Preventing Youth Violence:
Communities Take Action

Foreword

Several years ago, when school shootings made headlines in communities across the United States, local organizations, individuals, and programs recognized that “it could happen here” and looked for ways they could prevent more youth violence – particularly in their communities. Those same sentiments resulted in the allocation by Congress of Federal funds specifically intended to help “improve mental health services for children with emotional and behavioral disorders who are at risk of violent behavior.” Those dollars, appropriated to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services, were used to launch the School Violence Prevention Initiative.

Since its inception, the initiative has supported a range of school violence prevention programs, including School and Community Action Grants, Coalitions for Youth Violence Prevention efforts, and the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Program, a landmark Federal collaboration among the U.S. Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services.

Three national conferences brought together grant recipients in late 2000 and mid-2001. The conferences provided the opportunity for exchange and collaboration across program concepts and content. This series of pamphlets is an outgrowth of these conferences, addressing topics of interest to communities that can help them develop and implement an evidence-based program to prevent youth violence.

This is ACTION Pamphlet 1, Preventing Youth Violence: Communities Take Action. The additional four pamphlets discuss such topics as forming collaborative efforts, implementing programs, evaluating programs and collaborations, and sustaining the effort over time.

Each pamphlet blends theory with the experiences of school violence prevention grantees to provide information that can enable communities and schools to attain their highest aims. We hope to hear about your successes.

Charles G. Curie, M.A.,
A.C.S.W.
Administrator
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Gail Hutchings, M.P.A.
Acting Director
Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

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