Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence

Youth Violence Prevention Center - Denver

Youth Violence Prevention Center - Denver

Overview of YVPC

Youth Violence Prevention Center – Denver (YVPC-D) has been partnering with communities in northeast Denver to prevent youth violence since 2011. YVPC-D is an academic-community collaboration, funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, that advances the science and practice of youth violence prevention.

YVPC Denver - Building Community Preventing Violence

History

During the first five years of the project (2011-2016), YVPC-D implemented and evaluated the impact of a coordinated, comprehensive public health approach to reduce youth violence. YVPC-D helped start the Steps to Success community coalition in Denver’s Montbello neighborhood, trained coalition members in the Communities That Care (CTC) approach, and then used the CTC approach to prioritize Risk and Protective Factors to address. After choosing Risk and Protective Factors, the community coalitions selected and implemented evidence-based programs impacting youth and families including Strengthening Families 10-14 and PATHS social emotional learning program.

During the second five years of the project (2016-2021), YVPC-D implemented and evaluated a community-level prevention system that delivered community- and policy-level youth violence prevention strategies matched to local needs in two Denver communities. YVPC-D helped start the Park Hill Strong community coalition in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood and continued to support Steps to Success. The coalitions followed the CTC approach again to select Risk and Protective Factors, and identified, developed and implemented four community-level strategies.

In the current grant cycle (2021-2026) the YVPC-D is developing, implementing, and evaluating three innovative strategies chosen by the Steps to Success and Park Hill Strong community coalitions to prevent violence against and amongst community youth.

YVPC-D has been funded by three cooperative agreements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (001986CE14; 002757CE16; 21U01CE003377)

Approach

When community members combine their local expertise with what we know works from the science of violence prevention, communities can unleash their power. The YVPC-D partners with local community organizations in Denver’s Far Northeast and Park Hill communities to identify, implement, and evaluate community-wide strategies that create safe, supportive environments for all young people.