OJJDP FY 2015 YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION ENHANCEMENT PROJECT

The primary goals of the OJJDP youth violence portfolio are to promote the wellbeing of children, youth, and families; reduce violence; and improve community capacity to address all forms of violence. This program supports the enhancement of OJJDP’s youth violence prevention initiatives by inviting OJJDP localities presently implementing the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention (Forum), Community-Based Violence Prevention (CBVP), and/or the Defending Childhood initiatives to apply for funding to adopt practices and implement models from a different program to achieve their shared violence prevention objectives. This program serves to encourage current initiative sites to enhance, integrate, and align youth violence prevention strategies; coordinate existing resources; engage in community education and outreach; develop and maintain strong collaborations; increase the involvement of youth and families in decision making; and engage the faith community, media, law enforcement, advocates, victim services, business, and other key partners in collective action. These efforts are authorized under Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 2015 (Pub. L. 113-235).

Louisville Metro Government and its community partners, Kentucky Health One, University of Louisville Hospital, Peace Education Program and the University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work will use Youth Violence Prevention Project funding to: 1)Pilot a program called PIVOT, a hospital based violence intervention program with community wrap around case management services and 2) Develop a Community of Practice exploring trauma informed systems of care within the juvenile justice system and partner with established community-based efforts to develop deeper engagement strategies.

CA/NCF