This resource was developed to help communities and states focus on strategies with the greatest potential to prevent violence and promote health and safety. This prevention resource brings together examples based on the best available evidence. It outlines seven strategies to prevent community violence to ensure everyone can live in safe, healthy, and thriving communities.
The strategies and approaches described in this prevention resource are supported by the best available evidence and can be a critical tool for communities in their violence prevention efforts.
The prevention strategies are:
- Strengthen economic security.
- Provide quality education.
- Create protective environments.
- Promote healthy family relationships.
- Strengthen youth and young adults’ skills.
- Connect young people to caring adults and activities.
- Intervene to lessen harms and prevent future risk.
This resource is an update to the Youth Violence Prevention Resource for Action released in 2016. It includes updated evidence for preventing violence in youth (ages 10-24) and adds examples for preventing violence in young adults (ages 25-34).
Community violence is a serious public health problem in the United States. For youth ages 10 to 24 years, homicide is the second leading cause of death, and for young adults ages 25 to 34, it is the third leading cause of death. Additionally, approximately 800,000 young people are treated in U.S. emergency departments each year for injuries resulting from interpersonal violence. This resource also describes the social and structural contexts for community violence that these strategies might help address. Throughout the document, we focus on improving the conditions that increase risk for violence. Communities can prioritize a comprehensive approach that addresses the underlying drivers of violence while also reducing the immediate risks.
Many communities are implementing effective strategies for prevention. The strategies and approaches in this prevention resource are intended to be combined with existing community-led prevention approaches. Everyone can play a role in putting the evidence into action as we work together towards communities free from violence.
