This report presents the findings and methodology from the Community-based Violence Prevention (CBVP) study of the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative's (SSYI) impact on violent crime in Massachusetts.
The seven major components of the SSYI are 1) the identification of youth at high risk for violence; 2) Use of outreach workers to engage youth in mentoring; 3) creation of individual service plans for youth at risk of violence; 4) case management in cooperation with mental health clinicians; 5) behavioral health services; 6) traditional and non-traditional education services; and 7) workforce development. The overarching research question examined is to what extent SSYI influences changes in violent crime in targeted communities and the extent to which these changes are sustained over time. The current work builds on earlier research findings of the CVBP team that showed decreases in violent crime victimization in SSYI cities between 2009 and 2012. The current analysis examined incident, offenders, and victim data from the beginning of 2007 through the end of 2014. The analysis found that Massachusetts cities that implemented SSYI experienced statistically significant reduction in crime among young adults ages 14-25 who were targeted by the program when compared with 32 other cities in the State that did not implement SSYI. The jobs provided through SSYI were its most praised service among targeted youth, although some complained that the jobs were not the type to lead to professional careers in the arts or technology. These findings are generally consistent with other outcomes in the current study and prior studies conducted on the SSYI by the evaluation team. Extensive tables and figures