Supporting Victims of Gang Violence in Watts

The Supporting Victims of Gang Violence Grant Program provides funding for localities to increase the availability of direct support services for victims of gang-related violence and to develop or enhance the responses to children and youth exposed to gang-related violence in their homes, schools, and communities. This program is authorized by Pub. L. No. 116-6, 133 Stat. 13, 113.

The Children’s Institute (CI) proposed project is anticipated to benefit public safety in neighborhoods in South Los Angeles by: 1) strengthening the community's capacity to respond to gang violence and to best support victims of gang violence; 2) enhancing the community's awareness of gang violence; and 3) increasing mental health treatment options for victims of gang violence, and additional community supports and available resources. The CI will partner with the Los Angeles Police Department in crisis responses to instances of gang violence and provide the participating police officers with training on trauma-informed approaches to managing and assisting victims of gang violence. The CI will also provide direct services to child victims and their families in order to mitigate the negative impact of gang violence. Coordination of community service providers will result in a collective understanding of gang violence and its impact of the community. Additionally, the applicant will hold a series of large and small scale events for youth and conduct a social marketing campaign to extend the reach and impact of the project. For this project, the target population will be youth under the age of 18 years old, with a focus on Middle and High School students, who have witnessed or have been exposed to gang-related violence in the neighborhood of Watts in South Los Angeles. CA/NCF