Centering Youth Experiences to Address Community Violence: A Youth Participatory Action Research Project

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law," and complies with Part 200 Uniform Requirements - 2 CFR  200.210(a)(14). CA/NCFHistoric and ongoing systemic racism in the United States (U.S.) has produced racially segregated urban neighborhoods marked by deep poverty, limited opportunity, and high rates of community violence (CV)—a phenomenon that has led to youth of color, particularly Black youth, to be disproportionately impacted by CV. Although there is a deep body of research on community violence prevention and intervention (CVPI), little if any of this scholarship has been produced by the population most impacted by CV. To address this issue, Child Trends (CT), in partnership with Sasha Bruce Youthwork (SBY), is delighted to submit a proposal to conduct a three-year, mixed methods Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project to deepen our understanding of youths’ experiences of CV in the District of Columbia (DC). This project will provide youth living in DC neighborhoods with deep concentrations of CV with opportunities to critically examine the compounding injustices that have led to disproportionate rates of CV, identify policy and practice opportunities to dismantle those injustices, and work with key decision makers in DC to implement their research-based recommendations for advancing racial justice in DC. Collectively, our team brings deep knowledge of DC’s local context, strong connections to entities involved in local CVPI efforts, and expertise in YPAR, CV, research translation, and racial justice. The team’s complementary expertise as well as their track record of conducting research and developing and disseminating research-to-practice resources makes them particularly well-qualified to conduct this study.

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law," and complies with Part 200 Uniform Requirements - 2 CFR  200.210(a)(14). CA/NCF