APRIL 2015, VOLUME 5, NUMBER 4 

IN THIS ISSUE 

Three Programs, a Shared Vision 

NOLA and Seattle Revel in Shared Learning 

Announcements and Upcoming Events 

• Funding opportunities 

• Training opportunities 

News and Views 

• Reports, Guidelines, and Briefs 

• News 

• Other Resources 

FORUM NEWSLETTER WELCOMES COMMUNITY-BASED 

VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM AND DEFENDING 

CHILDHOOD INITIATIVE 

by Bass Zanjani 

In December 2014, the Office of Juvenile Justice and 

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) issued a grant to bring 

together the National Forum on Youth Violence 

Prevention, the Community-Based Violence Prevention 

program, and the Defending Childhood Initiative under 

one umbrella for training and technical assistance (TTA). 

The convening of three separate initiatives was in part 

based on understanding that to address factors affecting 

violence and ultimately eliminate youth violence 

altogether, a shared framework is required. 

While these initiatives have unique strengths and 

differences, they share a vision and objective to end 

violence and trauma and ensure the well-being of young 

people throughout the country. The unified TTA grant 

takes the first step by providing crosscutting resources 

that allow sites in all three programs to learn from each 

other. In an effort to better understand and support the 

sites, a needs assessment was developed and 

implemented. Additionally, Development Services Group 

(DSG) is in the process of reaching out to the cities to 

gain a broader perspective on key issues related to 

governance, sustainability, and TTA. Based on the sites' 

responses in the needs assessment and follow-up calls, 

DSG will issue a report to OJJDP that delineates a wide 

range of crosscutting TTA ideas. 

In the spirit of taking a shared approach to TTA, we are
 

establishing a unified communications platform that
 

SEATTLE AND NEW ORLEANS GO PEER TO PEER 

In early March, a three-person delegation from the Seattle, 

Wash., National Forum site traveled to Louisiana to 

participate in the New Orleans Health Department's 

(NOHD's) Youth Violence Prevention Summit, and engage 

in peer-to-peer training. Chris Gunther, manager of 

strategic initiatives for NOHD, and Mariko Lockhart, 

director of the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, 

later shared with NFYVP News their recollections of the 

visit. 

New Orleans's Perspective 

by Chris Gunther 

Like that of our sister cities, New Orleans's work with the 

National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention involves a 

wide range of local partners: government agencies, 

schools, community-based organizations, mental health 

professionals, and advocates, to name a few. NOHD 

periodically convenes these groups for a Youth Violence 

Prevention Summit—a "come one, come all" gathering of 

our local partners in preventing violence. 

The NOLA Summit is an opportunity to update partners on 

our progress in preventing youth violence and collectively 

plan next steps as a community. During the Summit, we 

also try to provide opportunities for learning and training, 

which helps break the mold of a typical violence prevention 

meeting and reflects our commitment to building our 

partners' capacity for youth violence prevention. 

Visiting team from Seattle with members of CeaseFire New
 

Orleans. From left to right: Hakim Kashif, Mariko Lockhart,
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

highlights and promotes the tremendous work being done 

across the initiatives. In this issue of the Forum 

newsletter, we want to first introduce our readers to the 

other two programs and lay out our initial plan for 

expanding coverage to focus on the Community-Based 

Violence Prevention program and Defending Childhood 

Initiative. 

The Community-Based Violence Prevention (CBVP) 

program is working to stop youth gang and gun violence 

by taking evidence-based deterrence and public health 

approaches in 16 cities. CBVP is characterized by 

partnerships among law enforcement, service providers, 

residents, and community- and faith-based organizations. 

The initiative's overarching goal is to reduce violence in 

targeted communities through the replication of programs 

such as Operation Ceasefire, the OJJDP Comprehensive 

Gang Model, and the Cure Violence model. 

MORE » 

ANNOUNCEMENTS & UPCOMING EVENTS 

Funding Opportunities 

FY 2015 Grant Competitions: Office of Innovation and 

Improvement 

The Office of Innovation and Improvement will conduct 11 

grant competitions in six program areas: Arts in 

Education, Charter Schools, Investing in Innovation, 

Opportunity Scholarship, Ready to Learn Television, and 

Supporting Effective Educator Development. 

Announcements and details will follow through spring and 

summer. 

MORE » 

Training Opportunities 

White House Will Host AAPIs Summit 

As part of an initiative to improve quality of life for Asian 

Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), the White 

House will hold a summit on May 12, 2015, in 

Washington, D.C. Panels, workshops, and discussions 

with senior Administration officials, AAPI celebrities, and 

well-known community leaders will address a wide range 

of issues, including capacity building, civil rights, data 

disaggregation, economic development, education, 

health, immigration, and workforce diversity. 

MORE » 

Gregory Rattler, Sarah Walker, Dwight Anderson, Calvin Pep, 

Eleuthera Lisch, and Nicholas Holmes. 

MORE » 

NEWS & VIEWS 

Reports 

Growing Out of Crime 

Leaving crime behind could be something that happens 

with age. At least that was the finding of the Pathways to 

Desistance study (now available in e-book format), which 

followed more than 1,300 serious juvenile offenders as 

they transitioned from midadolescence to early adulthood. 

Youth whose antisocial behavior persisted into early 

adulthood were found to have lower levels of psychosocial 

maturity in their teen years and developmental deficits, 

compared with other antisocial youth. Most juvenile 

offenders, even those who commit serious crimes, grow 

out of antisocial activity as they gain impulse control and a 

future orientation. 

MORE » 

News 

Bullying No Match for Virtuous Behavior 

ThinkVirtues Inc. is an Illinois company that believes 

teaching children values could put an end to bullying and 

youth violence. The company uses more than 50 "virtue" 

cards each year to instill principles of good behavior, like 

courtesy, generosity, courage, and respect. Kathy Motlagh, 

co-founder of ThinkVirtues, said the goal is to help a child 

understand how these qualities can lead to good things. 

The program is practiced in five schools and taught to 

about 600 kindergarten and middle school students. 

MORE » 

Other Resources 

Keeping Trafficking Out of Schools 

With the right guidance, people who work with kids every 

day can pick up on the warning signs of child trafficking. All 

school community members—from administrators, to bus 

drivers, to teachers—should know the facts. The U.S. 

Department of Education has released a guide to help 

school staff identify and prevent trafficking. This guide has 

information about risk factors, signals, and what to do if 

you suspect child trafficking. 

MORE » 

Contact Us
 
Send questions or feedback about the newsletter to 

NFYVP@dsgonline.com or subscribe. 

DSG logo 

The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention Newsletter 

is prepared under Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention (OJJDP) Cooperative Agreement No. 2012–MU– 

FX–K009 with Development Services Group, Inc. 

The views, opinions, and content of this newsletter do not 

necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of OJJDP.