The canton city middle school violence intervention and prevention program is a collaboration between canton city schools and the center for restorative justice and community health at walsh university

The Canton City Middle School Violence Intervention and Prevention Program is a $652,707 project grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) under the STOP School Violence Program (CFDA 16.839). The 3-year grant, effective October 1, 2024, supports a collaboration between Canton City Schools and the Center for Restorative Justice and Community Health at Walsh University to implement a trauma-informed approach to recognize, respond to, and prevent school violence in four Canton middle schools serving over 1,100 students.

Key program elements include hiring a Restorative Practice Coordinator to train and coach school personnel, developing student response teams, co-facilitating interventions, supervising a restorative justice student club, and evaluating program effectiveness. The grant also funds undergraduate mentors from Walsh University to assist with restorative practice trainings for student leaders, as well as a regional K-12 conference to disseminate best practices in school violence prevention.

Canton city middle schools service over 1,100 7TH and 8TH grade students in an inner-city school environment with high rates of community and school-based violence. The program consists of development and implementation of a two-pronged, trauma-informed approach to help with recognition, response to, and prevention of school violence in four middle schools in the district. Through this program, canton middle school personnel and students are provided support in understanding sources of behavior challenges, as well as solutions to reduce and prevent violence that are individualized to student's needs. Through a train the trainer model, schools will learn to implement restorative circles that encourage accountability, provide student support, and aid in student RE-entry after suspension from their home school for violent incidences. Grant monies support: the hiring of an in-house restorative practice coordinator for training and personal coaching of school counselors, resource officers, teachers and select students; development of student response teams; CO-facilitation of response team interventions; supervision of a restorative justice student club; the hiring of a program evaluation expert to use a mixed-method approach to determine effectiveness of trainings and interventions; the hiring of undergraduate mentors from walsh university to assist with restorative practice trainings for middle school student leaders and the student-led restorative justice club; and funding for a k-12 stop school violence conference that showcases school programs targeted toward preventing school violence with the goals of disseminating knowledge that contributes to the sustainability of violence prevention programs, and similar initiatives, on a local and national level.