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How Minnesota Became the Surprising Success Story of Gun Reform

Chip Brownlee

July 05, 2023 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minnesota

By shifting their message around gun violence to frame it as a public safety issue and narrowing the focus of proposed legislation to appeal to a wide coalition, Minnesota lawmakers were able to pass a sweeping gun reform package that included a red flag law, universal backgrounds checks, and significant investments in community violence intervention programs.

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Mr. Dad's Father's Club Aims to Build Up Chicago's Youth

Rita Oceguera

June 22, 2023 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club mentors local youth to nurture their social and emotional well-being, making them better equipped to handle the world around them. The Club also provides mentorships for fathers, helping them learn how to be more present in their children’s lives as research indicates the presence of positive role models can make youth more resilient when exposed to violent or negative environments. There are currently over 150 fathers who volunteer for events with the Club.

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Shootings Remain High in Philly, But City-Funded Violence Interruption Shows Promise

Mensah M. Dean

March 14, 2023 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia’s city-funded Group Violence Intervention program identifies people who commit crimes together and offers them help to get a job, GED, or whatever assistance they need. The program brings together a variety of community members to conduct outreach, offer social services, and warn them of the consequences of continuing to participate in crimes.

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They Found Peace During War. Can They Help Kalamazoo Do the Same?

Chris Killian Ben Lando

May 16, 2022 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kalamazoo, Michigan

Through peer support, street mediation, and assistance with underlying needs like groceries and help with schoolwork, Peace During War works to help people in Kalamazoo, Mich. leave gun violence behind. The organization's efforts alongside other prevention initiatives are thought to have helped the city record zero gun deaths in the first five months of 2022 after two years of record gun deaths.

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How Violence Interrupters Help Brooklyn Heal

Chip Brownlee

May 06, 2022 |

The Trace |

Documentary |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

The Kings Against Violence Initiative places intervention specialists at hospitals to prevent future violence and help trauma patients get back to their daily lives.

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To Stem Shootings, Poughkeepsie Is Bringing Therapy Directly to City Streets

Ann Givens

January 31, 2022 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Poughkeepsie, New York

SNUG Street Outreach is a state-funded violence prevention program that brings mental health care out into the community to the places where people spend their time. Trained social workers go out into the street, people’s homes and local businesses where they establish relationships and slowly build up to providing counseling through more casual conversations, even over text messages. A community-based approach allows them to connect with people who are at high-risk of committing gun violence, as well as people who have been victims of gun violence themselves or in their social networks or communities.

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How a Newark Program Is Pushing Police and Community Members to Heal Old Wounds Together

J. Brian Charles

January 11, 2022 |

The Trace |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

To address deep divisions and mistrust between the community and police, Newark launched Trauma to Trust, a conflict resolution program that brings officers and residents together for mediation and discussion. Participants receive two days of training around trauma, critical race theory, and implicit bias, and more than 500 people have taken part since the initiative began.

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Illinois Has a Program to Compensate Victims of Violent Crimes. Few Applicants Receive Funds.

Lakeidra Chavis Daniel Nass

July 09, 2021 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Illinois

As one of the oldest programs of its kind, the Illinois Crime Victim Compensation Program was created in 1973 to reimburse victims of crime and their families for their out-of-pocket expenses, such as funeral and medical costs. An analysis of nearly 15,000 claims filed from 2015 to 2020 shows that only 1 in 50 people who reported a violent crime ever applied for aid, and of those who did only 40% received any aid. A laborious application and documentation process compounds a lack of notice to the public of the program's existence to result in a program that has failed in its primary mission.

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Inside One Baltimore Group's Effort to Stop Youth Violence Before It Starts

J. Brian Charles

June 10, 2021 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore's Roca program uses cognitive behavioral therapy, and patience and persistence, to work at changing the thinking of young people at high risk of committing or suffering gun violence. Counselors help their clients examine the trauma in their lives, learn to change their reactions to stress and conflict, and to choose legitimate jobs over the street economy. Unlike violence interruption programs that seek to mediate crises just as they threaten to turn deadly, Roca does its work further upstream, seeking to shape interactions before they turn critical.

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Texas Considers a Novel Push for Gun Violence Prevention

Chip Brownlee

March 31, 2021 |

The Trace |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Fort Worth, Texas

VIP Fort Worth modeled itself on a number of violence-intervention programs with a blended approach that has been so successful in such a short time that Texas officials are considering investing in a statewide version. Street outreach workers, many of them former gang members, mediate disputes and counsel young men at risk of getting shot or shooting others. In its first five months, it says it has prevented dozens of shootings through hundreds of direct contacts with people on the streets. Like the programs it's modeled on, it is an alternative to policing, operating independently.

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