Preventing Youth Violence with Training and Technical Assistance

CDC, in September of 2013 awarded the American Institute for Research with a five year (2013 to 2018) cooperative agreement to assist local public health departments and their community partners in communities with high youth violence homicide rates to develop and implement comprehensive youth violence prevention plans that are based on the best available evidence from research and practice.

Why is Training and Technical Assistance to Prevent Youth Violence Needed?

Youth violence is widespread in the United States. It is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24. Deaths resulting from youth violence are only part of the problem. Many young people need medical care for nonfatal, violence-related injuries, such as cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Youth violence can also affect the health of everyone in the community. It can increase health care costs, decrease property values, and disrupt social services.

Research and experience in communities show it is possible to prevent youth violence, but many communities are struggling to make use of this information. Training and technical assistance can  build local public health departments’ infrastructure, capacity, and leadership in their community to implement effective youth violence prevention approaches.  Local public health departments and their partners can be assisted to use community data from multiple systems to understand local youth violence risk and protective factors, develop comprehensive approaches, and leverage existing resources or identify new resources to implement strategies that work to prevent youth violence.  

What is the Training and Technical Assistance that will be Provided?

Together the American Institute for Research and CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention will:

• Assist 12 local public health departments and their community partners in developing comprehensive youth violence prevention plans that are based on the best available evidence from research and practice.
• Develop tools and resources to assist 12 local public health departments and their community partners with coordinating and implementing youth violence prevention approaches that are part of their comprehensive plan.
• Provide targeted training and technical assistance to enhance the implementation of youth violence prevention approaches at 12 local public health departments. This support will include a variety of formats (distance and face-to-face) and vary in intensity based on community need.