Violence Reduction Network Webinar: Innovative Strategies to Address Youth Violence

Youth violence, while steadily decreasing in the U.S. since 1994, remains a continuous issue in many communities. Youth violence refers to physically and social emotionally harmful behaviors that a young person experiences, inflicts or witnesses. Youth violence can exist in school, outside of school and in the home. With an issue that affects entire communities, addressing it requires different agencies to pool resources and work together.

On January 27, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. (ET), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Violence Reduction Network (VRN), in partnership with the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, will host a Webinar on Innovative Strategies to Address Youth Violence that will engage participants in discussions about innovative approaches to working with high-risk and gang-involved youth, based on the city of San Jose’s Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force and the application of the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission process on Juvenile Case Review. In addition, local police department representatives will share their expertise. The specific objectives of this session are:

• Describe the Juvenile Justice Review process, including successes and challenges. 
• Illustrate successful, collaborative initiatives and programs developed as a result of the review process. 
• Examine the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission process and how it can apply to youth violence. 
• Discuss the structure and staffing of the Safe School Campus Initiative (SSCI). 
• Discuss partnerships with local agencies. 
• Review the process to develop a SSCI program. 

State and local law enforcement command-level officers, gang unit officers, and personnel from school police and juvenile justice agencies would benefit from this session. Participants will have the opportunity to submit questions to the presenters when registering and during the Webinar. In addition to learning from these speakers, there will be time for peer-to-peer discussion to allow VRN and National Forum on Youth Prevention sites to share their experiences, challenges, and successes in addressing youth violence in their communities.

The webinar will be moderated by Ms. Kristie Brackens, VRN Co-Director, and Mr. Theron Pride, Senior Policy Advisory, Office of the Assistant Attorney General. To register, follow this link.