New Haven police's approach aids children of violence

Across the country, hospitals are embracing intensive intervention programs to help victims of violence — including those who have criminal histories — after they have been brought in for treatment of injuries. Such programs can help prevent retaliation, reduce the chance a patient will be violently injured again, and put people on track for success.

Child First is a program in Connecticut, where staff members deliver home-based parent guidance and child-parent psychotherapy to help prevent the detrimental physical and mental effects of toxic stress on children. The engagement is guided by an evidence-based methodology called Child-Parent Psychotherapy, which is grounded in collaborative problem solving.

Healing Hurt People, a hospital-based violence intervention program in Portland, embeds caseworkers in trauma center care teams to rapidly connect shooting victims and their families with counseling, housing assistance, job training, and emotional support. The program has been linked with Portland's decline in gun violence, though chronic funding instability continues to threaten its capacity and growth.

Healing Hurt People (HHP), the program that helped save his life, now employs men like Jermaine McCorey - men who used to be a part of a violent life on the streets of Philadelphia - to reach out to boys and young men in the emergency department and help get them through empathy and personalized support. HHP's goal is to help young people recognize the role trauma has played in shaping their lives, to respect and honor their experience and to help them avoid fueling the cycle of violence.

In New Haven, the police department launched a program that pairs cops with clinicians. “We see ourselves as psychiatrists with guns and a badge.” They see children as victims too, who can experience trauma when witnessing violence or arrests. So far they’ve helped more than 20,000 families and children.

In South Auckland, epicenter of New Zealand's high rates of domestic violence, police respond to calls for help but instantly call in Te Taanga Manawa, a Māori-led team of multiple, culturally appropriate social-services agencies to guide families toward fixing the root of their problems. In the past, police may have made referrals to services agencies. But the Māori's distrust and the time lag in getting offers of help meant that families often rejected it, having papered over their conflict for a time. Now, nearly all accept the help offered while the crisis is still hot.

In Tajikistan, a project created by international NGOs with local partners, and funded by the United Kingdom, provides counseling and skills training for families to reduce violence against women. The two regions that participated saw significant declines in those rates of violence, as well as drops in depression levels and suicide and men also reported that they were less violent. Additionally, women's earnings and savings increased because the program helped them start small money-making ventures.

A program in Tajikistan developed to address high rates of abuse against women is showing remarkable results through a combination of family counseling and economic empowerment of women. The pilot project was created by five organizations and its initial results showed large decreases in rates of suicide and violence. It's part of the What Works To Prevent Violence Against Women And Girls Initiative and officials are hoping to find more funding to expand the project.

For people like Jasmine Smith, a single mother of two who lost her job after her broken and unfixable car thwarted her commute, one's options to provide for themselves and their families are few and far between. However, through Pathway of Hope, a national Salvation Army initiative that’s supported thousands in finding housing and financial stability, Smith was given financial resources, housing assistance, emotional support, a sense of self-sufficiency, and the will to continue her education.

In Nueces County, new local programs, projects, and partnerships - spurred by a particularly deadly year for women - are demonstrating how improved assessment by law enforcement and engagement by community members is helping to reduce abuse and homicides while preventing domestic violence overall.