NCJ Number
169104
Date Published
1997
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This paper describes the planning and development for the Violence Intervention Project for Children and Families (VIP) in New Orleans, which was created in response to the increasing numbers of children being exposed to violence as victims or witnesses.
Abstract
At its beginning in 1993, the VIP joined with an ongoing program that had been in place for about a year called Project LAST (Loss and Survival Team), which was designed for children exposed to homicide. VIP leaders met with many community groups and resident council leaders to present their ideas for the project. At the urging of members of several community groups, VIP leaders decided to develop a model program in one of the New Orleans police districts with the highest level of violence. The program would include education for police officers at all levels on the effects of violence on children and offer a 24-hour hotline for consultation by police or families for referral of children up to 12 years of age who had been exposed to violence. Older children would be referred to other services. A crucial part of the program was to raise awareness about the importance of prevention and to direct the attention of program staff and the police toward younger children who had witnessed violence. In developing the program, VIP staff found ways to build relationships among the community, police, mental health professionals, and schools. This coalition has worked to address issues of prevention for referred children who witnessed violence and could not sleep, were disruptive in school, or clung to their mothers. The program has developed strategies that police might use when investigating violent incidents and that parents might use to protect their children and keep them away from violent scenes. 1 table, 1 figure, and 1 reference