Expanding the reach and impact of Oakland's Ceasefire strategy

The City of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) will utilize this funding to expand and enhance Oakland’s Ceasefire strategy by enabling the DVP to hire three full-time life coaches for 33 months to deliver intensive life coaching services to 75 individuals at imminent risk of gun violence. Ceasefire is a focused deterrence approach to gun violence reduction that involves identifying and locating individuals at the highest risk of gun violence to engage them in intensive social services that reduce their likelihood of victimization and perpetration. In Oakland, the DVP’s nine current life coaches deliver intensive life coaching services to this population through daily contacts, safety planning, life mapping, motivational interviewing, and tenants of cognitive behavioral theory. The DVP believes deeply in and has witnessed firsthand the power of the Ceasefire community violence intervention (CVI) strategy to support high-risk, vulnerable individuals in attaining safety and security, and the DVP is committed to interrupting cycles of violence in Oakland by delivering intensive and impactful social services that help individuals change their mindsets, behaviors, and support systems to avoid future violence. In doing this, the DVP seeks to reduce homicides and nonfatal shootings in Oakland, as well as the footprint of the criminal justice system.