Pasadena Public Health Department Awarded Grant to Implement Violence Prevention and Intervention Program

The Pasadena Public Health Department has been awarded $2,510,394 in grant funding through the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) program funded by the California Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC).

“The public health department is focused on addressing underlying risk factors for youth in Pasadena,” said Manuel Carmona, deputy director of public health. “Our goal is to help them make healthy choices, build positive self-perception, and access support to protect them from involvement in gangs and other pathways to violence.”

The purpose of CalVIP is to improve public health and safety by supporting effective violence reduction initiatives in communities disproportionately impacted by violence, particularly group member-involved homicides, shootings and aggravated assaults. The CalVIP grant period is three years, from July 2022 to June 2025.

The grant will support PPHD’s implementation of the Pasadena Intervention and Prevention Project (PIPP), which focuses on:

* Prevention: Providing multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) and referrals to other needed services to youth and young adults age 10-24 who are at risk of getting involved in gang life and/or perpetuating violence. MDFT interventions are integrated and coordinated within and across four domains: youth, parents, family and community.

• Intervention: Identifying a youth-focused gang outreach worker to build relationships and trust with youth in the community to promote MDFT. The program expects hesitancy but intends to provide persistent and frequent outreach to ensure the program is available when youth are ready to make life changes. In addition, the outreach worker will help de-escalate tensions to stop incidents before they happen.

• System Development: Supporting a consortium of community partners to build, improve and maintain collaborative community capacity to provide prevention services necessary to reducing youth gang and gun violence. The consortium will convene community members, agencies and community-based organizations to promote collaboration and create action plans.

PPHD engaged stakeholders and hosted listening sessions for feedback on the new PIPP program. “Many Pasadena community-based organizations have engaged in this work for years, if not decades. We have and will continue to seek them out for input and opportunities to build on their work,” said Whitney Harrison, division manager of social & mental health services at PPHD. “Ending community gang violence will take all of our best efforts, and the public health department is committed to helping leverage these grant funds to build a collaborative community response essential for achieving peace in our community.”

At their Aug. 1 meeting, Pasadena City Council voted to accept the grant from the BSCC and authorized the city manager to enter into contracts with D’Veal Youth and Family Services to deliver multidimensional family therapy, and the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena to provide supportive services to program participants. Proposals for additional subcontracting opportunities are currently being sought from interested individuals and organizations.