Since funded in 2015, the Chicago Center for Youth Violence Prevention has focused its efforts on implementing the Communities that Care (CTC) model in Bronzeville, a primarily African American community located on the southeast side of Chicago. More than 70 community partners, representing a diverse set of stakeholders from school leaders and residents to government/civic leaders, nonprofits and businesses and guided by the CTC process, have come together to use data to inform the development and implementation of a Community Action Plan to reduce violence. Recognizing the long-standing structural inequities contributing to the disproportionate burden of violence in the community, the plan moves beyond the usual focus solely on implementation of evidence-based programs, to addressing factors related to the social and economic health of the community as underlying risk for violence. The plan builds from the existing strengths in the community, identifies gaps in resources and services, and outlines plans to fill those gaps by supporting programs and policies that are based on evidence of effectiveness. Engaging thousands of community residents over the past three years, this partnership has achieved substantial progress in efforts to 1) identify and deliver high- quality programs for youth and families; 2) advance education equity for all schools in Bronzeville; 3) increase the resilience of people affected by trauma; and 4) provide employment and placement services for residents of Bronzeville. We will continue implementation of this community-level strategy, deepen and extend evaluation of community- level effects on violence, evaluate community coalition functioning, and enhance dissemination strategies with a particular focus on developing materials to be used by other urban communities. The Center's primary aims are: 1) to extend the implementation of CTC to continue to build community-level infrastructure and capacity to implement, build upon, and advance the community action plan to reduce youth and other forms of violence; 2) to advance youth civic action activities by providing opportunities to learn about, research, and critically analyze policy-level decisions while developing leadership skills; 3) to examine coalition functioning within the ecological context of the community, conducting social network analyses to understand engagement and barriers to participation;4) to evaluate the extent and process through which the Community Action Plan developed is adopted and implemented across the community; 5) to further evaluate the diffusion of knowledge and impact of CTC through the faith community; and 6) to enhance and extend disseminate activities, particularly materials to be used by other urban communities.
Youth violence is the third leading cause of death among youth between the ages of 10 and 24 and the leading cause of death among African American youth (CDC, 2020). The activities proposed address this serious public health issue by implementing and evaluating a community-level prevention system to reduce violence. Through this supplement, implementation continues to build sustained capacity and evaluation is extended to include community coalition functioning. Dissemination strategies focus on developing materials to be used by other urban communities.
