Enhancing School Capacity to Prevent Violence in Brooklyn

Kings Against Violence Initiative, Inc. (KAVI), a black-led nonprofit organization serving under-resourced communities of color, with a particular focus on youth and young adults residing in Brooklyn, will implement the NYC Enhancing School Capacity to Reduce Youth Violence Project (NYC Reduce School Violence Project) in response to the Request for Application from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs for Enhancing School Capacity to Reduce Youth Violence. In addition to meeting all the program requirements laid out in the funding opportunity, KAVI also qualifies for Priority Consideration 1A and 1B - KAVI is a black-led organization that has been serving underserved and historically marginalized communities of Central Brooklyn, for over 12 years. Promoting racial equity and social justice is our priority.  KAVI is also a culturally specific organization, serving a largely black population (90%+) residing in Brooklyn.  KAVI is working in collaboration with four high schools, High School for Public Service, Eagle Academy for Young Men, Ocean Hill, Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, and New Vision AIM Charter High School I. The goal of the End School Violence in Brooklyn Project is to reduce youth violence at partner high schools through staff training, family engagement, prevention programming, and improved communication and cooperation between schools and the community. For this Project, KAVI has formed partnerships with four public high schools that serve low-income, underserved communities: High School for Public Service, Eagle Academy for Young Men II at Ocean Hill, and New Vision AIM Charter High School I. Additionally, Karna, LLC, a nationally-recognized public health research firm with extensive experience performing evaluations for federally-funded programs, will serve as an Evaluation Partner.

Over the 36-month project period,  KAVI will work closely with partner schools, network of community-based organizations, service providers, community leaders, and evaluation partner, to strengthen the capacity of school leadership, staff, and students to reduce and prevent violence among youth. In Year One, KAVI will produce school-specific Safety Strategic Plans, implement and expand violence prevention programs in each school, provide all students access to a "backpack" of support resources, and work with school leadership to improvement engagement between the school and families in order to strengthen protective factors.