DMHAS Prevention and Health Promotion Division

CT Youth Violence Prevention Initiative

Cheryl Stockford, Mental Health Program Manager, (860) 418-6729

Purpose:

The overall purpose of this initiative is to generate new empirical knowledge about which violence prevention intervention and associated services are most effective for enhancing protective factors and minimizing the risk factors for developing substance abuse and delinquency behaviors, and/or other behavioral, emotional, social, cognitive, and physical problems.  Specifically, the Initiative seeks to: (1) implement the gender-specific violence prevention intervention model, SAFE-T, and associated services for court-involved and at-risk girls in Hartford; (2) measure and document reductions in violence, substance abuse/use and delinquency behaviors, as well as other negative behavioral, psychosocial, and cognitive development outcomes; and (3) document the program implementation in the form of a manual that can be used to replicate the intervention in other communities in Connecticut and/or nationally.  

Target Population:

The Initiative targets court-involved and at-risk girls ages 14-17 in Hartford attending Quirk Middle School and the Hartford Alternative Learning Opportunities (HALO) School. The 14-to-17 year-old age group was chosen because it is the developmental age group in which girls are most vulnerable to substance use and initial involvement with the juvenile justice system.

Strategy Types:

This Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)- funded project is an important catalyst to bring DMHAS and its community providers to develop and implement an effective violence prevention intervention for at-risk girls through the use of the following CSAP strategies: information dissemination, education, substance-free recreation, and community-based processes.