City of Jacksonville''s Safe and Thriving Community

This program aims to support and enhance efforts in more places to help catalyze and further the prevention and response to children’s exposure to violence and youth victimization and violence, especially gun and gang violence, through fully comprehensive approaches to violence and the promotion of well-being for youth.

The City of Jacksonville (the City), in partnership with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Duval County Public Schools, Florida Department of Health-Duval County, Jacksonville Housing Authority, First Coast Workforce Development, Office of Economic Development, Florida Department of Children and Families, Jacksonville Children's Commission, and many nonpublic service providers, are working collaboratively to identify and evaluate all available programs and services and develop a strategic plan to end youth violence and help children recover from exposure to violence. Through this collaborative body, Jax Journey, the City’s anticrime initiative, will lead a data-driven planning process to identify both shortfalls and successes and restructure programs as a collaborative community effort to provide the best evidence-based programs to Jacksonville youth.

Programs and services will be evaluated for their impact on prevention, intervention, enforcement, and reentry strategies toward the following goals: stabilize fragile neighborhoods with targeted prevention programs and services; address at-risk youth warning signs with focused intervention; increase youth, family, and community cooperation in enforcement strategies; and expand reentry services to prevent juvenile offender recidivism. To achieve these goals, partners and project staff will enhance community engagement, improve awareness of and linkages to services, and encourage youth participation in feedback opportunities. Mentorship programs, counseling services, and youth activities will be tracked for participation, effects on crime statistics, and recidivism rates.
CA/NCF