Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • A night with Philly's ‘violence interrupters' teams as they offer services to curb bloodshed

    In Philadelphia, where the homicide rate recently hit a ten-year high, teams known as violence interrupters are stepping in to employ crisis intervention in high-risk areas. By using several different tactics including social media monitoring and embedding in neighborhoods, the program partners with communities rather than intruding which fosters better trust and leads to more positive results.

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  • Hospitals Are Trying To Do What Politicians Haven't: Stop Gun Violence

    The Capital Region Violence Intervention Program uses the "golden moment" when gunshot victims are receptive to guidance, in the initial hours of their hospitalization, to steer them away from retaliatory violence and enroll them in mental health and job counseling. About 30 hospital-based violence intervention programs around the country provide such services, which have been shown to reduce violent injury and death, though such studies have been small in scale. The capital region program's first 100 patients avoided further harm, a far better than average result.

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  • What is the public health approach to violence — and does it work?

    Public health approaches to violence, in which different sectors and agencies treat it as a contagious disease, has gained support across the world and has taken many forms. This approach relies on data collection to inform policy and devise services, as well as routine checks on the effectiveness of interventions and scaling the ones that work. While the public health approach to violence has saved costs and reduced police-recorded violence, there are ethical concerns about the widespread data gathering.

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  • Cities are getting more crowded: better design could stop violence

    Researchers found that more greenery in urban spaces reduces crime and this idea of combatting crime with good design is part of a discipline called Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, or CPTED. It spread around the world, but there also downsides. A new generation of CPTED advocates are expanding the field to consider social factors underlying crime and engage with local communities when designing projects because just discouraging crime is not enough to make spaces inviting.

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  • Want to Quit the Gang Life? Try This Job On

    Being in a gang or selling drugs is risky and often poorly paid, but many people caught up in it see too many obstacles in alternate paths to change. Readi Chicago addresses these barriers with cognitive behavioral therapy and subsidized jobs that allow participants to gradually build up skills and move into better positions. But the most important people are the outreach workers, many of whom came out of incarceration or gang life, and can build relationships to convince people to sign up.

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  • Fighting Street Gun Violence as if It Were a Contagion

    Most tough guys with guns don’t want to shoot. Trained violence interrupters can therefore jump in and find alternative ways to mediate disputes. Hired from the same neighborhoods in which they work, violence interrupters and outreach workers form the backbone of Cure Violence, a neighborhood-level program that has gone global treating gun violence as a self-replicating disease.

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  • Group Therapy Is Saving Lives in Chicago

    Young individuals who have lost loved ones to violence and live in violent areas are likely to perpetuate these trends. 'Becoming a Man' and 'Working on Womanhood' are programs that involve mentorship, behavioral therapy, and other skill development in order to help teenagers find a healthier path.

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  • This Kansas City neighborhood wrote the blueprint for transforming a community

    The Kansas City neighborhood of Ivanhoe was once plagued by blight, illegal dumping, drug trade, gun violence, and neglect; neighbors lived in fear or moved away. Inspired by one compassionate and proactive family, the Youngs, the community stepped up, partnering with the local university and a charitable foundation to map out a tangible blueprint for sustainable change. They are working with police and the city council to tackle the blight and revive their neighborhood through affordable housing, park space, and a renewed sense of community.

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  • Building Trust Cuts Violence. Cash Also Helps.

    Richmond, California has one of the nation’s highest gun violence rates, so Operation Peacemaker Fellowship tracks and identifies individuals at risk of committing violent acts or becoming a victim of violence. The Fellowship reaches out to each at-risk person with employment training, mentorship, and sends out teams to de-escalate conflicts within targeted communities. These “change agents” spend time with youth and get to know their families, so they can better understand how to help and offer a cash incentives to the targeted individuals who are part of the program.

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  • How the Most Dangerous Place on Earth Got Safer

    The gang-driven violence in Honduras has caused thousands to migrate to the United States. In the last three years, with emergency international aid from the United States, Honduras has experienced a 62 percent drop in homicides and has witnessed a decrease in the number of migrants entering the United States. The aid has gone toward community improvement projects and outreach centers, such as providing items for soccer games and other activities that dissuade gangsters from fighting each other. It also has supported more effective prosecution of homicides.

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