A photo of school participants in the Beecher Tucker Elementary School from 2016.

U of M partners to improve school safety in Genesee County, MI

Joe Alberts Blog Posts Leave a Comment

In response to multiple school shootings in the U.S., the Department of Justice created the Comprehensive School Safety Initiative (CSSI) to study promising programs that may improve school climate and safety. Since 2014, over $240 million has been awarded to research school-based safety programs around the U.S. In 2015, the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Michigan State University …

New partnership forms the Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center

Alison Grodzinski Blog Posts, Media/News, YVPC in the News Leave a Comment

We are proud to be a lead partner in the Healthy Flint Research Coordinating Center.  MI-YVPC Directors Marc Zimmerman and Rebecca Cunningham worked closely with colleagues in Flint, Michigan to launch a new community-academic partnership that will coordinate new and on-going research in Flint.  This new collaboration of Flint’s Community Based Organization Partners (a coalition of community-based organizations), UM-Flint, the University of Michigan’s …

Staff Spotlight: Tiara Rueda

Alison Grodzinski Blog Posts, Media/News Leave a Comment

The Michigan YVPC team is made up of a diverse group of people, and each brings a unique set of skills and experience to the table. Our staff spotlight series highlights members of our team, many of whom work and live in the Flint community. We’ve asked them a little about themselves and their role with the YVPC program.  Q: Tell me …

Staff Spotlight: Steven Thompson

Alison Grodzinski Media/News Leave a Comment

The Michigan YVPC team is made up of a diverse group of people, and each brings a unique set of skills and experience to the table. Over the next several weeks we will be highlighting several of our team members working in the field and  behind the scenes at the university. We’ve asked them a little about themselves and their role with …

New Publication: Identifying Violent Crime “Hot Spots” For More Effective Violence Prevention

Ashley Garrity Media/News, Publications 3 Comments

The American Journal of Public Health has just published a new article from Dr. Robert Lipton, faculty member of the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center and University of Michigan Injury Center. The publication, “The Geography of Violence, Alcohol Outlets, and Drug Arrests in Boston,” details how Dr. Lipton and his colleagues identified and mapped violent crime “hot spots” in Boston. …

Assessing Properties and Homes in Flint Neighborhoods

Ashley Garrity Blog Posts, property assessments 2 Comments

By: Allison Krusky, MPH, MI-YVPC Research Associate While many people were indoors trying to beat the heat this summer, 6 Flint community members were out walking the streets evaluating the conditions of Flint properties. The Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center (MI-YVPC) Parcel Assessors evaluated over 6,000 properties over a span of 5 weeks. For properties with homes, Parcel Assessors evaluated …

Working Together To Create the Safe and Healthy Futures Youth Festival

Ashley Garrity Blog Posts 1 Comment

By: Hadiyah Muhammad, UM Public Health Graduate Student & MI-YVPC Research Assistant “Potential.” That is how a youth participant responded when asked to describe Flint in one word during a video interview at the Safe and Healthy Futures Youth Festival on June 9th, 2012. It is this potential to be a safe and healthy community that inspires the work of …

Thank you to all who helped make the Youth Festival a success!

Alison Grodzinski Events, Media/News Leave a Comment

Sincere thanks to everyone involved for contributing the success of the  Safe and Healthy Futures Youth Festival on Saturday.  We had a beautiful day, a great turnout, good food, and inspiring performances by Raise It Up Youth Awareness, Gary Jones and Boys and Girls Club Youth and Kudos.  A special thank you to the members of the MI-YVPC Outreach Committee for …

Shutting Out the World: Preventing Violence in Flint

Pete Hutchison Blog Posts 19 Comments

By: Pete Hutchison, YES Program Director The real frustration of the current rate of violence in Flint is that there are so many concerned people working to prevent it.  There are active neighborhood groups, collaborations amongst the faith community, a multitude of youth serving organizations meeting together and looking for solutions.  Yet with all of this we still can’t seem …

Reducing Urban Blight as a Crime Prevention Strategy

Alison Grodzinski Blog Posts 3 Comments

Can programs like the Genesee County Land Bank’s Clean and Green Program prevent crime? Tom Reischl, PhD, Evaluation Director at MI-YVPC and the Prevention Research Center of Michigan, recently spoke to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners in support of funding for the Land Bank’s property maintenance programs.  His remarks are posted below:  Both violent crime and property crimes are …