National Academic Centers of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention

The ten National Academic Centers of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention (ACE) serve to connect academic and community resources to study and create lasting ways to prevent youth violence. The ACEs work with community members and a variety of educational, justice and social work partners to develop action plans, community partnerships, and community priorities to prevent youth violence in their local communities. The ACE Coordinating Center was established with the purpose to initiate, foster, and support coordinated efforts among the ACEs.The ACE Coordinating Center recently began collaborating with UNITY, Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth through Violence Prevention, another CDC-funded initiative. While UNITY focuses on developing strategy and communication to support cities in establishing the infrastructure necessary for effective youth violence prevention efforts, the work of the ACEs and the Coordinating Center emphasizes the partnership with and evaluation of community-based violence prevention initiatives. The knowledge gained from the ACEs' research will inform UNITY's work to identify and disseminate best and promising practices and approaches to preventing youth violence in cities. Additionally, UNITY's work will inform ACE activities and the direction of the Coordinating Center as the projects partner to develop a national strategy for youth violence prevention. Some ACE research topics include: juvenile re-entry, community capacity for prevention, community initiative to reduce gun violence, SAFE Children Effectiveness Trial, a family-based preventive-intervention with Chicago inner-city first graders, and an expressive writing intervention with 7th-graders. The presentation will highlight in detail the activities and outcomes of one ACE site.