MI-YVPC: A community-based, multi-level approach to youth violence prevention

Background/Purpose: Youth violence is a pervasive public health issue affecting not only youth, but also families, and communities. The Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center (MI-YVPC) focuses on a high-risk neighborhood in Flint, Michigan. Using six interventions operating on individual, relational, and community ecological levels, and encompassing both general and high-risk populations, MI-YVPC seeks to enhance family and peer relationships, increase neighborhood cohesion and participation, and improve environmental conditions in an effort to reduce violence among 10-24 year olds.

Methods: The interventions comprising our comprehensive approach to youth violence prevention are: 1) Youth Empowerment Solutions; 2) Targeted Outreach Mentoring; 3) Fathers and Sons; 4) Project Sync; 5) Clean and Green; and 6) Community Policing. The evaluation employs a two pronged quasi-experimental design to assess the effectiveness at the community level. We will assess changes in the social and physical environments of the intervention and matched comparison areas. Outcomes include police incidents, intentional injuries, perceptions of neighborhood safety, social capital and engagement, and property parcel assessments. The analytic plan involves: 1) comparative analyses across two neighborhoods with similar violence incidence and demographic characteristics; and 2) spatial analyses comparing outcomes across all census tracts.

Results/Conclusions: Results contribute to our understanding of the effects a comprehensive, empowerment-based approach to violence prevention can have on individuals and neighborhoods as a whole. The implementation of a multi-level prevention initiative poses methodological and practical challenges. We will report on the strategies used to address such challenges and how our strategies may be applied to other prevention initiatives.