Violence Intervention Program (VIP) Alliance: Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court and Juvenile Court

The Cuyahoga County Juvenile and Common Pleas Courts are spearheading the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) Alliance in Cleveland, Ohio. This initiative is designed to prevent juvenile and young adult gun-related crimes from escalating into serious offenses. By implementing a pro-social, therapeutic approach to reduce recidivism, the VIP Alliance is expected to significantly reduce the incidence of such crimes. The program's unique features include the expansion of the Common Pleas Court's VIP Pilot into a specialty docket for 17-year-old bindovers and 18-26-year-old felony offenders through an Adult VIP Court. It also supports the Juvenile Court's piloting a Juvenile VIP Initiative for 15-18-year-olds, using a specialized team-based approach (rather than a docket).

The VIP Alliance will proactively identify eligible youth and young adult participants, using research-based guidance that addresses multiple risk factors for gun violence. Its comprehensive main activities include dedicated VIP judges, VIP teams (including local prosecutors and public defender offices), VIP stakeholders, a VIP advisory board, VIP probation officers serving as primary case managers, trauma-informed counseling, peer mentoring and supportive case management. Both the Common Pleas Court and Juvenile Court will implement VIP principles with efficacy, promoting fairness and transparency while addressing the underlying psychological risk factors that lead to escalated criminal behavior. Strategies will focus on improving pro-social behaviors through faster case resolutions, incentive-based case management, consistent and developmentally appropriate sanctions, quarterly programmatic team meetings, and frequent, intensive court interactions with appropriate rewards. The VIP Alliance supports intensive services that address the root causes of unlawful firearm use, which will positively impact the attitudes and behaviors of youth and young adult participants from underserved Cleveland neighborhoods.