagement in activities each month 

- Promoting economic, social and educational opportunities for youth 

Forum - Dramatic 23% reduction in major violent crimes since 2006 

- Added youth development opportunities: after school programs, summer 

youth employment, and more 

- Attracting additional investments to support violence prevention, including 

substantial increase in pre-K funding 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions & 

Supports (PBIS) 

- Gang Reduction Assistance for 

Saving Society’s Youth (GRASSY) 

- Gun Down 

- School House Adjustment Program 

Enterprise (SHAPE) 

NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION | 9 
Site Initiative Achievements Evidence-Based Strategies 

Minneapolis, Minnesota 

When youth violence peaked in 2006/2007, the city 

sought broader solutions beyond police suppression and 

deterrence. It launched Blueprint for Action, part of the 

city management and planning system. The public health 

approach is data-driven and collaborative, with a focus 

on youth development opportunities. 

Multnomah County, Oregon 

Forum - 34% decrease in youth victims of crime (2007-2015) 

- 76% decrease in youth arrests with a gun (2007-2015) 

- 62% decrease in youth gunshot victims (2007-2015) 

- Successfully partnering across public/private/nonprofit sectors 

- Triple P – Positive Parenting Program 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions & 

Supports (PBIS) 

- G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance 

Education and Training) 

Defending 

Childhood 

- Launching Black Men & Boys Healing Summit in Portland, OR; providing public 

school coaching on initiative 

- Aligning multiple county departments around violence prevention strategies 

- Training community health workers on childhood exposure to violence 

- Training 5,500 adult youth workers 

- Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) 

- Attachment, Self-Regulation and 

Competency (ARC) 

- Kids Club & Moms Empowerment 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions & 

Supports (PBIS) 

The county’s needs assessment revealed that domestic 

violence is a primary path of exposure to violence for 

its children. Its Defending Childhood initiative brings 

together resources from across the county to raise 

awareness among professionals, community members, 

families, and youth about the prevalence of children’s 

exposure to violence. 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

Forum - Dramatic 31% drop in murders from May 2015 to May 2016 

- Launched youth leadership program with Health Department 

- Published citywide report on youth violence with the Health Department 

- Leveraged grant to win additional $100k+ from state, nonprofits 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions 

& Supports (PBIS) 

- Group Violence Reduction Strategy 

- Cure Violence 

- Triple P – Positive Parenting Program 

The city’s murder reduction strategy leverages support 

from the Forum. NOLA FOR LIFE includes a Playbook to 

prevent youth violence. It creates a structure for youth 

violence prevention, coordinates and integrates youth 

violence prevention activities toward shared priorities, 

establishes bench marks and fosters accountability. 

Newark, New Jersey 

Newark uses a hybrid strategy to reinforce the message 

that violence is not the answer. It is complementing 

violence deterrence efforts with community mobilization, 

credible outreach, improved access to needed services 

and additional youth job opportunities. 

CBVP - Working to reduce shootings/murders by 50%+ in the central and south wards, 

and reduce violence 30 - 35% citywide 

- Expanding Newark Prisoner Reentry Initiative 

- Created Hotspot, a hybrid evidence-based model based on CeaseFire 

- CeaseFire 

- Cure Violence 

Newport News, Virginia 

The Targeted Outreach Program takes a familycentered, youth-focused approach to juvenile violence 

reduction and prevention. Comprehensive resources 

and preventive services focus on at-risk families and 

include wraparound case management, group facilitation 

and community education, mobilization, and awareness 

activities with the local police department. 

CBVP - Creating expanded access to positive alternative activities for an additional 

225 young people 

- Training additional youth leaders in asset-based community development 

- Training more community members to serve in schools, after-school programs 

or community centers 

- All Stars 

- Asset-Based Community 

Development (ABCD) 

- Wraparound Case Management 

Oakland, California 

Oakland’s violence prevention and intervention programs 

create/sustain an integrated violence intervention 

system, driving coordinated service and improved 

outcomes. It has changed the community’s perspective 

of youth violence prevention through increased 

awareness of the effects of violence. 

CBVP - Attracted foundation funding for case management services/engagement 

program 

- Doubled the reach of outreach teams, funding case managers who work with 

youth at high risk for gun violence 

- Reduced violent incidents with Peace in the Parks initiative 

- Cure Violence 

- CeaseFire 
 

 

Site Initiative Achievements Evidence-Based Strategies 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Forum 

CBVP 

- Significantly reduced shootings in the CeaseFire intervention police district 

- Expanded city’s street team 

- Increased community involvement and contact with staff after shootings 

Forum: 

- Cure Violence 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions 

& Supports (PBIS) 

- CeaseFire 

CBVP: 

- Cure Violence 

Philadelphia has identified immediate priorities in its plan 

to reduce and prevent youth violence. It is deploying 

outreach workers to intervene and mediate conflicts, and 

connecting high-risk youth to needed social services. For 

victims of violence, it is creating a continuum of support. 

