The proposed project is titled community safety worker model: innovative career certification for credible messengers

This $1,998,264 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance supports the "Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative" (CFDA 16.045). The grant funding will enable Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center & Rosemary Anderson High School (POIC+RAHS), a non-profit community organization, to implement the "Community Safety Worker (CSW) Model" program over a 3-year period from October 2024 to September 2027.

The CSW Model is an innovative career certification program that aims to professionalize the field of violence prevention work and transform it into a viable career path with livable wages. The program will provide 200 hours of specialized training across four modules to equip a minimum of 40 credible messengers and violence prevention staff, who have a history of involvement with the criminal justice system and/or gang violence, with trauma-informed care and community safety skills. This training and certification program seeks to build the capacity of these community-based outreach workers to deliver effective violence intervention and prevention services to high-risk individuals, predominantly young Black and African American adults, in targeted Portland neighborhoods with elevated violent crime rates.

IT is an innovative project led by community-based organization, portland opportunities industrialization center & rosemary anderson high school (poic+rahs), to professionalize the field of violence prevention work, transforming IT into a viable career path with a livable wage. The community safety worker (CSW) model is a two-year program, consisting of 200 hours of coursework across four modules coupled with full-time work in the violence prevention field.project beneficiaries are outreach workers at poic+rahs and violence prevention staff at community-based organizations who identify as credible messengers and have a history of involvement with the criminal justice system, violent crime, and/or gang violence. The program will equip these individuals with specialized skills and knowledge in trauma-informed care and community safety practices. The primary goal for the project is that a minimum of 40 violence prevention staff will complete the CSW certification across two cohorts. Poic+rahs launched the first CSW cohort as a pilot in june 2024 with 22 internal staff members. Funding will support the second year of this pilot program, as well as launch and implement a second cohort of 25 trainees from community-based organizations engaged in community violence intervention and prevention (cvipi) work. The CSW model trains credible messengers who provide direct violence and prevention services to individuals defined as high risk. Poic+rahs criteria for high-risk includes individuals who are predominantly black and/or african american, ages 18 to 35, who have a history of involvement with the criminal justice system, have been charged with felonies and were or are currently on probation, have been or are currently involved in a gang, and/or have previously been shot or connected to a recent shooting or homicide victim. The service area is portland, oregon, serving neighborhoods with higher-than-average violent crime rates (97024, 97030, 97103, 97211, 97117, 97218, 97220, 97130, 97233, 97236, and 97266).