 |
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007 |
CONTACT Lori Maldonado |
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Awarded $1 Million to Address Child and Adolescent Health Through Violence PreventionDENVER--The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently awarded the Prevention Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment $343,453 per year for three years to enhance Colorado's capacity to address child and adolescent health through violence prevention. Colorado was one of only two states awarded this funding to implement violence prevention strategies designed to prevent child maltreatment, suicide, sexual violence, bullying, school violence, community violence and teen dating violence. Shannon Breitzman, director of the Injury, Suicide and Violence Prevention Unit that will be overseeing the grant, said the project is based on a strategic plan to reduce youth violence by addressing shared risk and protective factors that have an impact on multiple types of violence. Shared risk and protective factors are characteristics or situations that have an impact, either positive or negative, on a child or adolescent and have an impact on more than one type of violence. For example, "family connectedness" is a shared protective factor for child maltreatment, suicide, sexual violence and community violence. "Substance abuse" is a risk factor for all types of child and adolescent violence, suggesting that implementing evidence-based programs targeting substance abuse also may have an impact on other types of problem behavior and violence. The strategic plan entitled, Bold Steps Toward Child and Adolescent Health: A Plan for Youth Violence Prevention in Colorado, is available at http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/ps/YVPP/index.html. A core component of the plan is to use the strengths of young people in prevention efforts and to implement programs and strategies that focus on positive youth development. The CDC grant will allow the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to prioritize integrated prevention strategies to effectively reduce violence perpetrated toward and among children and adolescents in Colorado. Three communities, to be identified by March 2007, will pilot recommendations of the strategic plan. Communities will be identified based on elevated rates of child and adolescent violence, a high presence of risk factor indicators, a lack of protective factor indicators, and a readiness to implement violence prevention initiatives. Pilot communities will implement community-level recommendations of the strategic plan in an effort to have an impact on child and adolescent violence communitywide. Implementing and evaluating community-level strategies for youth violence prevention will determine the impact of the recommendations of the strategic plan and will give guidance and evidence to other communities searching for effective prevention strategies. Pilot communities also will allow the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to enhance community and political support for integrated prevention approaches, ultimately contributing to statewide reductions in all forms of child and adolescent violence. For more information, please contact the Injury, Suicide and Violence Prevention Unit at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment at 303-692-2609. ---30--- |
|