The Colorado Trust: Youths and Guns

The Youth Handgun Violence Prevention Project began in response to concerns about a growing problem of youth with handguns in local programs and neighborhoods. The concerns came from grantees participating in the Youth Violence Initiative that began in 1995 funded by The Colorado Trust. In 1997 The Colorado Trust funded CSPV to examine the following: 1) document the nature and extent of youth handgun violence in Colorado and nationally, 2) determine what youth and adults in Colorado think about the handgun problem and its possible solutions, and 3) identify effective programs to prevent youth handgun violence. The study found that firearms in the hands of youth threaten the health and well-being of Colorado residents, particularly the youth in Colorado. Youth and adults in Colorado communities confirmed increasing prevalence and use of handguns by youth in their communities as well as widespread accessibility to handguns. Youth felt that there was little that could be done to prevent or reduce youth handgun violence, however adults were optimistic that the problem could be addressed with a concerted effort. Surprisingly, the study found widespread efforts to reduce youth handgun violence, however few had been evaluated with any rigor.

As a result, The Colorado Trust decided to fund a pilot project, The Youth Handgun Violence Prevention Project, to design, implement, and evaluate three programs aimed at reducing youth handgun violence. In 1999, three violence prevention programs were selected to join The Colorado Trust and CSPV in this endeavor: The Conflict Center, Project PAVE, and Catholic Charities. The Conflict Center added a gun violence prevention component to its school based 25-week conflict resolution curriculum. Inner city schools were selected to receive The Conflict Center curriculum. Project PAVE created a six-week gun violence prevention curriculum to be administered in a small group setting within its counseling program. Youth receiving the Leaders for Life group have been adjudicated and referred on a gun violation. Catholic Charities added a six-week gun violence curriculum to its existing life skills group. First time, low level offenders from the inner city receive the Catholic Charities gun violence curriculum.

The programs developed their gun violence prevention components based on a review of the research on youth handgun violence and its know risk factors. All three programs target adolescent males from the inner city, although females were not excluded. Risk factors include exposure to violence, lack of knowledge of the legal consequences for using a handgun, lack of self-control, low self-efficacy, and aggression. A quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate the gun violence prevention efforts. The three-year pilot project is now in the final stages collecting the remaining post-tests from youth participating in the programs. Results of the evaluation will be available in the near future.