Portland, Maine 

Defending 

Childhood 

- 100+ classrooms received violence prevention curriculum 

- Produced video/PSA on preventing childhood exposure to violence 

- Implemented universal outpatient pediatric screening for violence exposure/ 

trauma in health system 

- Increasing all children’s access to evidence-based trauma treatment 

- Implemented 3 evidence-based clinical trauma treatments 

- Training 2,000+ on childhood exposure to violence 

- Child and Family Traumatic Stress 

Intervention 

- Child Parent Psychotherapy 

- Second Step Skills for Academic and 

Social Success 

- Trauma-Focused Cognitive 

Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) 

Portland Defending Childhood Intervention’s work 

focuses on educating the community about violence 

prevention, collaborating with provider groups—including 

legal, health and mental health—to improve children’s 

access to supports and treatment, and providing 

evidence-based clinical treatment for those children who 

have experienced violence. 

Prince George’s County, Maryland 

The county’s CBVP initiative focuses on expanding Safe 

Streets. It serves people most likely to become victims 

and/or perpetrators of gun violence within a targeted 

area, using outreach and community mobilization 

strategies to reduce and prevent shootings and killings. 

CBVP - Successfully engaged the community through Violence Interrupters 

- Launched large, youth-led social media/media campaign 

- Developed partnerships with county law enforcement and juvenile court system 

- Cure Violence 

Rosebud Sioux Tribe, South Dakota 

Defending 

Childhood 

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is finding meaningful ways - American Indian Life Skills

to prevent, respond to and reduce the impact of 

youth violence across its reservation, which includes 

20 different communities. Through youth leadership 

activities and Lakota teachings, the Tribe aims to heal 

from historical trauma as they organize for justice. 

Salinas, California 

- Developed the Sicangu Youth Council (SYC) to support strong cultural 

identities and promote healing 

- Made cultural activities and ceremonies accessible for youth through the SYC 

- Collaborated across community to send youth to White House Tribal Youth 

Gathering in Washington, D.C. and Carlisle Indian Industrial School 

- Developed a Procedure Manual for trauma-informed service providers 

Forum - Ongoing reduction of the youth violent crime rate to a 12-year low in 2015. 

In addition, the sustaining of our broad cross sector collaborative, now its 

9th year, and the pioneering of a unique community/place based policing model 

- YES! Program 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions 

& Supports (PBIS) 

- CeaseFire 

- Community Policing 

- Community Leadership Academics 

Salinas is using a comprehensive plan to change the 

community’s thinking and to show that there are viable 

alternatives to living in neighborhoods where gang 

violence is the norm. Stakeholder input ensures that 

limited resources are effectively deployed in the areas 

identified by the community as most in need. 

NATIONAL YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION | 11 
Site Initiative Achievements Evidence-Based Strategies 

San Jose, California 

The Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force (MGPTF) is a 

grass-roots initiative that uses a nationally recognized 

model to address issues of gang violence. And through 

the BEST program (Bringing Everyone’s Strengths 

Together), residents are working together to successfully 

impact juvenile crime and school success outcome. 

Seattle, Washington 

Forum - Reduced crime rates since 2000: 38% drop in violent crime, 27% drop in 

juvenile violent crime 

- 34% decrease in gang-related incidents from 2009 to 2010 

- City added $1 million for gang prevention task force 

- Attracted a $1.5 million state grant for a hospital-based intervention program 

- Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) 

- Motivational Interviewing 

- Aggression Replacement Training 

(ART) 

- 7 Challenges 

- Comprehensive Gang Model 

Seattle’s Human Services Department published a needs 

assessment for violence prevention strategy in Dec. 

With improved data collection, collaboration between 

agencies/regional partners and research, it is gaining 

capacity to address youth violence, attracting additional 

investments for prevention and making an impact. 

Forum - Since the establishment of the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative 

in 2009, juvenile violent crime has decreased 

- Arrests of youth for violence between 2008 and 2014 have decreased by 

41% compared to a 22% reduction in all arrests for violence 

- Juvenile court referrals for violence have decreased 50% between 

2008 and 2013 

- Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring 

- Aggression Replacement Training 

(ART) 

Shelby County, Tennessee 

Defending 

Childhood 

- Engaged 316 participants in youth development activities 

- Enrolled 160 youth/families in case management services 

- Trained 90+ outreach workers 

- Developed a screening protocol for state custody of children 

- Required trauma training for child protective service workers 

- Trained 100 child welfare workers in traumatic stress principles 

- Trauma-Focused Cognitive 

Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) 

- Healing Homes 

- Coaching Boys into Men (CBIM) 

- Positive Behavioral Interventions & 

Supports (PBIS) 

The Defending Childhood/NOVA initiative is changing 

community perceptions of youth violence by saturating 

targeted areas with information on trauma’s impact 

on children. The county is using Defending Childhood 

Initiative funding to provide trauma training to law 

enforcement, juvenile court staff and Early Childhood, 

Social Work and Education students. 

