How the Gun Control Debate Ignores Black Lives

Paying at-risk people to stay out of trouble is the most controversial part of a new D.C. crime bill that also proposes counseling and other services to prevent repeat offenses. But a similar program is already in use in D.C., with the blessing of the District’s top prosecutor, giving nonviolent juvenile offenders a second chance. (2nd of a 3 part series)

The effectiveness of Australia's gun laws is said to be skewed by its already declining gun violence. The effect is difficult to isolate but new research affirms that the decline accelerated significantly under new gun control measures.

The state-funded Texas Child Mental Health Care Consortium provides mental health care and resources to more than 300 school districts, with one goal of preventing mass shootings. Programs like in-school behavioral telehealth appointments make care more accessible to children who are identified as in-need

In the Boston area, the Roca organization intervenes before young men commit violence. Its "relentless outreach" approach is based on cognitive behavioral therapy, an approach that helps people recognize and change their destructive behavior and learn new skills to cope with conflict and stress – essential to keeping impulsive young men, many the victims of violent trauma, from committing violence. Researchers see evidence that the program, which has spread throughout the metro area and to Baltimore, makes people less likely to get arrested and more likely to get a job.

When it’s discovered that someone is planning a mass shooting, what are the possible responses? Can those individuals be prosecuted? How do states balance personal liberty and public safety? These are all questions that residents of Fair Haven, Vermont had to grapple with when plans of a school shooting were found. From better threat assessments, to gun control legislation, to considering teen’s experiences in today’s world, the issues and corresponding responses prove challenging reconcile.

Massachusetts' Roca program uses five sites in the state to teach young men in their late teens and early 20s coping strategies to solve personal problems and change their behavior. The program targets men with previous criminal problems who actively resist other services and therapy, and who are deemed at high risk of violence. More than 80 percent of its graduates, who number more than 850 per year, have no new arrests, and two-thirds hold jobs six months after finishing the program. Seeing this success, Baltimore has committed $17 million in private and public funds to open a Roca chapter.

Unlike typical youth crime prevention programs, several programs in Boston target youth already involved in gangs and violence. Though more resistant to receiving help and staying on the right path, the youth have responded positively to the counseling, education, and jobs services offered by such groups as Roca Inc., College Bound Dorchester, and Operation Exit. All boast high retention rates and low rates of new criminal offenses. And all focus on fostering deep changes in lifestyles and community norms by offering real long-term incentives to change.

A district-wide approach called PBIS, or positive behavior and instructional support model that focuses on counseling rather than punishment, has curbed behavioral issues at many Jackson public schools, and has even turned many into model sites of positive behavior reinforcement. It has also proven to keep youth from getting stuck in the vicious school-to-prison pipeline.

North Carolina's MORES (Mobile Outreach, Response, Engagement and Stabilization) program sends mental health crisis teams directly to families' homes when children experience behavioral health crises. Unlike traditional crisis services that respond once and leave, MORES teams, consisting of licensed clinicians and peer support specialists, follow up with families for up to eight weeks, providing de-escalation, therapy, skills training, and connections to ongoing services. Since launching in 2023 across 20 counties, the program has served 645 families.

The Institute for Nonviolence Chicago is working to reduce gun violence by reaching out to victims and perpetrators immediately after the violence. The organization negotiates peace and offers cognitive behavioral intervention services to help them develop strategies to keep negative emotions from turning into violent actions.