Introduction
Communities often lack the best information on how to assess local needs and how to use an assessment to select a violence reduction/intervention program that fits their needs. Despite strong public pressure to implement programs with proven results, without clear standards and guidelines, communities can become lost in the maze of programs that claim effectiveness in deterring violence yet have no factual information or evidence supporting their effectiveness. The Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative is a comprehensive effort to provide communities with a set of programs whose effectiveness has been scientifically demonstrated. With the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP’s) support, the Initiative also provides the information necessary for communities to begin replicating programs locally.
The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) at the University of Colorado at Boulder designed and launched the Blueprints for Violence Prevention Initiative in 1996 to identify and replicate effective youth violence prevention programs across the Nation. The Initiative, which was at first funded by the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency,1 identified 11 prevention and intervention programs that meet a strict scientific standard of program effectiveness. Program effectiveness is based on an initial review by CSPV and a final review by and recommendations from an advisory board comprising six experts in the field of violence prevention.2
The 11 model programs, or Blueprints, have been proven to be effective in reducing adolescent violent crime, aggression, delinquency, and substance abuse and predelinquent childhood aggression and conduct disorders. Another 19 programs have been identified as promising. To date, more than 500 programs have been reviewed, and CSPV continues to look for additional programs that meet the rigorous selection criteria.
This Bulletin describes CSPV’s selection criteria in choosing model Blueprints programs, highlights the 11 model programs chosen to date, and discusses replication of Blueprints programs, their funding, and lessons learned from the replication sites.
1 Currently, a majority of the funding support comes from OJJDP.
2 Advisory board members are Tom Cook, Ph.D., Northwestern University; Delbert Elliott, Ph.D., University of Colorado; Denise Gottfredson, Ph.D., University of Maryland; Hope Hill, Ph.D., Howard University; Mark Lipsey, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University; and Patrick Tolan, Ph.D., University of Illinois. Peter Greenwood, Ph.D., The RAND Corporation, is a former board member.
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