Three hundred thirty incidents involving a gun occurred in our nation’s K-12 schools in 2023, leaving 267 victims dead or wounded. This is a 2100% increase in incidents and a 1383% increase in victims since 2010. School violence has staggering impacts across education, public health, and community safety, but often receives attention only in the aftermath of incidents. A recent Apex project takes a different approach, addressing factors that contribute to violence, toward intervention and prevention.
Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) was founded in 2020, when many Americans called for a re-imagined approach to public safety. ACS is a public safety department created to bridge public safety and public health, and responds to 911 calls for service related to mental and behavioral health crises. Intersectionality exists between ACS and violence prevention, bridging into youth violence prevention in 2022 when ACS received W.K. Kellogg Foundation funding and launched the School-Based Violence Intervention Program (SBVIP).
Apex used Kumu software to create systems maps for evaluating SBVIP that visualize the data in our full report. Engaging with the context, findings, and recommendations in map form makes these insights more accessible to those who prefer an online, interactive platform. Additional maps display the system of youth violence in Albuquerque and are based on input from youth SBVIP participants and adult experts on youth violence in New Mexico. We utilized equitable evaluation to engage with youth and families affected by systemic issues like discrimination and poverty around the sensitive topic of school-based violence. Leveraging systems thinking, we examined systems of youth violence in Albuquerque – including causes and promotive factors that affect behaviors. Our review encompassed various agencies that interact with the SBVIP and youth violence, including Albuquerque Public Schools, ACS, law enforcement, behavioral health programs, and transportation.
Apex’s relationship with ACS familiarized us with their programming and community network. Findings showed positive early outcomes for students and community members, revealing conditions of success for the program to thrive as ACS continues implementation.