Program Summary: Violence is complicated and results from a combination of multiple influences on behavior. It is about how individuals relate to those around them and to their broader environment. The ultimate goal of violence prevention work is to stop the cycle of violence before it begins. The Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (VIP) at Mattie Rhodes Center is a comprehensive framework for positive behavior change, based on prevention strategies that address social ecological factors on an individual, relationship, community and societal level. 

This evidence-based model is guided by the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) four-level social-ecological model (SEM) to better understand violence and potential strategies to prevent it. The SEM allows violence interventionists to address the factors that put people at risk for or protect them from experiencing or perpetrating violence, and to pinpoint prevention approaches that can address these factors at every level.

Each level in the SEM can be thought of as a level of influence and as a key point for prevention. 

The first level (Individual) identifies biological and personal history factors that increase the likelihood of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence. Individual factors can include age, education, income, substance use or history of abuse. Prevention strategies at this level promote attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that prevent violence. MRC specific approaches include In-school Behavioral Health interventions and case management, and out-of-school youth development programming. 

The Community Resource Team play an integral role at the individual level, by coordinating internal and external resources to identified youth and their families. By connecting residents to additional agency services, they are able to impact the greater community need and engage youth directly in positive programming. 

The second level (Relational) examines close relationships that may increase the risk of experiencing violence as a victim or perpetrator. A person’s closest social circle-peers, partners and family members influence their behavior and contributes to their experiences. Prevention strategies at this level include parenting and family-focused prevention programs, adult mentoring and peer programs designed to reduce conflict, foster problem-solving skills and promote healthy relationships. 

The third level (Community) explores the settings, such as schools, workplaces and neighborhoods, in which social relationships occur and seeks to identify the characteristics of these settings that are associated with becoming victims or perpetrators of violence. Prevention strategies at this level impact the social and physical environment. For example, reducing social isolation, improving economic and housing opportunities in Northeast neighborhoods, as well as the conditions, processes and policies within school and workplace settings. 

The Community Resource Coordinators ensure efficient and effective use of community resources and leverage opportunities to increase reach to the most vulnerable communities. They conduct outreach, maintain strong communication and provide high-level support to internal and external stakeholders. By building and linking relationships within the local communities, the CRC’s leverage local resources and partnerships, to design more impactful and sustainable violence prevention and intervention that result in improved community health outcomes.

Mattie Rhodes Center is a COMBAT designated safety “hub” and a key center of activity in the development of comprehensive, inter-agency intervention for the prevention and remediation of violence. In the midst of many violent community hot spots, MRC’s participants acknowledge the center as a safe space for positive youth programming, supportive behavioral health services and service coordination. 

Finally, the fourth level (Societal) looks at the broad factors that help create a climate in which violence is encouraged. These factors include social and cultural norms that support violence as an acceptable way to resolve conflicts. Other large societal factors include the health, economic, educational and social policies that help to maintain economic or social inequalities between marginalized groups in society. 

Through VIP, Mattie Rhodes Center targets three tiers of youth in the Historic Northeast neighborhood, particularly those residing within the identified hot spots, and their families.

The first tier engages all youth who are under the age of 18 and living in the Northeast; this tier represents 80% of youth. 

The second tier targets at-risk youth who are high-risk because of the nature of the community they reside in; this is the second most active tier, with 15% of youth being at-risk. 

The third and final tier, represents youth who have begun to display the onset of delinquent behavior and are at high-risk of entering the juvenile justice system, approximately 5% of youth. 

Lastly, the Community Resource Team ensures that the families of all the identified at-risk youths receive the same access to wraparound services and community resources. The team takes a “boots on the ground” approach by contacting the family directly and meeting with them personally, either at their residence or at Mattie Rhodes Center, and continuing to make home visits. This strategy, based on best practice, identifies high-risk families in order to intervene with the entire household to intervene and prevent multi-generational learned violence.

This research model focuses on promoting protective factors, facilitating multi-component interventions and mobilizing community-wide strategies that mediate the risk factors of violence. MRC program outcomes measure social-emotional learning skills and reduction in youth and community violence in the greater Historic Northeast region. MRC seeks to reduce youth and community violence and increase pro-social behavior in the program’s participants.

The VIP framework has three main branches: a) socio-emotional skill building and encouraging healthy lifestyle choices; b) supportive community outreach and fostering community development; c) wrap around behavioral health services and case management.

Needs Statement: Youth violence is a serious public health problem affecting communities across the greater Kansas City region and throughout the United States. In the Historic Northeast neighborhood, community members are disproportionately affected by poor health outcomes shaped by generational risk factors such as family instability, poverty, domestic abuse, violence, educational failure and substance abuse. 

Based on data from the “Jackson County, Missouri COMBAT Report,” the Northeast has been marked as one of 19 areas of interest for violence prevention and intervention. According to 2018 data, there were 64 aggravated assaults reported, 50 robberies, seven  sex offenses and one homicide. A number of “hot spots” have been identified in the Northeast due to the number of reported crimes vs. population size. In particular,  the neighborhoods of Pendleton Heights, Independence Plaza and Lykins are the highest effected. Based on data from KC Health Matters, all three mentioned neighborhoods received an “F” rating for crime, employment, housing and schools. 

As a whole, 36.1% of the Northeast’s population have an income below the poverty level—more than double the state level of 14.5%; 4.57% are unemployed, compared with the Missouri average of 3.44% and the national average of 3.71%. Additionally, the demographic makeup is diverse, 33.5% were foreign born, compared to 3.8% in the state and 52% identified as Hispanic (a rapidly growing population in the Northeast). 

There is a particularly high need for support for children in this area due to a systematic lack of connected resources. The total youth population represents nearly 25% of the entire region, with 33% of residents being under the age of 18. School-aged children in this area have extremely low high school graduation rates, high reported drug and alcohol abuse rates, poor mental and physical health, and many belonging to single-parent homes that receive SNAP and other federal assistance.

Furthermore, in 2018, Mattie Rhodes Center surveyed 174 students at Northeast High School, where MRC hosts in-school behavioral health programming. The survey results demonstrated a significant need in the area for providing a safe space for young people for out-of-school activities, mentorship opportunities and community enrichment. Most interestingly, 95% of survey respondents alluded to not enough or very few programs that interested them at their school. In the words of one respondent, “We need more people to be engaged with us, to keep us more on track on what we want in life. We need more education, more effort, more support.”

COMBAT Funding: $129,165.00