Syracuse, New York 

CBVP - Successfully implemented Comprehensive Gang Model in 2014 

- Combined various gun and gang violence initiatives into a collaborative 

community effort 

- Successfully working as a team focused on violence intervention 

- Cure Violence 

- TRUCE 

- Trauma Informed Care 

- Comprehensive Gang Model 

In 3 years of dedicated collaboration, Syracuse has 

implemented a Comprehensive Gang Model, integrating 

individual gun and violence initiatives under one umbrella 

partnership: ‘Cus Cares. This network of partnerships 

is more effectively serving the public and targeting areas 

at large. 

Washington, D.C. 

The District is progressing toward a citywide strategy to 

youth violence prevention with the Blue Print for Youth 

Violence Prevention. And Its DC YouthLink Program 

works with young people following release from secure 

placements; their services have been extended to assist 

the District’s youth on probation. 

CBVP - Recent legislation passed by the City Council and the Mayor’s “Safer Stronger 

DC” initiative both provide outlines of a more public health approach to the 

youth violence prevention 

- The District of Columbia has adopted and reformulated portions of the 

CSC’s Critical Incident Meeting Protocol as the foundation of its “Community 

Stabilization Team” meetings in response to homicides and other serious 

injuries suffered as a result of youth involved violence 

- Building multisystem partnerships and trust 

- Solution Focus Brief Therapy (SFBT) 

- Family group conferencing 

- Restorative Justice Practices 

- Gang Intervention Partnership 

(outreach and violence interrupter) 
62%

decrease in youth victims of crime 

2007-2015 

76%

decrease in youth arrests with a gun 

2007-2015 

decrease in youth gunshot victims 

2007-2015 

34%

Minneapolis: 

IMPACT IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES 

In Minneapolis, youth violence rates may be low 

compared to other cities. But no community is immune from its 

far-reaching effects. 

After a notable crime spike in 2006, city leaders took action. 

They implemented a multisector and multiyear master plan: 

Blueprint for Action to Prevent Youth Violence, a precursor to 

the National Forum strategy. In 2012, Minneapolis was invited 

to join the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention. 

Minneapolis’ youth violence prevention plan takes a public health 

approach, treating violence as a disease. Activities are informed 

by public health principles and aligned with the Forum framework 

of prevention, early intervention, reentry and enforcement. 

The Blueprint Approved Institute provides training and funding 

to agencies and individuals. Staff convenes frequently, 

collaborating with youth workers to share data and updates 

at community-based meetings. 

“The initiative’s strategic framework, robust multisector 

collaboration, and public health approach shine a new light 

on youth violence prevention,” according to Sasha Cotton, 

youth violence prevention coordinator with the Minneapolis 

Health Department. 

“This approach goes much further upstream to address the root 

cause of violence such as poverty, poor school performance 

and lack of community connectedness,” says Cotton. 

Minneapolis’ Blueprint is driven by five key goals. The progress 

of each goal is monitored through the Health Department and 

the city’s results management system, ensuring that city-funded 

programs are data-driven and capable of driving measurable 

results. And the results speak for themselves: 

• 34% decrease in youth victims of crime (2007-2015) 

• 76% decrease in youth arrests with a gun (2007-2015) 

• 62% decrease in youth gunshot victims (2007-2015) 

• In 2013, Minneapolis had zero youth homicides 

Given the importance and investment of the youth violence 

prevention work, city leaders have incorporated it into the city’s 

performance management tool called Results Minneapolis. This 

results-focused, data-driven tool aligns strategic management, 

performance and resource allocation for its salient programs. 

The most recent Youth Violence Prevention Results Minneapolis 

report is available at: http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/ 

groups/public/@citycoordinator/documents/webcontent/ 

wcms1p-109365.pdf 
In the face of daunting—and often dispiriting—challenges, the efforts of the cities 

and sites profiled in this update prove that a more promising future is possible. 

They are creating safer, healthier communities in which all of our 

young people can grow and thrive. They are an inspiration. 

The fierce urgency of now has galvanized these communities. 

Baltimore, Maryland Denver, Colorado Minneapolis, Minnesota Prince Georges County, Maryland 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 

Boston, Massachusetts 

Brooklyn, New York 

Camden, New Jersey 

Chicago, Illinois 

Chippewa Cree Tribe, Montana 

Detroit, Michigan 

Grand Forks, North Dakota 

Kansas City, Missouri 

Long Beach, California 

Los Angeles, California 

Multnomah County, Oregon 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

Newark, New Jersey 

Newport News, Virginia 

Oakland, California 

Rosebud Sioux Tribe, South Dakota 

Salinas, California 

San Jose, California 

Seattle, Washington 

Shelby County, Tennessee 

Cleveland, Ohio Louisville, Kentucky Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Syracuse, New York 

Cuyahoga County, Ohio Memphis, Tennessee Portland, Maine Washington, D.C. 

Learn more visit http://youth.gov 

Prepared under OJJDP cooperative agreement #2014-MU-MU-K021. 

The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations 

expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not 

necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.