Strength United: Community Mobilization for Primary Prevention of Sexual Assault

The proposed project is evidence-informed by being theory driven and evaluation based. Research and planning followed Phases 1-4 of the Precede-Proceed model. Primary data (asset mapping, focus groups, key informant interviews, quick intercepts) and secondary data (census data, local demographics) gathered during a social assessment indicated that the community identifies SV as a priority issue that negatively impacts quality of life. The epidemiological assessment confirmed this with the local health needs assessment identifying SV as a priority health issue and local statistics indicating SV is on the rise. The educational & ecological assessment (analysis of predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors [PERs] based on primary and secondary data) prioritized the risk and protective factors to be addressed across levels of the Socio-Ecological Model. Youth were identified as the primary target population based on community preference and PERs. Intervention alignment confirmed Community Mobilization as the priority strategy (based on its efficacy in changing norms and building social capital, primary data, and SU capacity and strategic planning goals) using a youth leadership approach (based on identified target population, efficacy of peer leadership models, and alignment with SU?s mission). To further ensure efficacy and an evidence-informed program, the promising practice of Close to Home (C2H) was selected and theories of change (Precaution Adoption Process Model and locality development) informed strategy selection. Process and summative evaluation is planned throughout the program to drive program modification and maximize outcomes. The appropriateness of the proposed strategies was assured by including the voice of the primary and secondary populations in planning, systematically utilizing Phases I-IV of Precede-Proceed, and selecting the promising practice of C2H that has been found to be appropriate with the proposed populations and in the proposed setting. The outcomes and activities of this project will alter the priority risk and protective factors. The Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM) is a stage model of change that describes the flow of incremental shifts individuals go through to realize a change. Over time, individuals move through the stages falling completely out of the process only if their considerations of the issue lead them to overtly decide not to act. Whether based on accurate or erroneous information, once made, that decision is extremely resistant to change. This program proposes to engage youth around accurate, current, personally relevant SV concepts so that they move through the stages and make the overt decision to act (moving from stage 3 to 5) and then take action (stage 6), becoming agents of change. This self-reflection and group processing will reduce the risk factors related to a lack of empathy for intimate partners, a belief in gender stereotypes, assumptions related to violence-supporting peer norms, and the culture of silence around sexual violence. At the same time, protective factors will be strengthened including instillation of healthy relationship norms and skills, increased accountability around violence-accepting behaviors, personal beliefs and behaviors that reflect gender equality and a commitment to social justice, and the willingness and ability to be active participants in creating and maintaining communities that value healthy relationships. The impact on these risk and protective factors will increase and solidify as the youth put these beliefs into action (stage 6) through C2H activities such as conducting community assessments, holding kitchen table conversations, and creating and implementing action plans. From there, through the coaching of SU staff, the youth leaders will catalyze relationship and community changes by using a locality development community mobilization approach (another theory of change being applied). The fundamental premise is that by developing the capacity of the primary and secondary populations, participants can collaborate, problem solve, and plan in order to reach consensus on actions they can collectively take to prevent SV. SU staff will facilitate, train, and coach; but the primary and secondary populations are the true leaders of the work. This locality development approach will reduce the risk factors of community silence to protect ?privacy? and tolerance for weak sanctions for SV perpetrators and will strengthen protective factors including parents, adult authority figures, and peers of diverse backgrounds who become models of healthy norms and engaged, active community members; perpetuating the societal norm of healthy relationships/sexuality; and a culture where people identify and respond to behaviors that are potential precursors to SV. First time perpetration and victimization are prevented once the youth overtly decide to adopt violence-rejecting behaviors and embrace violence-rejecting norms as a part of their core identities. This perspective diffuses out as their community mobilization efforts begin to change norms, policies, and behaviors within school practices, peer relationships, family interactions, and community exchanges. With this project Strength United hopes to achieve several things: 1) students and school leaders engaged and mobilized around the primary prevention of SV; 2) decreased prevalence of SV in the community; and 3) increased citizen engagement and collective efficacy to create a safer, stronger community. SU will know when the program is successful when evaluation results indicate that: 1) a robust student leadership team is engaging peers, faculty, and community members and meeting milestones and logic model outcomes; 2) local SV statistics maintain and/or begin to decline instead of increase; and 3) stakeholders continue to broaden and deepen their efforts and stay engaged over time. The overall project description is as follows. The (primary) program strategy is community