The city of oaklands department of violence prevention (DVP) will utilize this funding to expand and enhance oaklands ceasefire strategy by enabling the DVP to hire three full-time life coaches for 33…

The City of Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) received a $2,000,000 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CFDA 16.045). The funding will enable the DVP to expand and enhance Oakland's Ceasefire strategy by hiring three full-time life coaches for 33 months to deliver intensive life coaching services to 75 individuals at imminent risk of gun violence. The Ceasefire strategy is a focused deterrence approach to gun violence reduction that identifies and engages high-risk individuals to provide them with intensive social services to reduce their likelihood of victimization and perpetration. This project aims to interrupt cycles of violence in Oakland, reduce homicides and non-fatal shootings, and decrease the footprint of the criminal justice system.

The city of oaklands department of violence prevention (DVP) will utilize this funding to expand and enhance oaklands ceasefire strategy by enabling the DVP to hire three full-time life coaches for 33 months to deliver intensive life coaching services to 75 individuals at imminent risk of gun violence. Ceasefire is a focused deterrence approach to gun violence reduction thatinvolves identifying and locating individuals at the highest risk of gun violence to engage them in intensive social services that reduce their likelihood of victimization and perpetration. In oakland, the dvps nine current life coaches deliver intensive life coaching services to this population through daily contacts, safety planning, life mapping, motivational interviewing, and tenants of cognitive behavioral theory. The DVP believes deeply in and has witnessed firsthand the power of the ceasefire community violence intervention (CVI) strategy to support high-risk, vulnerable individuals in attaining safety and security, and the DVP is committed to interrupting cycles of violence in oakland by delivering intensive and impactful social services that help individuals change their mindsets, behaviors, and support systems to avoid future violence. In doing this, the DVP seeks to reduce homicides and nonfatal shootings in oakland, as well as the footprint of the criminal justice system.