Division Of Violence Prevention Research Articles

How the Global Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys Help Improve Pediatric Global Health.

How the Global Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys Help Improve Pediatric Global Health.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Investments in Adverse Childhood Experience Prevention Efforts

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Investments in Adverse Childhood Experience Prevention Efforts

Moving Evidence to Action: A Strategy to Support the Implementation of Comprehensive Violence Prevention Efforts.

For public health agencies, the pragmatic need to bring together science and practice to affect public health outcomes manifests in the implementation of prevention strategies with the best available evidence. Knowledge translation makes scientific findings understandable to the knowledge user, often through synthesis of the best available evidence. Implementation science promotes the adoption and integration of evidence through prevention strategies implemented within various contexts. Working together, knowledge translation and implementation science can promote the uptake and advancement of scientific and practice-based evidence for strategies that will have the greatest impact across a variety of contexts. Violence Prevention in Practice (VPP) is an online resource designed to help practitioners select, adapt, implement, and evaluate multiple prevention strategies included in five technical packages developed by Centers for Disease Control's Division of Violence Prevention. A technical package translates the best available evidence into a core set of prevention strategies intended to be broadly implemented. VPP supports communities in using the technical package strategies in combination, drawing on key implementation science principles. In this article, we explain the process for developing VPP and provide a framework that can be used to develop similar guidance in other health promotion areas. The framework explains how both general components, such as selection and adaptation, come together with strategy-specific implementation guidance. Distinct from typical planning models, VPP is not designed as a linear stepwise process, and it allows practitioners to use one or more components alone, as well as helps practitioners link across components as needed.

Adverse Childhood Experiences: Research, Effects, and Tools for Change

Adverse Childhood Experiences: Research, Effects, and Tools for Change

CDC Releases Suicide Prevention Guide for States, Communities

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessCDC Releases Suicide Prevention Guide for States, CommunitiesMark MoranMark MoranSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:12 Oct 2018https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2018.10b9AbstractPsychiatrists and mental health clinicians may have an especially important role in counseling patients and family members about safe storage of medications, firearms, and other household items that may be used in suicide.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published a “technical package” of suicide-prevention strategies that can be used at the state and community levels as well as by psychiatrists and mental health professionals.Christine Moutier, M.D., urges psychiatrists to seek extra training in suicide risk assessment and treatment.The 67-page document, titled “Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policies, Programs and Practices,” describes a select group of strategies based on the best available evidence. These strategies are described in seven chapters that cover the topics of strengthening economic supports, strengthening access and delivery of suicide prevention care, creating protective environments, promoting connectedness, teaching coping and problem-solving skills, identifying and supporting people at risk, and lessening harms and preventing future risk.“States and communities already engaged in suicide prevention can use this technical package to assess their activities and see if there are areas in which to expand their efforts,” said Deb Stone, Sc.D., M.S.W., M.P.H., in comments to Psychiatric News. She is a behavioral scientist in the Division of Violence Prevention at the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “For states and communities who have not begun work in the area of suicide prevention, this technical package can help guide decision making and prevention planning.”The strategies in the package include those with a focus on preventing suicide and reducing risk as well as approaches to lessen the immediate and long-term harms of suicidal behavior for individuals, families, communities, and society at large.Although primarily intended for policymakers, the technical package can be used by psychiatrists and mental health clinicians. “Psychiatrists may be able to use the package in several ways—by working with their local community organizations to make sure that evidence-based programs are being implemented and helping to raise awareness about the programs and policies described in the technical package,” Stone said. “The broad range of strategies in the technical package requires collaboration across community sectors. Psychiatrists and other health and mental health professionals are critical to the implementation of evidence-based treatments and practices such as Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality, dialectical behavior therapy, and other forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy.” Among the experts who reviewed the CDC document was APA member Christine Moutier, M.D., chief medical officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).In comments to Psychiatric News, Moutier said the technical package builds on a similar document produced by the AFSP’s Action Alliance, “Transforming Communities: Key Elements for the Implementation of Comprehensive Community-Based Suicide Prevention.” The latter outlined very broad public health strategies—planning, communication with stakeholders in the community, aligning activities to the local culture, and ensuring sustainability for long-lasting change.She said the CDC technical package is a more detailed “toolkit” describing specific strategies that have been shown to reduce suicide.Moutier highlighted the need to reduce access to lethal means among people at risk for suicide. In the chapter titled “Create Protective Environments,” the technical package outlines the importance of safe storage of medications, firearms, and other household products that can be used in suicide.“Such practices may include education and counseling around storing firearms locked in a secure place (e.g., in a gun safe or lock box), unloaded and separate from the ammunition; and keeping medicines in a locked cabinet or other secure location away from people who may be at risk or who have made prior attempts,” according to the technical package.Moutier said psychiatrists and other physicians have a critical role in providing such counseling. “If we educate all gun owners that the presence of a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide and we also teach them basic prevention strategies such as safe storage, we have a logical reason to believe it will reduce suicide in the population,” she said.She urged psychiatrists to seek out extra training in suicide risk assessment and evidence-based treatments and to familiarize themselves with the CDC technical package.“It really represents how far we have advanced in community-based suicide prevention,” Moutier said. ■“Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policies, Programs, and Practices” can be accessed here. “Transforming Communities: Key Elements for the Implementation of Comprehensive Community-Based Suicide Prevention” is available here. ISSUES NewArchived

