- Built on the same idea that fuels Dallas CRED and other gun violence intervention programs, Yale’s hospital-based violence intervention program targets children admitted into the emergency room with firearm injuries to decrease the odds of retaliatory gun violence. The program takes a holistic approach to reducing trauma including providing psychiatric care, substance use treatment, and assistance with victim compensation, housing, and other stabilizing services.
- As Kirsten Bechtel, a physician and professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine explains, “When children are physically assaulted, they are much more likely to be involved in a homicide or an assault with a firearm in the next six months … Having hospital-based violence intervention programs can make the difference in the lives of our kids who are impacted by firearm homicides.”
- An important factor fueling this work: “Connecticut recently became the first state in the nation to sponsor Medicaid reimbursement for community services to do violence intervention outreach.”
- Related: Thomas Stuckey, a former police officer and current professor of criminal justice at Indiana University-Purdue, published a piece in the Chronicle of Philanthropy this week that discussed “a large Indianapolis hospital, Eskenazi, [that] runs several important anti-violence programs [including] Prescription for Hope [which] assists people treated there for gunshot wounds.” As Stuckey explains:
“Like similar hospital-based programs around the country, the one based at Eskenazi helps participants develop effective life skills and connects them with community resources to reduce criminal and risky behaviors. An initial study of the program showed that only about 3 percent of participants returned to the emergency department with a repeat violent injury within the first year, compared with 8.7 percent when the program wasn’t underway. This translates to a two-thirds reduction in the likelihood that someone with a violent injury will need similar emergency medical assistance in the future.”