A Longitudinal Analysis of Highest Risk Youth to Prevent Involvement in Violence

CeaseFire is a multi-pronged initiative that focuses on stopping shootings and killings. This paper focuses on the outreach component and long term changes in CeaseFire clients. Based on previous research and police information, CeaseFire identifies youth with specific risk factors for violence and provides positive alternatives for them. To increase the effectiveness of the outreach program, CeaseFire developed a new statistical database that allows longitudinal analysis of client progress.

During 2007, 75 outreach workers served 829 clients. Of these, 67% were African-American and 29% Latino. Ninety percent of clients were male and 69% were between the ages of 15 and 24. Additionally, 80% were “highest risk” based on CeaseFire's criteria; 93% are gang-involved, 60% have prior criminal history, and 90% are involved in high risk street activity (drug dealing, prostitution, illegal activity). At intake, 62% had not completed high school and 61% of clients were unemployed. Preliminary findings on employment issues show that from becoming a CeaseFire client until the end of 2007, employment (either part or full time) of clients increased 182% from 94 to 265 clients. Outreach workers talked with 44% of clients about their employment needs. Gains in school enrollment were much more modest as only 6% more clients enrolled in school and an additional 8% finished school while a client.

This paper will continue to explore longitudinal changes in positive life events and determine factors that may be influenced such as types of services provided, length of time needed for success, and additional points of intervention.