Detroit Community-based Violence Prevention Grant

OJJDP's State and Community Development (Invited) Awards program was established to provide grants and cooperative agreements to organizations that OJJDP has selected for funds in prior years. Through the Community-Based Violence Prevention Program (CBVP), OJJDP funds organizations working to reduce youth gun and gang violence through evidence-based models. These programs have been authorized by an Act appropriating funds for the Department of Justice.

The Detroit Police Department will use the 2015 funds to strengthen Ceasefire Detroit’s community outreach efforts. Ceasefire will incorporate a faith-based outreach program to engage local faith leaders of various denominations to deliver a strong moral “stop the shooting” message to youth to help reduce violence and change community norms. Faith-based outreach efforts will focus on youth ages 15-24, given that youth in this age group are most often responsible for or are victimized by violent crime. Among other strategies, faith outreach workers attend funerals of victims, candlelight vigils and other emotionally laden events to identify and interrupt planned retaliations. They will be trained in restorative practices, which will help them mediate disputes. They will also appear as the “moral voice” at Ceasefire Detroit call-ins. Success will be measured by tracking decreases in gun violence, monitoring the number and types of referrals for services made, reduced recidivism and the number of mentoring sessions held. Funds will also be used to send a team of representatives to the OJJDP Youth Violence Prevention fall convening.

CA/NCF

The Community-Based Violence Prevention Program provides funding for localities to support federal, state, and local partnerships to replicate proven multi-disciplinary, community-based strategies to reduce violence.

Detroit's Comprehensive Youth Violence Prevention Plan includes as a priority the need for a program that can reduce youth-driven gun violence and associated homicides with sustainable results. As a result, the Detroit Police Department (DPD), plans to continue implementation of CEASEFIRE Detroit, which is a community outreach and mobilization project designed to reduce or eliminate youth-driven gun violence in Detroit neighborhoods and to change community norms about the acceptability of violence. This evidence-based program grew out of Detroit's Comprehensive Youth Violence Prevention Initiative, and is modeled on the successful Boston CEASEFIRE Program. It builds on existing, successful coalitions of community organizations, clergy, education and law enforcement agencies to reach at-risk youth in a Detroit community where youth violence is pervasive. CA/NCF