The City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice worked with Temple University to design and implement a comprehensive process and outcome evaluation of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Community-Based Violence Prevention Demonstration Program (CBVP). The program replicated practices associated with some of the most effective recent innovations in violent crime prevention and control, such as Chicago’s CeaseFire and the Boston Gun Project. The strategies underlying the programs focus on deterring violent behavior by working directly with high-risk youth and gang offenders, by setting clear standards for their behavior, and by providing appropriate pro-social opportunities for youth in the neighborhoods affected by violence. These approaches have evolved into promising strategies for violence reduction with theoretical underpinnings, yet the empirical research assessing the impact of the initiatives is still developing. Attempts to replicate the models have not always been successful.
The evaluation team began by collaborating with OJJDP, project advisors, and the four CBVP sites to design methods of generating the data necessary to assess site performance and to monitor implementation of the CBVP logic model. The evaluation included three additional components: 1) a process and transferability analysis that draws upon direct observations, participant interviews and document analysis to assess the CBVP logic model and the factors related to its success; 2) an outcome analysis of the effects of CBVP on individual youth using self-administered questionnaires at baseline and follow-up, as well as program performance data generated in each site; and 3) a quasi-experimental impact analysis that tracks community-wide changes in four CBVP sites and four comparison sites.
The five communities selected to participate in the OJJDP Community-based Violence Prevention Demonstration Program included:
1. City and County of Denver Safe City Office;
2. City of Oakland, California;
3. Columbia Heights Shaw Family Support Collaborative, Washington, DC;
4. Fund for the City of New York / Center for Court Innovation.
5. City of Newark, New Jersey.
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Final Report
Project Staff
Dr. Jeffrey A. Butts, PI
Kathleen Tomberg, Project Manager
Sheyla Delgado
Hannah Adler
Rhoda Ramdeen
Dr. Caterina Gouvis Roman, Consultant – Temple University
Project Advisors
Dr. Finn-Aage Esbensen – University of Missouri-St. Louis
Dr. David Kennedy – John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Dr. Wesley Skogan – Northwestern University
Dr. Wayne Welsh – Temple University
Funding
$1,200,000. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice.
JeffreyButts.net 