Correlates of disclosure of sexual violence among Kenyan youth

IntroductionSexual violence (SV) against children is a global health and human rights issue that can have short and long-term consequences for health and wellbeing. Disclosing SV increases the likelihood that children can access health and protective services and receive psychosocial support. Research in high-income countries has found that child SV survivors are more likely to disclose when they are girls/women, experience fewer SV events, and experience SV perpetrated by a stranger. No studies have examined correlates of SV disclosure in Kenya. ObjectiveThe objective of this research was to assess the correlates of disclosing SV among Kenyan youth ages 13–24 who reported an SV experience before age 18. MethodsIn 2010, the Kenya Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Violence Prevention, the UNICEF Kenya Country Office, and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) conducted a national survey of violence against children. These data were used to conduct weighted logistic regression analyses to determine which factors were correlated with reporting SV disclosure. ResultsAmong the 27.8% of girls/women and 14.5% of boys/men who reported SV before age 18, 44.6% of girls/women and 28.2% of boys/men reported to have disclosed the experience. In weighted logistic regression analysis, the odds of disclosure were lower among survivors who were boys/men and among survivors who reported more SV events, and higher when any perpetrator was a family member. ConclusionMore context-specific research on SV disclosure among young people is needed globally.

The Afterlives of Rape in Medieval English Literature. Suzanne M. Edwards. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Pp. xv+193.

<i>The Afterlives of Rape in Medieval English Literature</i>. Suzanne M. Edwards. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. Pp. xv+193.

Suicide Prevention in Health Care.

