Alameda County Health’s Public Health Department New Violence Prevention Program

Oakland (Special to OaklandNewsOnline.com) – Alameda County Health’s Public Health Department (ACPHD) has launched a new program that aims to examine the root causes of violence, support community-based violence intervention efforts, and reshape local narratives around violence. In total, $5,739,806 in funding will be administered by community-based providers to support three major areas of work: violence intervention and prevention programming, youth suicide prevention activities, and nurturing the health and wellbeing of violence intervention professionals. Led by ACPHD’s Office of Violence Prevention (OVP), the multiyear effort is a collaboration with nearly 20 local nonprofit organizations, all dedicated to reducing violence related to hate, firearms, intimate partner violence, and youth suicide.

“Violence in all its forms hurts the health of the public,” said ACPHD Director Kimi Watkins-Tartt. “Factors such as racial discrimination, lack of affordable and safe housing, limited economic mobility, and underfunded schools and community resources contribute to the ongoing violence experienced in several communities countywide. This is an opportunity to improve our collective wellbeing by addressing the conversations we have around violence and understanding how the narratives we are exposed to through media, in social spaces, and even within our own homes, can drive violence that we experience in our communities.”

For Narrative Change, OVP has partnered with Berkeley Media Studies Group (a project of the Public Health Institute), Urban Peace Movement, Asian Health Services, and Youth ALIVE to gather and analyze local attitudes toward violence. Activities will include community listening sessions, crafting new narratives around safety, wellness, and violence prevention, and developing a countywide narrative change plan.

OVP is funding numerous nonprofit organizations across the county: Asian Health Services and Baywell Health, City of Union City – Youth & Family Services, Covenant House California, Crisis Support Services of Alameda County, Destiny Arts Center, Dream Youth Clinic, Eden Youth and Family Center, Fresh Lifelines for Youth, Roots Community Health Center, Safe Passages, Tri-Valley Haven, Youth ALIVE! and Youth Spirit Artworks. Collectively, these organizations will engage in diverse efforts to address violence in many ways including:

• Providing hospital-based violence intervention services,
• Expanding youth and young adult mental health crisis supports,
• Facilitating cross-racial community building,
• Teaching anti-dating violence for teens,
• Supporting Narrative Change activities, and more.

An additional partner, Jones Psychological Services (JPS), will facilitate programming that supports the violence intervention workforce. In collaboration with OVP, JPS will provide trauma-informed care, healing, and restorative practices to equip frontline workers and leaders with self-care techniques and strategies to focus on their own healing.

The network of providers will collaboratively support efforts to understand current attitudes and beliefs about violence, its origins, impact, and possible ways to interrupt and disrupt the impact of violence within communities in Alameda County. The work across the three major categories (direct violence prevention and intervention, youth/young adult suicide prevention, and healing and wellness for violence prevention professionals) centers equity, addressing structural drivers that disproportionately impact Asian, Black/African American, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American, and Pacific Islander communities and women.

“I applaud the Public Health Department’s innovative approach to tackling violence in our county,” said Alameda County Board Supervisor Nate Miley. “By applying these trusted public health approaches that reduce violence in our communities, we are strengthening our commitment to ensure that Alameda County is a safe place to live, work, and play.”

Launched in 2023, the OVP is dedicated to addressing the ramifications of violence, which harm both individual and community health. The OVP serves to promote peaceful families and communities, which is a component of the Alameda County Community Health Improvement Plan.

Learn more at Health.AlamedaCountyCA.gov/ACPHD

About Alameda County Health

Alameda County Health is the local government agency that promotes and protects the health and well-being of all who live, work, learn, and play in the Alameda County. Across our Environmental Health, Behavioral Health, and Public Health departments, and major programs covering emergency response, access to care, and homelessness services, we coordinate and partner with community organizations support a robust safety net, build resilient communities, and improve health for all. We focus on health equity through programs and systemic change to reduce disparities for the people and communities we serve.