UNITY Updates
In response to requests by city representatives, UNITY is launching a peer learning forum for members of the UNITY City Network and their local partners to share best practices and address specific trends in cities across the U.S. UNITY staff and outside experts will facilitate these discussions, and the UNITY Peer Learning Forum will use interactive webinar technology to cover priority topics related to preventing violence. The five topics for 2011-2012 are:
- Bullying Prevention, Sept. to Dec. 2011
- Engaging Community, starts Jan. 2012
- Funding Strategies and Sustainability, TBD
- Trauma-Informed Approaches, TBD
- Multi-Sector Collaboration, TBD
For more information about the UNITY Peer Learning Forum or to register for the entire Bullying Prevention series, contact Benita Tsao at benita@preventioninstitute.org or 510-444-7738 by Friday, Sept. 2.
Bullying can follow a young person off campus and into the neighborhood, so efforts to prevent bullying are more successful when they extend beyond the school and include the larger community. Everyone can play a role to ensure that children are cared for and feel safe, and this inaugural training of the UNITY Peer Learning Forum is open to the public. Register for this webinar to learn how schools can partner with the faith-based organizations, health clinics, parks, YMCAs and Boys and Girls Clubs, city agencies and others, so bullying prevention is a community-wide effort.
Beyond the Campus: Bullying Prevention in the Community
Thursday, Sept. 8, 2011
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PST / 2 to 3:30 p.m. EST
Register Now.
Partnerships are a key for ensuring that all children in Chicago are safe, healthy and educated, says Christopher Mallette, formerly of the Office of the Mayor. Mallette describes the benefits of ongoing communication between different city agencies in “Partnerships to Prevent Violence in Chicago,” the latest in the UNITY City Voices and Perspectives series. Read this publication for an example of how collaboration enhances local efforts to prevent violence.
The Mayor and Health Commissioner of Chicago released a policy agenda last week called “Healthy Chicago” (pdf). This city-wide plan includes policies, programs and public awareness strategies to prevent violence (pg. 30) and strengthen public health infrastructure (pg. 32).
Congratulations to Howard Spivak on his appointment as Director of the Division of Violence Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He will start on Sept. 12. He has extensive experience in the field of youth violence prevention, and has demonstrated management and leadership in the public sector at the state and local level, and in academia.
UNITY is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the CDC's national youth violence prevention initiative, Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere (STRYVE), and in part by The Kresge Foundation and The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF). Created in 1992 as an independent, private foundation, TCWF’s mission is to improve the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness, education and disease prevention programs. For more information, visit www.preventioninstitute.org/unity.
