boston’s integrated approach to violence prevention: the work of the defending childhood...
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Boston’s Integrated Approach to Violence Prevention:The Work of the Defending Childhood Initiative and the National
Forum on Youth Violence Prevention
Christopher BynerCatherine FineAndrea Perry
VIP
Choice Neighborhoods
PACT
Defending Childhood Initiative
Circle of Promise
Boston Public Schools
BCYF/ Streetworkers
Boston Public Health CommissionHealth
Department of Neighborhood Development
EOHHS -- DYS and DCF
Non-Profits
Clergy/ Faith-based
Youth
Businesses
Colleges/ Universities
Foundations
Community residents
JCS/ YOU Boston
Hospitals
Prosecutors Probation
Corrections
Federalagencies
Boston Police Department
Youth Violence Prevention
Funders Learning Collaborative
Community Policing – Safe Street Teams, Ceasefire, etc.
YouthConnectMAIG
Mayor’s Office
Boston Reentry Initiatives – adult and juvenile
City of Boston’s National Forum Youth Violence Prevention Plan:
Comprehensive, multi-agency, City-led three year action plan Person, place, and issue-based strategies Focused on gang and gun violence; young offenders/victims, their families and communitiesEnhanced information sharing and civic engagement in support of Prevention, Intervention, Enforcement and ReentryCommunity building and family strengthening are key components
Early Prevention Prevention Intervention Enforcement Reentry
STRATEGIES
0 AGE Early 30s
Low Level of Risk High
Principles of our Work: • Multi-disciplinary and reliance on partnerships• Community involved• Strengths-based• Considers social norms• Coordination and leveraging resources• Developmentally appropriate• Flexible
Evidence based/ evidence informed• Decisions about where to focus resources and
place based initiatives are data driven
• “The integration of best research evidence with [practicioner] expertise and [community, client] values”(Institute of Medicine 2001 report, Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century)
• Utilize effective methods to bridge the gap between research and practice
Community Level• The settings, such as schools, workplaces, and
neighborhoods, in which people live, work, and play and the characteristics of these settings that are associated with exposure to violence. – Prevention – designed to impact the climate (including
social norms), processes, and policies in a community– Intervention – designed to impact community-level
safety
Place-based Initiatives– Choice
Neighborhoods– Safe Streets Teams/
Community Policing– OJJDP Grant in
Mattapan– VIP/STRYVE
VIP/STRYVE: Violence Prevention through Community Engagement and Mobilization
Residents are a community’s primary asset
Social cohesion and efficacy are protective factors
Community mobilization can enhance social cohesion and efficacy
Operation Ceasefire– Multi-agency, national best practice– Targeting most active gangs, in terms of gun
violence– Messaging component to remove anonymity and
hold them accountable for their actions• Offering services• Promising enforcement consequences
– Relentless follow up on services and enforcement
Youth- Driven Social Marketing Campaign
• Healthy relationships and healthy masculinity messages• Feature Boston youth in
campaign materials.• Youth develop the messages,
manage social media and plan events. • Ongoing programming
implemented by Peer Leaders.
Family/Adult Influencer Level• Close relationships (peers, partners, family
members) that may influence behavior or otherwise impact the likelihood of experiencing violence as a victim or perpetrator
• Prevention – designed to support and educate adult influencers to provide positive modeling and messaging for young people; to provide resources and opportunities for siblings/children of those perpetrating violence
• Intervention – designed to provide resources for families impacted by violence
Recognize the role of adult influencers (coaches, youth workers) in communicating healthy relationship messages to youth. – Through DCI, Boston Centers for
Youth and Families lead effortto train over 40 athletic directorsto implement Coaching Boysto Men curriculum
– Host local Y-Summit
DCI identified need for increased training for frontline staff, providers, and residents to:• Increase their knowledge about the impact
of violence and trauma on children • Increase skills to support to children,
adolescents and families• Increase skills to promote resilience and
assets in children, adolescents and families
Build capacity of local agencies to implement Family Nurturing Programs – The Nurturing program is evidence based and has been
adapted for different cultural groups and developmental phases.
– Strengths based approach that builds nurturing relationships within and among families as well as connects to local resources.
– Meets families where are they are: health centers, early care centers, housing developments, and churches
Individual Level• Personal history and identity factors that impact
the likelihood of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence– Prevention strategies – designed to promote attitudes,
beliefs, and behaviors that prevent violence– Intervention strategies – designed to provide
resources for those exposed to/affected by violence and opportunities and/or suppression for those perpetrating violence
PACT InitiativePACT is a multi-agency, person and place-based firearm violence reduction initiative that focuses on the individuals driving firearm violence in hotspot neighborhoods.
The strategy aims to reduce firearm violence by:
•Targeting a small but dangerous group of gang involved youth with proactive law enforcement suppression tactics,
•Offering intervention and prevention services to PACT individuals and their family members, and
PACT Service Strategy Overview• PACT Clients: Education and Employment
Services• PACT Sibs/Children: Case Management with
focus on education and out of school time; out of school time and employment opportunities
Opportunities for practice change through the PACT Initiative
• Providing services to children and siblings of clients to interrupt cycle of violence• Expanding frame of service delivery from jobs
to healing. • Ask “What happened to you?”
• Challenge of accessing resources for multiple exposure to violence
Intersection between community violence and intimate partner violence
Year Total Arrests
Violent Offence Arrests
Domestic Violence Arrests
Year 1 210 66 arrests • 31.4% of total
arrests (66)
13 arrests • 6% of total arrests• 19.7% of violent
offence arrests
Year 2 220 62 arrests • 28.2% of total
arrests (62)
8 arrests• 3.6% of total arrests• 13% of violent offence
arrests
Through DCI, increase capacity of behavioral health system to provide evidence based treatments to address trauma– 3 Intensive Learning Communities reaching over
90 clinicians. – Increased Services at 2 Community Health
Centers.• Focus on family engagement through a family partner• Connection to a medical home and primary care• Sustainability
Primary prevention through: – Promoting healthy relationships among youth
through peer leadership. – Universal Social Emotional Learning Curriculums• Will reach 23 schools with the Open Circles curriculum• 7,000 students grades Kindergarten through 5th grade• Training 750 educators
Develop healthy relationships now to prevention future generations’ exposure to violence.