Advancing Denver’s Handgun Intervention Program through Action Research

Goals, Objectives, Research Questions: Youth gun violence is a pressing criminal justice problem in the United States. Although youth diversion programs show promise in reducing youth firearm recidivism, gun-related offenses are often not eligible for participation in youth diversion programs. To address this gap, this project responds to Priority 1A of the NIJ FY24 Field-Initiated Action Research Partnerships to identify actionable, data-driven, and evidence-based decision-making to guide the ongoing development of the Denver Handgun Intervention Program (HIP). HIP is a specialized court for youth charged with gun-related offenses and their families, developed and launched in 2021 in Denver (Colorado).

The project has two goals. Goal 1: Advance equity and remove barriers to accessing services and opportunities through Denver’s HIP. Therefore, we will: Objective 1.1: Employ an action research evaluation approach to assess response to changes and program impact; Objective 1.2: Apply a data-driven, problem-solving approach to challenges prioritized by the HIP multidisciplinary team (MDT) Objective 1.3: Implement program changes; Objective 1.4: Identify actionable and measurable responses to program changes. Goal 2: Provide a national model for improving juvenile justice outcomes through collaboration and ongoing evaluation. Therefore, we will: Objective 2.1: Develop a sustainable approach to ongoing data collection and use as well as practitioner-researcher partnership; Objective 2.2: Disseminate actionable, data-driven recommendations for practitioner-research partnerships and juvenile justice collaborations. The project addresses three research questions: 1) Is a specialized court for youth charged with gun-related offenses linked with positive juvenile justice and related outcomes? 2) What program components are linked with achieving program goals? 3) How can an MDT adopt data-driven, problem-solving approaches to sustain effective practices and ongoing improvement in safety and justice outcomes for youth and their families following handgun offenses?

Research Design and Methods: Project activities will be carried out through a researcher-practitioner collaboration. Drawing on a program logic model as well as project goals, objectives, and research questions, the overall approach emphasizes three key design elements: 1) use of multiple data sources over time; 2) action research; 3) meaningful engagement of youth and parents/guardians from historically underserved and marginalized communities.

Work Products and Dissemination Plan: This project is designed to inform national policy and practice, and will result in multiple products for practitioners, policymakers, and public audiences and researchers. Products describing study findings and actionable recommendations will be disseminated using strategies that build on our team’s success sharing research with policy and practice groups. CA/NCF