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This presentation provides an overview of the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, its goals, participating federal agencies and communities, operating principles, and strategies for prevention. It highlights the importance of multi-disciplinary partnerships, data-driven strategies, and comprehensive planning in addressing youth violence.
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National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention Presentation to Mayor Francis Slay’s Commission on Children, Youth & Families April 19, 2012 Rev. Starsky D. WIlson Deaconess Foundation
The Forum A Network of communities and federal agencies that work together, share information and build capacity to prevent and reduce youth violence
The Forum Established by President Obama in 2010 to build a national conversation concerning youth and gang violence Models a new kind of federal/local collaboration Convenes a diverse array of stakeholders Provides federal capacity building assistance, coordinated funding and supportive network to Forum sites
Forum Goals Elevate youth & gang violence as an issue of national significance Enhance the capacity of localities, as well as others across the country, to more effectively prevent youth & gang violence Sustain progress and systems change through engagement, alignment & assessment
Participating Federal Agencies Department of Justice Department of Education Department of Health & Human Services Department of Housing & Urban Development Department of Labor Office of National Drug Control Policy
Participating Communities Boston, MA Chicago, IL Detroit, MI Memphis, TN Salinas, CA San Jose, CA
Three Operating Principles • Multi-disciplinary partnerships are key • Communities must balance and coordinate prevention, intervention, enforcement & re-entry strategies • Data and evidence-driven strategies must inform efforts
Multi-Disciplinary Partnerships • Coordination of diverse partners: • law enforcement • education • labor • social services • public health • businesses • philanthropic organizations • faith- and community-based organizations • parents and youth
Balanced Approach • Strategies should be broad-based and balanced: • Preventionefforts spanning from early childhood into young adulthood, such as • youth development • family support • school • community mentoring • school-based and out-of-school recreational activities • “Relational” Interventionand Enforcementprograms that engage with high‐risk and gang‐involved youth • Reentryprograms that plan for returning youthful offenders prior to their release
Data Driven Strategies • Data sharing should be inclusive of all stakeholder agencies • Integrate a wide-range of data from a variety of sources including • law enforcement • education • public health • child protection/welfare • Labor • housing • Collaboration is enhanced by embracing principles of distributed intelligence – many perspectives better than just one
Comprehensive Planning • Initiatives must be well planned to ensure: • Organizational alignment • Work to achieve a shared vision • All parties have a common set of measurements to gauge the effectiveness of the work • Regular adjustments can be made to the plan based local outcomes and opportunities
Summit on Preventing Youth Violence • Washington, DC - April 2-3, 2012 • More than 250 participants from Forum cities, government agencies, faith/community-based organizations, private partners, philanthropy & the White House • Select non-Forum cities invited • St. Louis Representatives • Rev. Starsky D. Wilson, Deaconess Foundation • Ms. Heidi Veron, Saigh Foundation
Summit Highlights • Highest level of inter-departmental participation • Reports on comprehensive approaches & results from Forum cities • Skill-building Sessions • Community-School Partnerships • Taking a Public Health Approach & Data-Sharing • Relationships between Law Enforcement & Youth • Responding to Youth Trauma • Philanthropy & Funding Innovation • Anti-Drug Campaigns & Cause-Related Marketing
Summit Highlights (Cont’d) • Launch of www.findyouthinfo.gov • Strategic Planning Toolkit • Promoting collaboration • Disseminating key funding opportunities • Highlighting promising strategies • Additional capacity building grants to Forum Cities • Announcement of desired expansion to four (4) new cities
Reflections from StL Representatives • WE WANT IN! • Key Selection Factors: • Demonstrated need • Illustration of multidisciplinary leadership commitment • All the “promising practices” are here (or forming), they simply need to be aligned (& a compelling reason to do so) • To be most competitive, St. Louis application effort would need to be led by the Mayor’s office & include regional participation
Sources • National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, Summit on Preventing Youth Violence (Washington, DC: April 2-3, 2012) • “Focus on Youth Violence” Presentation to St. Louis Health Funders Group by Lindsay Matush (Brown Sisters Foundation) & Heidi Veron (Saigh Foundation) • www.findyouthinfo.gov