Decreasing suicide rates through health care system change is an example of how improving patient safety warrants psychiatrists’ awareness, training, teamwork, and leadership in system-based solutions. It has been over 15 years since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System (2), reported that “at least 44,000 people, and perhaps as many as 98,000 people, die in hospitals each year as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented.” In March of 2001, IOM’s next catalyzing report, Crossing the Quality Chasm, concluded that “merely making incremental improvements in current systems of care will not suffice.” These reports inspired the nation’s campaign to improve quality and safety in health care (3). However, adverse events causing morbidity and mortality continue. The Six Sigma comparison of industries ranks the many health care “defects per million opportunities” near that of the Internal Revenue Service tax advice phone-in service; domestic airline flight fatality rates achieve superior Six Sigma safety rates (4). Many of the country’s top sentinel events are mental health related, including restraint-related events, elopements, selfinflicted injuries, and suicides (5). Some of the top sentinel event settings include psychiatric hospitals, psychiatric units, and behavioral health facilities, totaling 19% of all locations for sentinel events since 2004. In comparison, emergency departments account for only 5.4%, and office-based surgery, 0.9%. Approximately 1,500 inpatient suicides occur per year in theUnited States (6). In juxtaposition, themost recent data from aviation fatalities from theNational Transportation Safety Board reveal a total of only 443 aviation deaths (7). If psychiatrists are the pilots of the mental health system, then what can they do in collaboration with others to transform the industry to the next level of safety at a systems level? Many organizations support this system transformation, including IOM, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Joint Commission, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Psychiatric Association. In addition, the American Board of Medical Specialties is highlighting safety standards by integrating patient safety principles into its program for maintenance of certification (MOC) requirements (9). The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology is part of this leadership drive (10). Focus will begin attending to MOC safety requirements and providing a review of current clinical safety practice. Patient safety is a vital function of psychiatric services and a core objective of the mental health system. Without safety, there would be neither treatment nor recovery. Suicide is one of the top safety challenges that our health care system faces. Psychiatrists and other mental health clinicians practice standards of care in their provision of suicide risk assessment, risk management, and biopsychosocial treatments. However, in the system of care some failure modes are root causes of suicide and are beyond the realm of the psychiatrist’s assessment and treatment. If there were board exam questions on suicide data and suicide risk assessment, psychiatrists would readily know the answers (noted at the end of this column):

Implementing and Evaluating Comprehensive Evidence-Based Approaches to Prevent Youth Violence: Partnering to Create Communities Where Youth Are Safe From Violence.

Violence, including its occurrence among youth, results in considerable physical, emotional, social, and economic consequences in the U.S. Youth violence prevention work at the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes preventing youth violence-related behaviors, injuries, and deaths by collaborating with academic and community partners and stakeholders. Since 2000, DVP has funded three rounds of CDC’s National Centers of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention (YVPCs) in 5-year cycles, with the goal of supporting university-community partnerships so that the best science can be utilized in order to prevent youth violence. The current YVPCs focus on: (a) partnering with communities to identify community needs; (b) selecting and implementing the best comprehensive evidence-based programs to meet those needs; and (c) rigorously evaluating whether those efforts have a community-level impact on youth violence rates. The introduction to this special issue on the current YVPCs provides a brief historical overview on the YVPC Program; outlines the YVPCs’ accomplishments to date; and describes the current YVPCs, their community partners, and their activities. The introduction concludes with an overview of the special issue.

A qualitative evaluation of the 2005–2011 National Academic Centers of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention Program

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) funded eight National Academic Centers of Excellence (ACEs) in Youth Violence Prevention from 2005 to 2010 and two Urban Partnership Academic Centers of Excellence (UPACEs) in Youth Violence Prevention from 2006 to 2011. The ACEs and UPACEs constitute DVP's 2005–2011 ACE Program. ACE Program goals include partnering with communities to promote youth violence (YV) prevention and fostering connections between research and community practice. This article describes a qualitative evaluation of the 2005–2011 ACE Program using an innovative approach for collecting and analyzing data from multiple large research centers via a web-based Information System (ACE-IS). The ACE-IS was established as an efficient mechanism to collect and document ACE research and programmatic activities. Performance indicators for the ACE Program were established in an ACE Program logic model. Data on performance indicators were collected through the ACE-IS biannually. Data assessed Centers’ ability to develop, implement, and evaluate YV prevention activities. Performance indicator data demonstrate substantial progress on Centers’ research in YV risk and protective factors, community partnerships, and other accomplishments. Findings provide important lessons learned, illustrate progress made by the Centers, and point to new directions for YV prevention research and programmatic efforts.

Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: From Programs to Strategies and commentaries

Social and Emotional Learning in Schools: From Programs to Strategies and commentaries

Moving forward by looking back: reflecting on a decade of CDC's work in sexual violence prevention, 2000-2010.

