The american institutes for research(air) and wested are pleased to jointly respond to category 4 of the community-based violence intervention and prevention initiative (CVIPI) solicitation from the…

The American Institutes for Research (AIR) and WestEd have received a $983,482 Project Grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under the Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CFDA 16.045) to develop and test a Violence Intervention and Prevention Intercept Model (VIPIM) for evaluating ecosystem approaches to preventing violence in Boston.

Over 4 years, the project will produce the VIPIM tool to identify entry points, outcomes, and coordination dynamics across the community- and hospital-based violence intervention and prevention ecosystem. The model will be developed through engagement with individuals directly impacted by violence in Boston and other cities using an ecosystem approach. The VIPIM will be tested using retrospective data on up to 2,500 individuals to understand the impact of exposure to different intervention and prevention intercepts on future violence risk.

As a subrecipient, WestEd will provide a co-principal investigator, coordinate data collection in Boston, and lead qualitative analysis, receiving $400,000 in total compensation across the 4-year project period.

The american institutes for research(air) and wested are pleased to jointly respond to category 4 of the community-based violence intervention and prevention initiative (CVIPI) solicitation from the national institute of justice (NIJ) to develop and test a model for evaluating ecosystem approaches to preventing violence. Over 4 years, the project will produce a violence intervention and prevention intercept model (VIPIM) that pinpoints entry points, outcomes, and coordination dynamics across the community- and hospital-based violence intervention and prevention (C/HVIP) ecosystem serving priority populations at risk for violence in boston. To increase the vipims relevance in other urban places, we will engage the broader field, particularly individuals directly impacted by violence, as we develop the model template through feedback webinars with other cities using an ecosystem approach (e.g., philadelphia, oakland, chicago). The resulting VIPIM template will be customized to bostons C/HVIP ecosystem and tested using data from a retrospective (2021-2025) sample of up to 2,500 individuals to understand (1) how well the tool captures the different ecosystem intercepts that exist and (2) the degree to which cumulative or single exposure to intercepts over time affects future risk for violence. The primary goals are to fill a GAP in the current evidence to understand the degree to which cumulative or single exposure to intervention and prevention intercepts over time affects future risk for violence and to establish a customizable tool and process for cities to use when assessing and improving their own ecosystem approach informed by those most impacted by violence. We will reach our goals through five research questions (RQ). RQ1: to what extent can sequential intercept modeling be a useful tool to describe and define any C/HVIP ecosystem? RQ2: to what extent does the VIPIM accurately and reliably represent bostons C/HVIP ecosystem? RQ3: how do socioecological factors, violence experiences, and responsivity needs diverge among individuals with similar risk propensities? RQ4: how do singular and repeated contacts with system intercept points affect outcomes according to individual and group typologies? Does the order of exposure to impacts affect outcomes? RQ5: to what extent did engagement in the study affect the way individuals viewed the research process as equitable, transparent, and credible?