TY - JOUR
T1 - Community Engagement in Youth Violence Prevention
T2 - Crafting Methods to Context
AU - Morrel-Samuels, Susan
AU - Bacallao, Martica
AU - Brown, Shelli
AU - Bower, Meredith
AU - Zimmerman, Marc
N1 - Funding Information:
The purpose of Youth Violence Prevention Centers (YVPC) Program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is to reduce youth violence in defined high-risk communities by means of the implementation and evaluation of comprehensive, evidence-based prevention strategies (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ). Within this common framework, the structure and methods of each YVPC varies; however all engage communities in multiple ways. We explore aspects of community engagement employed by three centers that operate in very different contexts: a rural county in North Carolina, a suburban area of Denver, Colorado, and an urban setting in Flint, Michigan.
Funding Information:
The activities described in this article were supported by the National Centers of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention. This program is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Violence Prevention under Funding Opportunity Announcement CE10-004, Cooperative Agreement Program for the National Academic Centers of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention. Academic institutions funded under this program include: the University of Chicago; the University of Michigan; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Virginia Commonwealth University; Johns Hopkins University; and the University of Colorado at Boulder. The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors’ affiliated institutions.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, The Author(s).
PY - 2016/4/1
Y1 - 2016/4/1
N2 - The purpose of the Youth Violence Prevention Centers (YVPC) Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is to reduce youth violence in defined high-risk communities through the implementation and evaluation of comprehensive, evidence based prevention strategies. Within this common framework, each YVPC varies in its structure and methods, however all engage communities in multiple ways. We explore aspects of community engagement employed by three centers that operate in very different contexts: a rural county in North Carolina; a suburban area of Denver, Colorado; and an urban setting in Flint, Michigan. While previous research has addressed theories supporting community involvement in youth violence prevention, there has been less attention to the implementation challenges of achieving and sustaining participation. In three case examples, we describe the foci and methods for community engagement in diverse YVPC sites and detail the barriers and facilitating factors that have influenced implementation. Just as intervention programs may need to be adapted in order to meet the needs of specific populations, methods of community engagement must be tailored to the context in which they occur. We discuss case examples of community engagement in areas with varying geographies, histories, and racial and ethnic compositions. Each setting presents distinct challenges and opportunities for conducting collaborative violence prevention initiatives and for adapting engagement methods to diverse communities. Although approaches may vary depending upon local contexts, there are certain principles that appear to be common across cultures and geography: trust, transparency, communication, commitment. We also discuss the importance of flexibility in community engagement efforts.
AB - The purpose of the Youth Violence Prevention Centers (YVPC) Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is to reduce youth violence in defined high-risk communities through the implementation and evaluation of comprehensive, evidence based prevention strategies. Within this common framework, each YVPC varies in its structure and methods, however all engage communities in multiple ways. We explore aspects of community engagement employed by three centers that operate in very different contexts: a rural county in North Carolina; a suburban area of Denver, Colorado; and an urban setting in Flint, Michigan. While previous research has addressed theories supporting community involvement in youth violence prevention, there has been less attention to the implementation challenges of achieving and sustaining participation. In three case examples, we describe the foci and methods for community engagement in diverse YVPC sites and detail the barriers and facilitating factors that have influenced implementation. Just as intervention programs may need to be adapted in order to meet the needs of specific populations, methods of community engagement must be tailored to the context in which they occur. We discuss case examples of community engagement in areas with varying geographies, histories, and racial and ethnic compositions. Each setting presents distinct challenges and opportunities for conducting collaborative violence prevention initiatives and for adapting engagement methods to diverse communities. Although approaches may vary depending upon local contexts, there are certain principles that appear to be common across cultures and geography: trust, transparency, communication, commitment. We also discuss the importance of flexibility in community engagement efforts.
KW - Community
KW - Engagement
KW - Prevention
KW - Violence
KW - Youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84960448564&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84960448564&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10935-016-0428-5
DO - 10.1007/s10935-016-0428-5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84960448564
SN - 0278-095X
VL - 37
SP - 189
EP - 207
JO - Journal of Primary Prevention
JF - Journal of Primary Prevention
IS - 2
ER -