What’s working: How to develop an effective program

By Globe Staff

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in the U.S. to try to reduce the epidemic levels of violence that exist in many inner cities. There have been pockets of success in different programs, services and city initiatives, but overall, there has been an inability to sustain long-term effective violence prevention strategies. In this week’s What’s Working section, we will explore both local and national programs and services that have found success.
    In general, an effective program should be well thought out and researched. The program must know its target clients, who should be those most affected, involved or at risk of being involved in violence. The program should use a proven methodology at achieving the stated goals. The program or organization conducting the program must have the capacity — the necessary staff, resources and experience to implement the program. The program must be flexible, have thorough documentation and focus on what it is good at.
    A report of the National Violent Crime Summit released in October 2006 by the Police Executive Research Forum states that “law enforcement must focus on violent crime, but [law enforcement can] not solve it alone … other municipal agencies and social services organizations — including schools, mental health, public health, courts, corrections and conflict management groups — need to be brought together to partner toward the common goal of reducing violent crime.”
    A goal for the city of Richmond is to create and implement a violence prevention system based on a public health model emphasizing prevention, intervention and suppression. The surgeon general was instrumental in the crucial policy decision to move violence prevention under the umbrella of community health. According to a youth violence report from then-Surgeon General David Satcher, MD, PhD, in early 2001, health practitioners nationwide agree that the public health emphasis on prevention of disease or injury is a necessary alternative to the past emphasis on rehabilitation after violence has been committed. The public health approach to youth violence involves identifying risk and protective factors, determining how they work, making the public aware of these findings and designing programs to prevent or stop the violence.
    Documented research from multiple sources shows that successful violence prevention efforts are strategically orchestrated and systematic. National evaluators recommend a community needs assessment, determination of indicators of risk, coordination of local community resources and sustained local efforts aligned with resources that are directed at specific community needs.
    Studies continually show that the likelihood of violent behavior increases in direct correlation with the existence of risk characteristics or conditional factors. Thus, it is supposed that perpetrators of violence emerge as a result of individual and community conditions that foster violence. Research suggests that successful efforts to eliminate the impact of risk by fostering community health and resilient youth reduce violence.

Read the three Crime Series articles:
Blood in my eyes  - The Story of a Young Oakland Woman >>
What's working: How to develop an effective program >>
Examing Black on Black Crime by David Muhammad >>

Or download the entire Crime Series .PDF (584 KB) >>