SHIFTING THE FOCUS: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ADVANCING VIOLENCE PREVENTION

CPP Implementation Guide

In November 2001, California's Shifting the Focus¹ collaborative ratified its Common Prevention Principles. These Principles were developed to promote a coherent and consistent prevention methodology across various departments and agencies in State government.

A primary Shifting the Focus methodology is to shift current government practices through educating practitioners, fostering coalitions and networks, changing organizational practices, and influencing policy and legislation² in order to enable and facilitate local solutions (using the Shifting the Focus Framework³ as a blueprint). In line with this methodology, what follows is a suggested list of implementation opportunities for the Common Prevention Principles delineated by Shifting the Focus members.

Implementation Opportunities:

Training Providers

• Use as a guide to develop training
• Share with advisory groups

Fostering Coalitions and Networks

• Share with others in own department and agency
• Use as a model for partnerships
• Use in expansion of partnerships
• Share with other organizations

Changing Organizational Practices

• Guide RFP development
• Incorporate into mission statements
• Use in strategy development
• Post on departmental web site as conviction statements

Changing Organizational Practices, cont.

• Use as a guide to develop speeches and public statements
• Share with directors and agency leaders
• Use as validation/look for existing examples

Influencing Policy and Legislation

• Guide budget change proposals
• Share with department legislative units
• Guide legislative/bill analysis
• Guide advocacy efforts for change
• Provide testimony to legislature
• Use to a guide to strengthen legislative and statutory policy

¹ Shifting the Focus is a voluntary interagency violence prevention partnership in California. For more information, please contact Prevention Institute: (510) 444-PREV or preventioninstitute.org

² Based on the Spectrum of Prevention

³ Cohen, L., Davis, R., Franchak, S., Prothrow-Stith, D., Quaday, S., Swift, S., Uchishiba, N. (1998). Shifting the Focus: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Advancing Violence Prevention in California, Office of the Attorney General, State of California.

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Putting Prevention at the Center of Community Well Being
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