TOOLKIT: READINESS CHECKLIST 1

READINESS CHECKLIST

WHAT IS THE CARDIFF VIOLENCE PREVENTION MODEL? 

More than half of violent crime in the United States is not reported to law enforcement, according to the 

U.S. Department of Justice. That means cities and communities lack a complete understanding of where 

violence occurs, which limits the ability to develop successful solutions.

The Cardiff Violence Prevention Model provides a way for communities to gain a clearer picture about 

where violence is occurring by combining and mapping both hospital and police data on violence. 

But more than just an approach to map and understand violence, the Cardiff Model provides a 

straightforward framework for hospitals, law enforcement agencies, public health agencies, community 

groups, and others interested in violence prevention to work together and develop collaborative violence 

prevention strategies.

Below are a list of key steps and a checklist to determine the community’s readiness to adopt the Cardiff Model. The organization 

leading the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) can vary (e.g. law enforcement, hospital, university, health department). It is 

critical to have an individual within the organization who can assume a leadership role in convening and organizing the group. 

For each topic below, a task is outlined along with identifying the readiness level. There is space to write in next steps and identify 

a target completion date. This Readiness Checklist is intended to identify high-level tasks and establish due dates. Please note that 

each task may have several sub-tasks that must be completed to achieve the task listed on this checklist, and note that this list is 

not exhaustive. For example, under "Establish a CSP," this task may include (1) reaching out to area partners (area hospitals, area 

law enforcement agencies), (2) convening a conference call or in-person meeting to discuss the Cardiff Model and forming a CSP, 

and (3) talking internally within each organization to ensure that each organization is interested in joining the CSP and engaging in 

local violence prevention activities.
TOOLKIT: READINESS CHECKLIST 2

TOPIC: COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP READINESS

TASK READINESS

LEVEL NEXT STEPS

TARGET 

COMPLETION 

DATE

Establish a Community Safety 

Partnership (CSP). Key partners should 

include law enforcement, a public health 

agency, and hospital(s), and other key 

partners may include other government 

agencies, universities, and other local 

community organizations

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Establish where, when, and how often the 

CSP will meet

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Determine most useful violence 

information to be collected. Critical 

information includes: time, date, 

weapon used, and location of injury; 

other information may also be useful to 

address specific needs

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED
TOOLKIT: READINESS CHECKLIST 3

TOPIC: HOSPITAL READINESS

TASK READINESS

LEVEL NEXT STEPS

TARGET 

COMPLETION 

DATE

Work with hospital leadership to obtain buy-in and support, especially among 

these groups:

• Emergency Department – Physicians

• Emergency Department – Nurses

• Trauma Department (if applicable)

HAVE NOT STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Determine who is able to regularly attend CSP meetings as a hospital 

representative (may be more than one individual)

HAVE NOT STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Establish process with appropriate hospital staff to determine ability to 

integrate Cardiff Model injury information into the electronic medical record 

(EMR) or planned record-keeping system

HAVE NOT STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Work with hospital departments to (1) integrate the injury information 

data collection fields into the EMR/record-keeping system, (2) identify and 

train appropriate hospital staff to collect violence information (e.g. nurses, 

registrars), and (3) extract violence information at regular intervals – 

established by the partnership – and share with an appropriate partner so 

they can combine data and create maps to share with the community safety 

partnership

HAVE NOT STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Develop a communication plan for the hospital, which may include:

• identifying a communication lead

• developing internal communication materials

• developing external communication materials

HAVE NOT STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED
TOOLKIT: READINESS CHECKLIST 4

TOPIC: LAW ENFORCEMENT READINESS

TASK READINESS

LEVEL NEXT STEPS

TARGET 

COMPLETION 

DATE

Work with law enforcement contacts to obtain buyin, especially from:

• Command Staff/Leadership

• Analysts

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Determine who is able to regularly attend (CSP) 

meetings as a law enforcement representative 

(may be more than one individual)

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Identify a process for information sharing and 

mapping, this may include:

• Receiving hospital violence information

• Combining violence information with law 

enforcement records

• Creating maps with hospital violence 

information and law enforcement records

• Sharing maps with the CSP

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED
TOOLKIT: READINESS CHECKLIST 5

TOPIC: FINANCIAL, LEGAL, AND TECHNICAL READINESS

TASK READINESS

LEVEL NEXT STEPS

TARGET 

COMPLETION 

DATE

Identify legal and regulatory 

considerations including institutional 

review boards or institutional legal 

departments

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Determine how data are shared and kept 

secure (see note)

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

Determine costs and whether these 

can be supported internally or identify 

funding mechanisms

HAVE NOT 

STARTED

IN PROGRESS

COMPLETED

NOTE: Sharing injury information from hospital records in accordance with the local legal and regulatory environment may require 

collaboration with the local or state public health department.

LEARN MORE about the Cardiff Model and how to start using it in your community’s violence 

prevention efforts at www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/fundedprograms/cardiffmodel

This material was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The pilot of the Cardiff Violence Prevention Model was a collaboration 

between the CDC, DeKalb County Police Department, Grady Health System, the University of Pennsylvania, and the CDC Foundation. Support for this pilot was 

provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.