In 2011, the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) within CDC's Injury Center engaged an external panel of experts to review and evaluate its research and programmatic portfolio for sexual violence (SV) prevention from 2000 to 2010. This article summarizes findings from the review by highlighting DVP's key activities and accomplishments during this period and identifying remaining gaps in the field and future directions for SV prevention. DVP's SV prevention work in the 2000s included (1) raising the profile of SV as a public health problem, (2) shifting the field toward a focus on the primary prevention of SV perpetration, and (3) applying the public health model to SV research and programmatic activities. The panel recommended that DVP continue to draw attention to the importance of sexual violence prevention as a public health issue, build on prior investments in the Rape Prevention and Education Program, support high-quality surveillance and research activities, and enhance communication to improve the link between research and practice. Current DVP projects and priorities provide a foundation to actively address these recommendations. In addition, DVP continues to provide leadership and guidance to the research and practice fields, with the goal of achieving significant reductions in SV perpetration and allowing individuals to live to their full potential.

News from the CDC: making evaluation findings actionable for suicide prevention practice

The economic and human cost of suicidal behavior to individuals, families, communities, and society makes suicide a serious public health concern. In the USA, it is estimated that deaths resulting from suicide create a financial burden of over 26 billion dollars a year in medical costs and work loss [1], and in 2009, nearly 14 % of high school students—or three students in a classroom of 20—reported seriously considering suicide in the past year [2, 3]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) in the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control is committed to promoting a public health approach for addressing suicide proactively through suicide prevention (in particular, primary prevention, or preventing suicide before it ever occurs) and using a population approach to improve health on a large scale. These approaches augment efforts that treat suicide through clinical, individual-level, treatment-focused interventions. While research on effective suicide prevention strategies is still in development [4], a gap persists between emerging knowledge from preliminary studies and the application of these findings to improve suicide prevention practice [5]. Creation of actionable knowledge, based on knowledge exchange theory and the knowledge transfer literature [6–8], is one emerging process for translating research and evaluation findings into action to improve practice. Broadly defined, actionable knowledge is the creative intersection between what we know and putting what we know into everyday practice [9, 10]. It has roots in the business [11, 12] and knowledge transfer literatures [6–8] and provides a bridge between important research or evaluation findings and action in practice settings. This bridge has the potential to be a powerful tool for public health's work in improving suicide prevention practice, increasing program readiness for more rigorous evaluation and effectiveness research, and eventually ensuring widespread adoption of effective suicide prevention strategies to impact population health. The adapted framework DVP has begun to use for developing actionable knowledge (http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/ASAP_Suicide_Issue1-a.pdf) comes from the knowledge transfer literature [6–8] and includes four key steps [6, 13]: (1) Determine the action (“What do we want our audience to do?”); (2) Specify your audience (“Who do we want to take action?”); (3) Determine the best method of packaging your message (“How should the message be delivered?”); and (4) Establish your desired impact and how you will measure whether your goals are achieved (“With what effect?”). From 2009 to 2011, DVP had an opportunity to use this framework through an interagency agreement with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. DVP provided technical assistance and support to three Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act grantees for their youth suicide prevention efforts. In order to ensure that the findings and lessons learned from these program evaluations would be widely disseminated and integrated into suicide prevention practice, DVP used this framework and worked closely with the grantees to develop actionable knowledge products based on their findings. This had the additional benefit of helping build the capacity of suicide prevention researchers for translating their evaluation findings for suicide prevention practice. The three grantees created very different actionable knowledge products based on their unique findings and audiences. The Tennessee Lives Count initiative created the Gatekeeper Training Implementation Support System (www.gatekeeperaction.org), an online resource that provides tools to support effective implementation and evaluation of gatekeeper training programs. The Native American Rehabilitation Association's Life Is Sacred Native Youth Suicide Prevention Program developed several tools with information for service providers and families on factors that put youth at risk for and protect them from suicide (http://www.sprc.org/library_resources/items/Life-is-Sacred-Native-Youth-Suicide-Prevention-materials). The Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program (MYSPP) developed the MYSPP Early Identification and Referral Data Toolkit (http://www.sprc.org/library_resources/items/youth-suicide-prevention-referral-and-tracking-toolkit), an online resource that provides guidance and actionable tools for collecting early identification and referral data on students at risk for suicidal behavior in schools. The knowledge–action gap is one of the most challenging barriers for public health practice, including suicide prevention [14]. The Tennessee Lives Count initiative, Life Is Sacred Native Youth Suicide Prevention Program, and Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program used a four-step actionable knowledge framework, informed by the knowledge transfer literature, to create three very different actionable products. Each of these products is designed to make program evaluation findings accessible, useful, and relevant for application in the field. It is hoped that by facilitating a process for systematically translating research and program evaluation findings while taking into consideration the perspectives and needs of the audience, this emerging framework will provide an opportunity for narrowing the gap between knowledge and action, therefore improving public health practice. The conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of CDC.

