Acuerdo de Paz: A culturally specific community violence intervention model for communities of color in Puerto Rico

Taller Salud (TS), Inc. is a feminist, culturally specific nonprofit organization founded in 1979 with a 42-year trajectory of violence prevention and health promotion community work.  TS launched Puerto Rico’s first community violence intervention program and holds a 10 year track record of implementing the island’s only community violence intervention program: Acuerdo de Paz (Peace Accords). Peace Accords uses highly trained violence interrupters and street outreach workers, public education campaigns - such as those addressing structural racism and toxic masculinities - behavioral and workforce services, and community mobilization to prevent and reduce violence. With  OJP’s CVIPI funding, the program will serve a minimum of 40 young males (ages: 15-30) residents of the region every year with violence interruption, conflict mediation, behavioral, education, employment and community outreach activities. It will create the CVIPI Planning Team, reassess its Violence Reduction Plan with the support of its research partner, and launch important awareness campaigns. Interventions are modeled after the CURE VIOLENCE public health model. Providing violence intervention services relies on skill, knowledge of crime trends and gang related activities, confidentiality, and strong community networks. This, to understand and respond efficiently and sensitively, and to penetrate cultural codes that can be closed to outsiders. Taller Salud is seeking Funding Category 3 status and priority consideration as a culturally specific organization.  The three year, $2,000,0000 award will allow TS to continue providing a community violence intervention program that works at the individual level and at the community level seeking crime reduction, improving the criminal justice response to crimes and denormalizing crime in the community of Loíza and the northeastern region of Puerto Rico.