Minority Youth Violence Prevention

Posted by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on June 9, 2014

FY14 Minority Youth Violence Prevention: Integrating public health and community policing approaches

Deadline: June 13, 2014 by 5pm EDT

OMH intends to make available approximately $4,000,000 for competitive grants for the MYVP with an anticipated number of awards between 8-10.

https://www.grantsolutions.gov/gs/preaward/previewPublicAnnouncement.do?id=49466

Despite significant improvements in the overall health status of the nation over the past decades, disparities in youth violence continue to persist among racial and ethnic minority populations.
• In 2010, 4,828 young people ages 10 to 24 were victims of homicide — an average of 13 each day.
• Homicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24 years old. Among homicide victims ages 10 to 24 years old in 2010, 82.8% were killed with a firearm.
• Among 10-24 year olds, homicide is the leading cause of death for African Americans; the second leading cause of death for Hispanics, and the third leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Natives.
• Homicide rates in 2010 among African American males 10-24 years of age (51.5 per 100,000) significantly exceeded those of Hispanic males (13.5 per 100,000) and non-Hispanic, White males in the same age group (2.9 per 100,000).

OMH, in partnership with the COPS Office, is supporting a national initiative to integrate public health and violence prevention approaches. OMH is seeking applications from organizations that can serve as demonstration sites for addressing both the disparities in access to public health and the elevated risk of violence and crime that exists in many of our nation’s most distressed neighborhoods. The MYVP intends to demonstrate the effectiveness of integrating public health and community policing approaches to reduce disparities in access to public health services and violent crimes and improve the health and wellbeing of communities of color.

OMH has also announced a funding opportunity entitled Youth Empowerment Program II (YEP II). The YEP II seeks to support interventions that employ a public health approach to provide critical life skills development, academic skills, career advisement, and mentoring.. In contrast, the MYVP seeks to support interventions that integrate violence prevention and crime reduction models with public health and community oriented policing approaches and requires partnerships among law enforcement agencies, public health agencies and other community entities.