Dating Matters™: The Next Generation of Teen Dating Violence Prevention

This Special Section was introduced with the assertion that most programs, to date, have been ineffective in preventing intimate partner violence (IPV) and teen dating violence (TDV) because they do not take into account recent work about the development and nature of IPV/TDV (Capaldi and Langhinrichsen-Rohling 2012). Each contribution highlighted dimensions of relationship functioning that can be used to inform the development of prevention programs. The findings in this issue underscore the importance of considering the independent and interactive effects of risk factors occurring at each level of the social ecology, such as alcohol use (Reyes et al. 2012) and violence in the home (Ehrensaft and Cohen 2012), as well as the importance of developing prevention strategies for high-risk groups (Langhinrichsen-Rohling and Turner 2012) that target both boys and girls (Chiodo et al. 2012; O’Leary and Slep 2012) and are strategically administered at key times in adolescent development to stop the initiation or persistence of violence across time and relationships (O’Leary and Slep 2012; Shortt et al. 2012). As national estimates of the frequency of physical dating violence victimization have remained unchanged over the past decade (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2011), the translation of these findings into effective prevention programs has the potential to transform the field of partner violence prevention. Although some programs (e.g., Building Lasting Love, Langhinrichsen-Rohling and Turner 2012) that reflect these findings have been developed and evaluated, a transformation of the field would require the refinement of many programs currently in practice and the development of new prevention approaches. As an example of a new comprehensive approach that reflects some of the critical findings in this Special Section, the Division of Violence Prevention at CDC is embarking on a new initiative: Dating MattersTM: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships. This commentary describes the programmatic strategies involved in Dating MattersTM, when and with whom these strategies will be implemented, and additional characteristics that have been incorporated to enhance the public health impact of the initiative. Dating MattersTM involves a variety of primary prevention strategies to address gaps in prevention programming for youth in urban communities with high crime and economic disadvantage, who may be at highest risk for TDV perpetration and victimization (O’Leary and Slep 2012). To address boys’ and girls’ dating violence (e.g., Chiodo et al. 2012; O’Leary and Slep 2012) and to accommodate transient and amorphous dating relationships that often occur in early adolescence, Dating MattersTM employs universal primary prevention focused on 11to 14-year-old youth. The initiative is implemented in middle school in order to build a foundation of healthy relationship skills among all youth before dating and/or severe TDV is initiated. Dating MattersTM has the potential to prevent the onset of TDV, which could disrupt the stability of violence across relationships and over time. Moreover, in middle school, parents and educators are strong influences and Dating MattersTM seeks to engage them as key prevention agents. Dating MattersTM takes a novel approach to TDV prevention that bridges diverse areas of public health by The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Looking Ahead Toward Community-Level Strategies to Prevent Sexual Violence

