Associations between land bank ownership and stewardship of vacant properties and crime, violence, and youth victimization in Flint, MI.

Land banks across the United States are managing expanding vacant property inventories. By maintaining vacant properties and engaging residents in the process, land banks facilitate processes integral to building safe neighborhoods and may play a role in violence prevention. Using generalized additive mixed model regression, adjusted for spatial and temporal dependencies, we examined whether land bank ownership and stewardship of vacant properties in Flint, Michigan were associated with trends in serious, violent, and firearm-involved crime, between 2015 and 2018.

Community identified characteristics related to illegal dumping; a mixed methods study to inform prevention.

Illegal dumping is a public health burden for communities suffering from historical disinvestment. We conducted a mixed methods study to answer: 1) What are stakeholder perspectives on social/environmental determinants of illegal dumping? and 2) Do these or other characteristics predict known locations of illegal dumping? We employed an exploratory sequential design in which we collected and analyzed in-depth interviews (n=12) with service providers and residents and subsequently collected and analyzed data from multiple secondary sources. Stakeholders endorsed nine determinants of illegal dumping: Economic Decline, Scale of Vacancy, Lack of Monitoring, Poor Visibility, Physical Disorder, Illegal Activity, Norms, Accessibility, and Seclusion.

Lessons learned from local vacant land management organizations for engaging youth in greening.

Youth living in areas with high concentrations of vacant properties may be at particular risk for poor health outcomes given the associations between deteriorated vacant properties, poor mental health, and community violence. Vacant lot greening has emerged as a key strategy to mitigate the harms of deteriorated properties. Youth engagement in greening has documented benefits for youth, yet few organizations responsible for managing vacant properties currently engage youth.

Firearm safety counseling among caregivers of high-school age teens: Results from a National Survey.

Firearms are the leading cause of death for high-school age teens. To inform prevention efforts, we characterize the prevalence of healthcare provider (HCP) counseling of caregivers of teens around firearm safety, safety conversation elements, and caregiver receptivity towards counseling. A cross-sectional web survey (6/24/2020-7/22/2020) was conducted among caregivers (n = 2924) of teens (age:14-18).

Understanding key implementation determinants for a school-based universal prevention intervention: a qualitative study.

This study examined how teachers discuss various factors as impacting their ability to execute with fidelity the Michigan Model for Health (MMH), an evidence-based health universal prevention curriculum widely adopted throughout Michigan. Researchers have found a robust relationship between fidelity and participant outcomes, including in schools. While previous studies have identified barriers that inhibit fidelity, few have focused on identifying key barriers and deepening our understanding of how these factors influence intervention fidelity.

Why some parents made firearms more accessible during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a national study.

The objective of this study was to assess parents' firearm storage behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic and characterize reasons why some parents made their firearms more accessible during this time. In June-July 2020, the study team conducted the FACTS National Survey-a cross-sectional, web-based, survey of 2,924 parents and their teens (ages14-18) regarding firearm-related practices. We weighted descriptive analyses to be nationally representative of parents of teens in the United States.

Firearm purchasing during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in households with teens: a national study.

To describe and identify the correlates of firearm purchasing at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic among US families with teenagers. In June-July 2020, we conducted a national survey of 2924 parents and their teenagers in the US. We report results from this survey to describe firearm purchasing behaviors following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and investigate correlates of purchasing.

Adapting an evidence-based positive youth development intervention to prevent sexual and teen dating violence.

Adapting evidence-based interventions (EBIs) guided by implementation science frameworks is a promising way to accelerate the translation of effective violence prevention in schools. School-based interventions offer an opportunity to reduce the risk of multiple forms of violence, including sexual violence (SV) and teen dating violence (TDV). EBIs in schools reach large populations of adolescents, including those underserved in other settings.

Community-Engaged Neighborhood Revitalization and Empowerment: Busy Streets Theory in Action.

Busy streets theory predicts that engaging residents in physical revitalization of neighborhoods will facilitate community empowerment through the development of sense of community, social cohesion, collective efficacy, social capital, and behavioral action. Establishing safe environments fosters positive street activity, which reinforces neighborhood social relationships. A community-engaged approach to crime prevention through environmental design (CE-CPTED) is one promising approach to creating busy streets because it engages residents in collaborative interactions to promote safer environments.

Prevention of Firearm Injuries Among Children and Adolescents: Consensus-Driven Research Agenda from the Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens (FACTS) Consortium.

Importance: Firearm injuries are the second leading cause of death among US children and adolescents. Because of the lack of resources allocated to firearm injury prevention during the past 25 years, research has lagged behind other areas of injury prevention. Identifying timely and important research questions regarding firearm injury prevention is a critical step for reducing pediatric mortality.

Measuring the Implementation of Youth Empowerment Solutions.

Scholars have increasingly emphasized the importance of using evidence-based programs to promote health and prevent disease. While theoretically and empirically based programs may be effective in carefully controlled conditions, many fail to achieve desired outcomes when implemented in real-world settings. Ensuring high-quality implementation of health promotion programs is critically important as variation in implementation is closely associated with program effectiveness.

Youth Empowerment Solutions: Evaluation of an After-School Program to Engage Middle School Students in Community Change.

We report on an effectiveness evaluation of the Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) program. YES applies empowerment theory to an after-school program for middle school students. YES is an active learning curriculum designed to help youth gain confidence in themselves, think critically about their community, and work with adults to create positive community change.