Oct 2024
Building safer communities: Behavioral science innovations in youth violence prevention
This policy brief highlights results from a large-scale randomized controlled trial that evaluated the impact of Choose to Change® (C2C®) on participants’ criminal justice involvement.
Abstract
New insights from the field of behavioral science open new doors for addressing a seemingly intractable, and uniquely American, public health crisis: gun violence. This brief presents results from a study of the Chicago-based Choose to Change® (C2C®) program, a partnership between non-profits Brightpoint and Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP)™. The data show that it is possible to create large and lasting reductions in violent-crime arrests among a program population that has historically been hard to reach: youth who are increasingly disconnected from school. If gun violence = guns + violence, then anything that reduces the prevalence of violence overall can be an important part of the solution to solving gun violence.
Choose to Change® (C2C®) Program Guide
This program guide is intended for community-based organizations working to fill gaps in services and reach an underserved population of youth impacted by violence and trauma.
Unpacking the Impacts of a Youth Behavioral Health Intervention: Experimental Evidence from Chicago
This working paper details results from a study of Choose to Change® (C2C®), a trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy and intensive mentoring program developed by nonprofits Brightpoint and Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP).
Improving Programming in Juvenile Detention: The Impact of Project Safe Neighborhoods Youth Outreach Forums
This paper presents the results of a randomized controlled trial of a youth outreach forums program run in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center (JTDC) by the Northern Illinois Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force.
B2OF Policy Brief: Supporting Youth Safety and Education Re-Engagement
This policy brief outlines the first year of implementation of Back to Our Future (B2OF), a state-funded, district-led, evidence-informed effort to re-engage disconnected students at an elevated risk for gun violence involvement.
Latest Updates
What new tactic Knoxville police and city officials say helped reduce shootings in 2024
The Knoxville News Sentinel’s Myron Thompson cites a Crime Lab study showing that streets with more lighting see a decline in crime.
Chicago violence: City sees fewer than 600 murders in 2024 for 1st time since 2019; shootings, carjackings also down
ABC 7’s Craig Wall covers the Crime Lab’s year-end analysis of crime trends in Chicago showing that despite encouraging signs of progress, Black Chicagoans are still 20 times more likely than their white counterparts to be killed by a gun or to be a victim of a homicide.
Maintaining violent crime decline is Chicago’s evergreen resolution
The Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board provides commentary on the promising declines in violence from the Crime Lab’s end-of-year analysis and the need for continued support for successful violence prevention programs.