The Division of Violence Prevention within CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control recently undertook a systematic review of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence (SV) perpetration. This review identified the lack of community-level strategies to prevent SV as a critical gap in the literature. Community-level strategies function by modifying the characteristics of settings (e.g., schools, workplaces, neighborhoods) that increase the risk for violence victimization and perpetration. Identification of evidence-based strategies at the community level would allow implementation of ecologic approaches to SV prevention with a greater potential for reducing the prevalence of SV perpetration. The field will face several challenges in identifying and evaluating the effectiveness of promising community-level strategies to prevent SV. These challenges include limited knowledge of community-level and societal-level risk factors for SV, a lack of theoretical or empirical guidance in the SV literature for identification of promising community-level approaches, and challenges in evaluating SV outcomes at the community level. Recognition of these challenges should guide future research and foster dialogue within the SV prevention field. The development and evaluation of community-level approaches to SV prevention represent a vital and logical next step toward the implementation of effective, multilevel prevention efforts and a population-level reduction in the prevalence of SV.

Mobilizing Communities and Building Capacity for Youth Violence Prevention: The National Academic Centers of Excellence for Youth Violence Prevention

Violence, including its occurrence among youth, results in considerable physical, emotional, social, and economic consequences in the US. Youth violence prevention work at the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes preventing youth violence-related behaviors, injuries, and deaths by collaborating with academic and community partners and stakeholders. In 2000 and 2005, DVP funded the National Academic Centers of Excellence (ACE) for Youth Violence Prevention. Most ACE Centers focus on building community capacity and competence so that evidence-based programs for youth violence prevention can be successfully implemented through effective and supportive research-community partnerships. This commentary provides historical information about the ACE Program, including the development, goals, accomplishments of the Centers, and the utilization of a community-based participatory research approach to prevent youth violence.

Developing Sexual Violence Prevention Strategies by Bridging Spheres of Public Health

Sexual violence (SV) is a significant public health problem with multiple negative physical and emotional sequelae for both victims and perpetrators. Despite substantial research and program activity over the past 20 years, there are few programs with demonstrated effectiveness in preventing SV. As a result, the field may benefit from considering effective approaches used with other risk behaviors that share risk factors with SV. The Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has taken several steps to identify and understand the breadth of risk factors for sexual violence and to delineate the implications of these factors in the development of effective prevention strategies. This report from CDC will highlight several risk factors that, although not traditionally included in SV prevention efforts, may be important areas on which to focus and may ultimately prevent youth from embarking on trajectories resulting in SV perpetration.

The evidence project: a comprehensive framework for evidence-based decision-making

Increasing emphasis has been placed on the importance of evidence in guiding violence prevention efforts. However, most resources commonly refer to evidence only in terms of traditional research evidence. A...

The impact of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence surveillance initiatives

Child maltreatment (CM) and intimate partner violence (IPV) take a tremendous toll on communities around the world. Despite the impact of CM and IPV, data on their incidence are drawn from disparate sources of varying quality. To improve data resources in these areas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Violence Prevention funded state-based IPV and CM surveillance activities in nine states between 1994 and 2005. This article describes reported outcomes of these surveillance programmes; assesses factors affecting their sustainability; and provides recommendations for similar programmes through document review and interviews with state representatives. Findings indicate that states achieved outcomes with these surveillance initiatives; however, states noted concerns with sustaining systems because of a lack of resources and ineffective collaborations. Highlighted in this article are several lessons that other countries can learn from the experiences of these states in testing CM and IPV surveillance systems.

Achieving Public Health Impact in Youth Violence Prevention Through Community–Research Partnerships

Violence is a leading cause of death and disability for U.S. youth. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) is committed to developing communities' capacity to engage in evidence-based youth violence (YV) prevention. We discuss the characteristics of communities that exert influence on the development and epidemiology of YV, and discuss opportunities for how community-research partnerships can enhance efforts to prevent violence in communities. The needs for YV prevention are unique; the nature and phenomenology of violence are community specific. Communities also vary widely in infrastructure and systems to support coordinated, evidence-based YV prevention strategies. These conditions highlight the need for community-research partnerships to enhance community capacity, employ local resources, and engage community members in the research process. DVP is committed to working towards creating communities in which youth are safe from violence. Approaches to YV prevention that emphasize community-research partnerships to build capacity and implement evidence-based prevention strategies can provide a supportive context for achieving that goal.