VCU ACE: Evaluation of a Comprehensive Approach to Youth Violence Prevention

描述（由申请人提供）： 拟议项目的主要目标是支持一个预防青年暴力全国学术英才中心，以制定和评价一项全面的预防战略，旨在降低弗吉尼亚州里士满和美国各地类似社区的青年暴力发生率。这一目标与卫生与公众服务部的《2010年健康人目标》一致，即减少与青年暴力有关的故意伤害水平。该项目的具体目标是：（1）在社区一级实施一项全面的预防青年暴力战略，其中包括以下得到经验支持的组成部分：（a）以学校为基础对中学生进行普遍和有选择的干预，（B）社区干预，旨在为10至20岁的青年提供高质量的青年发展方案和资源，（c）对11至17岁的高风险青少年采取有选择的家庭干预措施;（2）通过使用三个高风险社区的多重基线设计，不断收集关于青少年暴力实施和受害的社区一级指标的数据，评价这一综合战略在社区一级的影响;（3）通过评估其对所针对的风险和保护因素的影响，评价这一全面战略中每个组成部分的有效性;（4）制定一项计划，在参与社区中维持干预措施，并编写材料，以便在其他社区推广，如果发现有效的话;及（5）为博士生、博士后研究员及教职员提供预防青少年暴力的辅导及培训。该项目的重点是弗吉尼亚州里士满市的三个高风险社区。1999年至2006年期间，里士满15至24岁青少年的杀人率为每10万人50.5至108.5人，是全国平均水平的5倍至近9倍。该项目的特定社区代表了Boushall、Elkhardt和Thompson中学的中学出勤区。这些社区是根据社区的投入和对监测数据的审查选定的，监测数据表明这些社区的青年人中与暴力有关的伤害发生率很高。在这些社区内，2008-2009学年，中学与暴力有关的纪律事件为每100名学生35至41起。在过去7年中，10至24岁青年因暴力相关伤害而急诊的比率为每1,000人6至11人。2009年，少年司法部报告的10至19岁青少年与暴力有关的犯罪为千分之11。该项目将在多基线设计中随机分配社区，以便干预措施将在第一年结束时在其中一个社区开始，在第二年结束时在第二个社区开始，直到项目结束后才在第三个社区开始。其成果包括关于青年暴力相关指标的社区监测数据和中学生调查、14至19岁青年的社区抽样以及高风险青年的选择性抽样。 公共卫生相关性： 在美国，儿童和青少年中与暴力有关的死亡和伤害是一个严重的公共卫生问题。该项目的目标是支持预防青年暴力国家学术卓越中心实施和评估旨在降低弗吉尼亚州里士满青年暴力发生率的综合预防战略。调查结果将为减少美国类似社区与暴力有关的死亡和伤害的努力提供信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The primary goal of the proposed project is to support a National Academic Center of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention to develop and evaluate a comprehensive prevention strategy designed to reduce rates of violence among youth in Richmond, Virginia and similar communities across the United States. This goal is consistent with the Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010 goal of reducing levels of intentional injury associated with youth violence. The project's specific objectives are: (1) To implement a comprehensive youth violence prevention strategy at the community level with the following empirically- supported components: (a) school-based universal and selective interventions for middle school youth, (b) a community intervention designed to provide high quality youth development programs and resources for 10-to- 20 year old youth in high-risk neighborhoods within the community, and (c) a selective family intervention for high-risk youth aged 11-to-17; (2) To evaluate the community-level impact of this comprehensive strategy through continuous collection of data on community-level indicators of youth violence perpetration and victimization using a multiple baseline design with three high-risk communities; (3) To evaluate the effectiveness of each component within this comprehensive strategy by assessing their impact on the risk and protective factors they target; (4) To develop a plan to sustain the intervention in the participating communities and prepare materials to support its dissemination in other communities should it be found effective; and (5) To mentor and provide training to doctoral-level students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty in youth violence prevention. This project focuses on three high-risk communities in the City of Richmond, Virginia. Between 1999 and 2006, the homicide rate among 15-to-24 year olds in Richmond ranged from 50.5 to 108.5 per 100,000 representing more than 5 times to nearly 9 times the national average. Specific communities for this project represent middle school attendance zones for Boushall, Elkhardt, and Thompson middle schools. These communities were selected based on community input and review of surveillance data indicating high rates of violence-related injuries among youth in these communities. Within these communities, violence- related discipline incidents in the middle schools were 35 to 41 per 100 students in the 2008-2009 school year. Rates of emergency department visits for violence-related injuries for youth aged 10-to-24 ranged from 6 to 11 per 1,000 in the past 7 years. Violence-related offenses reported by the Department of Juvenile Justice for youth aged 10-to-19 were 11 per 1,000 in 2009. The project will randomly assign communities within a multiple-baseline design such that the intervention will begin in one of the communities at the end of Year 1, in the second community at the end of Year 2, and will not begin in the third community until after the end of the project. Outcomes include community surveillance data on youth violence-related indicators and surveys of middle school students, a community sample of youth aged 14-to-19, and a selective sample of high risk youth. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Project Narrative Violence-related deaths and injuries among children and adolescents in the United States represent a serious public health problem. The goal of this project is to support a National Academic Center of Excellence in Youth Violence Prevention to implement and evaluate a comprehensive prevention strategy designed to reduce rates of violence among youth in Richmond Virginia. The findings will inform efforts to reduce violence-related deaths and injuries in similar communities across the United States.