Designing Safety

New York City’s Department of Youth and Community Development implemented three potentially effective programs to prevent violence, reduce crime, and support resident well-being. Effective evaluations rely on detailed frameworks that guide data collection, data analysis, and the interpretation of results. To design reliable evaluations of complex programs, researchers collaborate with policymakers, agency leaders, program staff, and community residents to create detailed evaluation frameworks, revising them as necessary to account for changes in policy and practice. The evaluation frameworks presented here are draft versions offered as starting points for efforts to employ evidence-based public safety strategies in New York City. Continue reading Designing Safety

Reducing Gun Violence in New York City

Causal relationships are difficult to identify in complex and multi-part initiatives, but New York City’s falling rate of gun violence suggests that recent community initiatives may have helped to sustain previous gains. Continue reading Reducing Gun Violence in New York City

The Effects of Cure Violence in the South Bronx and East New York, Brooklyn

Promising evidence that the public health approach to violence reduction championed by Cure Violence may be capable of creating safe and healthy communities. Continue reading The Effects of Cure Violence in the South Bronx and East New York, Brooklyn

Young Men in Neighborhoods with Cure Violence Programs Adopt Attitudes Less Supportive of Violence

New York City neighborhoods operating Cure Violence programs show stronger declines in violence-endorsing attitudes than do areas without Cure Violence programs. Continue reading Young Men in Neighborhoods with Cure Violence Programs Adopt Attitudes Less Supportive of Violence