Last week, staff from the Portland Office of Violence Prevention joined other members of the National Office of Violence Prevention Network in Washington, D.C. to learn more about community violence intervention and collaboration efforts around the country.
The visit included an event hosted by the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and meetings with staff from the offices of Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Jeff Merkley, and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici.
Key takeaways from the trip
- The National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) is launching a Violence Reduction Management Institute that will train and place prevention leaders in vital positions within the National Office of Violence Prevention Network.
- Major challenges shared by violence prevention offices include:
- Ecosystem building, creating infrastructure, and achieving sustainability;
- Workforce development, especially maintaining a pipeline of credible messengers;
- Staying up to date and proactive on issues regarding intersectionality and violence; and
- Hiring and keeping the right people and organizations for the work.
- Future opportunities for collaboration with other violence prevention offices.
- Learning about successful violence prevention and intervention strategies across the country.
- Hearing from the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Labor, and Department of Education about grant opportunities.
Next steps
The Portland Office of Violence Prevention will continue to work with NICJR for technical assistance to thoroughly review all of the office’s programs, set new goals for violence reduction, and start the planning process for potential new program offerings focused on domestic violence, youth/school violence, violence in the houseless community, etc. The information gathered through this experience will also be used to apply for federal grants to support these potential programs and apply best practices learned from other offices in the national network.