Evaluation of Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiatives (CVIPI) in New Haven, CT

The main goal of the research project is to produce scientific knowledge that can advance the prevention and reduction of violent crime in communities. Developmental, formative, and summative evaluation is planned for the CVIPI project in New Haven, CT, to monitor and assess collaboration among community stakeholders, enhance the programming being offered to those at greater risk for violent crime involvement and victimization, improve the collection and use of relevant data, and reduce violent crime and victimization. It is expected that by focusing more time and resources on the New Haven CVIPI site, a more thorough and robust evaluation will be completed. The evaluation will seek to answer six research questions in New Haven:

Are the target populations specified in the CVIPI project being reached, and to what extent?
Are the intended CVIPI programs and services being offered as expected and with fidelity?
Are adequate and qualified personnel in place to implement and support CVIPI programs and services?
Have communication and collaboration among community stakeholders been strengthened as a result of CVIPI?
Have the collection and use of relevant data been improved as a result of CVIPI?

Have violent crime and victimization been reduced as a result of CVIPI?

The proposed evaluation will utilize a mixed-method research design, to include the use of both quantitative and qualitative data. As discussed in the original proposal, during the first year of the project, emphasis will be placed on developmental evaluation; assessing and enhancing reliability, validity, and sharing of service record and official crime data; and developing, pilot testing, and utilizing data collection tools for the process evaluation.

Developmental and process evaluation will continue during the second and third years. Impact evaluation is expected during the third and fourth year, with the fifth year reserved for final report writing and project conclusion.

The change in scope, from two research sites to one, will enable all three Principal Investigators to focus their research efforts on the New Haven site, thereby increasing their  

ability to thoroughly answer the six research questions presented above and complete the study during the anticipated timeline. The change in scope will not impact much on the budget, except to shift some funds toward PhD student compensation and researcher compensation. Finally, the change in scope is in-line with peer reviewer comments indicating the proposed two-site study was too ambitious, and not enough time was being budgeted for the three Principal Investigators to complete the research. Those concerns are addressed with the CVIPI evaluation being focused on New Haven, CT.