Coordinated Approach to Reducing Violence Among the Individuals at Highest Risk in Allentown, PA

No One is Coming to Save Us: A Grassroots, Community-centered Approach to Reducing Gun Violence in Allentown, Pennsylvania is a trauma-informed, whole-family community violence intervention (CVI) effort to reduce gun violence among individuals at the highest risk for community violence who have committed and/or are the victim of gun violence and their family unit. The primary objectives are to: 1) co-design a targeted strategy to reduce gun violence among individuals at highest risk in Allentown with context experts (directly impacted by gun violence) and local organizations (education, health care and hospitals, mental health, youth development, city government, criminal justice, law enforcement); 2) implement a trauma-informed, family-centric CVI model to treat individuals and families at highest risk with intensive case management from credible messengers; low-barrier, long-term mental health treatment; and healing-centered supports for children of individuals involved in gun violence; and 3) document the project design, implementation and lessons learned to inform continuous improvement and share learning with peer communities, researchers, policy makers, and funders. Promise Neighborhoods of Lehigh Valley (PNLV) will convene the Zero Gun Violence Allentown Collaborative, conduct a needs assessment in partnership, and produce a strategic action plan. To enhance existing programming, PNLV and its sub-awardees (Lehigh Valley Health Network, Preventive Measures LLC, and the Boys and Girls Club of Allentown) will design and test an intensive case management and healing-centered service model that centers the individual and their family.