Despite spike in shootings, a Chicago community gets a handle on violence

Milwaukee County’s mental health system put more resources in expensive emergency care rather than invest in programs that offer continual care. As a result, Milwaukee County identifies nine solutions from other cities that have had success in repairing mental health systems. Solutions include the ending of reliance on emergency care, expand community support programs, change laws, and supportive housing.

Indigenous peoples in Thailand's Nan province, in collaboration with researchers from five institutions, launched a citizen-science program using soil, hair, and fish sampling alongside computer modelling to document transboundary pollution from Laos's Hongsa coal plant. This work produced evidence of acidic soils and mercury contamination that has empowered environmental advocacy actions.

A number of state corrections departments are using virtual reality to teach inmates a range of basic skills they might've missed the chance to acquire while incarcerated. The VR programs have helped reduce aggressive behavior, facilitate empathy with victims, and drop recidivism rates. A short-term pilot initiative in Alaska, for example, incorporated mindfulness techniques through VR that resulted in decreased reports of depressive or anxious feelings and fewer disciplinary write-ups.

For offenders with a co-occurring mental health disorder, the regular prison system is not viewed as an optimal environment. A mental health court would help lower recidivism and increase the offender's quality of life by treating their mental health issues in order to focus on the underlying issue contributing to the criminal acts.

Four community groups in the Los Angeles area work to address the root causes of what draws young people into gangs with a mix of approaches to help people leave the gang life, including education and job services, counseling, addiction services, and tattoo removal. Some also focus on helping victims since so many gang members start out life as victims themselves and this feeds into a cycle of violence. All of them focus on creating community and belonging, which is why so many young people join gangs in the first place.

The law often traps offenders in a cycle of lawbreaking. LEAD allows for drug users to become committed to a program that helps them through the quitting process instead of throwing them into prison and isolating them from the help they need.

Lansing, Michigan built an ecosystem of community violence intervention programs (anchored by Advance Peace and the Lansing Empowerment Network) that reduced shootings by 38% between 2022 and 2025. Their relationship-based outreach, mentorship, and victim support continue to prove effective despite federal funding cuts.

A small, participant-led weekly arts and crafts group in Barrow has helped around 15 men living with mental health conditions, dementia, and autism build social connections and overcome anxiety-related challenges.

A Rotary club in Topeka, Kansas, has transformed reentry support for incarcerated women at the Shawnee County Jail through Intersection to Care, a program that pairs immediate-release support with mentorship, skills classes, and subsidized housing. The program, led by women with lived experience of incarceration, meets women at the jail exit to prevent trafficking, connects them to recovery housing through Oxford House of Kansas, and offers technology, health, art, and movement classes inside the facility. Since launching in 2022, the initiative has assisted more than 1,000 women.

The Boys' Club of New York addresses the mental health crisis among at-risk boys by providing structured programming, peer mentorship from alumni staff, and a culture of belonging across three clubhouses and roughly 2,500 members.