Specifications include, but are not limited to: 1. Planning Team Creation and Convening: A description of the planning team structure and membership should be included in the proposal narrative. The planning team may be an existing, expanded, or new formal working group, committee, or collaboration. The planning team membership and expertise should be tailored to best address the community’s problems and needs, pulling in individuals with expertise and communities of focus who can serve to design and champion the program to success. Planning team members may include, but are not limited to: people with lived experience, violence intervention service providers, city or county leadership, local public health agencies, community-based organizations, court personnel, juvenile justice agencies, law enforcement, school-based law enforcement, district attorneys, public defenders, victim advocates/service providers, child welfare and social services, hospitals and other health care providers, mental health services, researchers, school administrators, faith-based organizations, and community residents. The proposer should serve as the lead of the planning team, and will be responsible for financial and programmatic administration. 2. Strategic Action Plan Development: Proposals should describe a planning process staffed by the lead organization and with regular meetings of the planning team and community outreach. The process should include and engage community members - including those impacted by and at risk for violence - to gather their feedback and perspectives. The process should use quantitative and qualitative data and information to understand the causes of violence in the community, assess current needs, gaps and barriers in services, and design approaches for change, incorporating key performance metrics and process and outcome assessments. Applicants are strongly encouraged to collaborate with a research partner and use a public health approach in this process. Proposals should outline a process to: A. Understand root causes: Through a collaborative, multimethod, data-collection, and analysis approach, conduct an analysis to develop an understanding of the nature, patterns, and root causes of violence within the community of focus. This step involves collecting data to find out the “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “how” of community violence happening in a given jurisdiction. Data should come from a variety of sources – death certificates, medical or coroner reports, hospital records, child welfare records, law enforcement, population-based, surveys, and more resources. B. Assess needs and service gaps and barriers: This initial analysis should assess the needs of the communities of focus and the effectiveness of existing firearm violence intervention and prevention strategies and services, and identify gaps and barriers to effective responses. C. Design violence solution approaches for change: Based on the understanding of the root causes and the identification of existing needs and service gaps, the planning team should develop a strategic action plan incorporating key performance metrics and process and outcome assessments, and informing the delivery of services to address the needs identified by the community of focus. Examples of possible models that could be in the strategic action plan include but are not limited to: Pilot projects – Intervention programs that are unique or specific to the community which are in early development and testing, Program expansion – Intervention programs that are ready for geographic or participant expansion, Mentors – Intervention programs which include positive youth and young adult engagement, that are asset-based and focus on community and individual strengths Outreach workers - Street outreach and violence interruption programs utilizing outreach workers with shared lived experience working with individuals in high-risk areas (“hot spots") within communities Public health approaches – Interventions that include a wide range of experts to determine the problem, identify key risk factors, develop evidence-based policies and programs, and ensure effective implementation and evaluation. Data-driven programs - Programs that specifically target at-risk youth for individual intervention using data from partners which could include law enforcement or court systems
