Summary
More than ever before, people understand violence as a preventable public health issue. This publication sheds light on how UNITY helped shift the paradigm around community violence and what cities can do about it. Since UNITY started in 2005, for example, a sample of large U.S. cities report:
- Increased public health involvement in efforts to address violence affecting youth.
- Improved collaboration and engagement across sectors and with communities most impacted by violence.
- Enhanced city-wide strategic planning to address violence.
- More attention to preventing violence before it occurs, i.e., not relying solely on intervention, suppression or enforcement.
This publication by the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health summarizes findings of a follow-up study to the Assessment of Youth Violence Prevention Activities in U.S.A. Cities (2008).