LIFE Camp Violence Intervention and Prevention Program

Love Ignites Freedom thru Education - LIFE Camp, Inc. will expand its Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) program into the Hollis neighborhood of Queens, NY. The VIP program deploys credible messengers to interrupt, de-escalate and prevent violence. LIFE Camp's comprehensive approach extends beyond its street and hospital-based teams. Working with its network of public, private and non-profit partners, LIFE Camp provides youth (aged 14-24) at high risk for gun violence, and their families, a suite of wrap-around services that help re-direct at-risk youth toward long-term, positive goals. LIFE Camp engages an entire ecosystem to help change the trajectory for high-risk youth, and in turn serves and supports that ecosystem which bears the indirect but devastating brunt of community violence. LIFE Camp does not just mediate disputes, it teaches conflict reduction and anger management skills. It provides individual, group and family counseling through credible clinicians using conventional and unconventional approaches, and facilitates access to legal assistance, offers a diversion program for young people who would otherwise face incarceration, and a re-entry program for those returning from incarceration. It works with schools to provide educational support and enrichment and to address potential violence before it erupts. With its community partners, LIFE Camp offers job training, employment opportunities and counseling, and supports victims and families of those injured or killed by gun violence and provides therapeutic wellness services and hosts events for the entire community. 

Program participants will be identified through canvassing and referrals from schools, social service providers, and public safety sources. Potential participants are evaluated for risk of violence based on six factors, including whether they are a member of a violent street organization; have a history of criminal activity against persons: have access to lethal weapons; are believed to be instigating or the target of violence; are the victim of a recent serious violence; or were recently release from incarceration for a crime of violence.