youth violence prevention centers

The University of Michigan’s Youth Violence 

Prevention Center (MI-YVPC) is one of five 

CDC-funded National Centers of Excellence in 

Youth Violence Prevention (YVPCs) that works 

to reduce youth violence through research and 

evaluation of innovative approaches. MI-YVPC 

has evaluated a number of approaches that 

apply principles of Crime Prevention Through 

Environmental Design (CPTED) to prevent 

violence. These approaches promote positive 

social activity and the safe use of spaces through 

enhanced visibility, improved design, and proper 

maintenance. One approach currently being 

evaluated by MI-YVPC is “greening”—such as 

mowing and planting community gardens on 

vacant properties — to reduce youth violence, 

property crime, and violence-related injuries.

— Dr. Marc Zimmerman, 

Principal Investigator

“If you can transform a community to show that people care, create places where they want 

to interact and make it look nicer, more positive activities will occur and the more negative 

activities will decline because there’s too many people watching, too many people who care.” 

Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention

National Center for Injury

Prevention and Control 1

how it works: 

safe places & 

busy streets

The goal of the MI-YVPC’s greening approaches 

is to mobilize residents to engage with one 

another and rebuild their neighborhoods to 

encourage positive social interactions and 

community development. The approaches test 

the hypothesis that, by caring for and maintaining 

vacant properties, youth violence and crime will 

decrease as positive connections with neighbors 

and pride in the community increase. 
By partnering with community-based 

organizations, MI-YVPC supports communities to 

address violence and crime by beautifying and 

reinvigorating their local neighborhoods. MIYVPC assists in these efforts by:

• helping organizations quantify the results 

of “greening” efforts to show that they 

are effective and to leverage additional 

support for continuing the work

• motivating residents to maintain their 

neighborhood, which creates a sense 

of pride and ownership among the 

community

• gaining the trust and support of donors 

for materials and equipment to continue 

the upkeep, and ultimately, 

• expanding to other high-burden 

neighborhoods to lower the risk for youth 

violence.

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“With these intervention programs, kids are learning. They’re learning about crime; they’re 

learning about their communities; they’re learning about themselves; and what kind of 

adult they want to become.” 

— Dr. Marc Zimmerman,

Principal Investigator

why “greening” works

The success behind CPTED rests on the 

shoulders of residents and local entities taking 

the needed steps to transform their own 

communities, which have been plagued by fear, 

crime, and disinvestment, into a safe space they 

are proud to live. As such, MI-YVPC has found 

that connecting youth and residents to their 

communities through property maintenance 

promotes positive activities and builds 

relationships.
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mi-yvpc’s impact

Current Work

To measure the success “greening” has on 

youth violence prevention, MI-YVPC designed a 

research evaluation with local organizations that 

are implementing CPTED approaches. MI-YVPC 

administers surveys at critical points throughout 

implementation of activities to assess knowledge, 

attitudes, and behaviors. The results of these 

surveys and police and hospital data serve 

as reference points to measure the changes 

different types of “greening” have on social 

processes, crime, and violence before and after 

implementation. MI-YVPC uses the information 

collected from these “greening” efforts to sustain 

and continue building positive community 

relationships and environments. 

Past Work

MI-YVPC previously implemented and evaluated 

a comprehensive youth violence prevention 

approach. This approach included multiple 

programs with CPTED activities, including Youth 

Empowerment Solutions (YES) and Clean and 

Green. YES promotes positive development 

among youth by empowering them to change 

their physical and social environments. A 16 

week curriculum includes activities that focus 

on leadership, cultural identity, community 

assessment, program planning and resource 

mobilization, and opportunities for meaningful 

community involvement. Clean and Green is a 

land trust program that engages neighborhood 

residents and community organizations 

in the beautification and maintenance of 

vacant parcels. 

“Five houses in our immediate neighborhood were renovated and all of these, including the 

gardens we have been maintaining, are beacons of health and hope and have absolutely 

inspired neighbors around us to begin doing things on their own property.”

— Resident of Flint, Michigan

 Involved from 2016-2017

Evaluation results showed neighbors 

reported increased communication 

with one another, lower amounts of 

victimization, lower levels of fear 

and crime, and overall increased 

neighborhood satisfaction. 

From 2010-2015, MI-YVPC showed 

a 38% decrease in youth assaultrelated injuries from those seeking 

treatment in a local emergency room. 

Further, youth in the intervention area 

were 25% less likely to be victims 

of a violent assault than youth in a 

comparison area without 

the interventions.
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Ultimately, the goal of MI-YVPC is to empower 

communities to reinvest, reconnect, and reinvigorate their neighborhoods through “greening” 

activities to create an environment full of growth 

and positive influence, thereby decreasing youth 

crime and violence. For this to happen, it will require commitment and dedication from residents, 

police departments, hospitals, city management, 

and other community-based organizations to work 

together to build up their communities, and, in the 

process, build up each other.

“If kids are engaged and get a chance to have some control and feel some power in the 

project, they will own it. It becomes their space that they want to defend, rather than 

participate in crime in that area.”

— Dr. Tom Reischl,

Evaluation Director

Visit The Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center (MI-YVPC): 

yvpc.sph.umich.edu/ 

Visit CDC’s Youth Violence Prevention Center: cdc.gov/violenceprevention/YVPC/

want to learn more?