Community Safety Worker Model: Innovative Career Certification for Credible Messengers

Project Description: The proposed project is titled Community Safety Worker Model: Innovative Career Certification for Credible Messengers. It is an innovative project led by community-based organization, Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center & Rosemary Anderson High School (POIC+RAHS), to professionalize the field of violence prevention work, transforming it into a viable career path with a livable wage. The Community Safety Worker (CSW) model is a two-year program, consisting of 200 hours of coursework across four modules coupled with full-time work in the violence prevention field. Project beneficiaries are outreach workers at POIC+RAHS and violence prevention staff at community-based organizations who identify as credible messengers and have a history of involvement with the criminal justice system, violent crime, and/or gang violence. The program will equip these individuals with specialized skills and knowledge in trauma-informed care and community safety practices. The primary goal for the project is that a minimum of 40 violence prevention staff will complete the CSW certification across two cohorts. POIC+RAHS launched the first CSW cohort as a pilot in June 2024 with 22 internal staff members. Funding will support the second year of this pilot program, as well as launch and implement a second cohort of 25 trainees from community-based organizations engaged in community violence intervention and prevention (CVIPI) work.  

The CSW Model trains Credible Messengers who provide direct violence and prevention services to individuals defined as “high risk.” POIC+RAHS’ criteria for high-risk includes individuals who are predominantly Black and/or African American, ages 18 to 35, who have a history of involvement with the criminal justice system, have been charged with felonies and were or are currently on probation, have been or are currently involved in a gang, and/or have previously been shot or connected to a recent shooting or homicide victim. The service area is Portland, Oregon, serving neighborhoods with higher-than-average violent crime rates (97024, 97030, 97103, 97211, 97117, 97218, 97220, 97130, 97233, 97236, and 97266).