mobilization using a youth leadership approach (secondary) that will also engage the community (secondary). The proposed setting is Valencia High School, a public school in the Hart District, and the local community of the City of Santa Clarita. Key proposed outcomes that will be accomplished by the end of the program or sooner include (specific targets will be established based on pre-testing priority audiences): * Creation of an afterschool youth leadership club for primary prevention of SV * Creation of at least 30 youth leaders using community mobilization to prevent SV * Engaged & participating stakeholders in the school and community * Knowledge, attitude, and behavior changes in priority audiences that promote healthy relationships/sexuality and reject violence-supporting norms * Increased school-based advocacy and action to promote safety and reduce risk * Increased community advocacy and action to promote safety and reduce risk * Community norms, priorities, and agendas reflective of healthy relationship practices 11 8 Increased civic engagement and sense of duty to act in community?s best interest 8 Increased SU capacity and skills to mobilize communities and develop leaders Realizing these outcomes will lead to meeting project goals of:1) creating a school climate that does not in any way accept violence-supporting norms and is united towards mobilizing the community for the primary prevention of SV; 2) decreasing the incidence and prevalence of SV in the community; and 3) creating an engaged citizenry to increase the civic health and efficacy of the community for the betterment of all residents and visitors. The intended audience is high school students ages 14-18; secondary audiences are the school staff/faculty and local community members. Major project activities reflect the building blocks of the C2H approach which are community assessment, community conversations, building skills, and taking action. The SU PEM will create marketing materials and partner with Valencia High faculty to recruit youth leaders for this SU facilitated afterschool leadership club. The leadership club will meet weekly for two hours after school (outside of classroom time). Annual recruitment will include students in the mentorship program as well as the student body at large. Each year, new student participants will attend an orientation to build group rapport, gain familiarity with core SV concepts and C2H, and start to build skills. School faculty will also be oriented to the project and invited to both participate and engage around creative ways to support the program (i.e. incorporating SV prevention into student assignments, creating a classroom awareness campaign, and spreading the word about the SV prevention club) and reinforce violence-rejecting norms. Program activities will commence with SU staff working closely with the Violence Prevention Unit (VPU) for Technical Assistance and Training (TAT) to increase staff capacity and sharpen skills and planning. Youth will participate at all levels whenever possible, including VPU/TAT activities. Program assessment and planning will be conducted annually with the exception of year two (due to assessment and planning being conducted at the end of year one). Activities include: initial planning, community mapping, and a community survey as a part of C2H?s community assessment process. Results will be used to inform student-led relationals and kitchen table conversations as a part of C2H?s starting conversations process. From there, a project action team composed of youth leaders, school faculty, and community members will be created and convened. Parent leaders working as a part of Safer Youth will be invited to join the project action team. Youth leaders will train the school and community members of the action team as a part of C2H?s building skills process. As another part of skills building, VHS youth leaders will be offered the opportunity to meet with Project DATE youth leaders who are experienced at doing similar work at the college campus level. VHS youth leaders will also be offered the opportunity to collaborate and share lessons learned with C2H youth leaders at other schools including the San Fernando Institute for Applied Media where SU is implementing C2H for the primary prevention of teen dating violence. (Constructs of Bandura?s Social Cognitive Theory informed this strategy selection.)This cross-collaboration may increase participation on the project action 12 team. The action team will create a project action plan and implement the plan as a part of C2H?s taking action process. The volunteer MPHIs will assist with program activities as well as program evaluation. In addition to pre/post-tests to measure knowledge, attitude, and behavior changes; this program will utilize participatory evaluation methods. The entire program team, including youth leaders & MPHIs, will collect, analyze, and discuss evaluation results continuously throughout the process. Case studies, process notes, documenting activities, and community assessments will also inform evaluation results and drive next steps and program modifications. Community SV stats will also be reviewed annually. To ensure sustainability, SU will institutionalize C2H by weaving C2H into multiple levels of VHS so that it becomes a core part of its growing leadership development program. (Note that SU has experience institutionalizing prevention programs, as this is the approach that has allowed Project DATE to exist for more than a decade.) Over the 3.5 years, SU will continue to build relationships with school leaders, create formal linkages between mentorship activities and the afterschool C2H club, and support school administrators in creating policies and procedures to support C2H as a core program. Parent leaders in Safer Youth will advocate for long-term support for C2H, as they voiced the need for youth leadership to prevent SV. In addition, SU and VHS have already started discussing future funding for C2H. Through SU?s volunteer prevention education advocates and interns, SU is building its own youth leaders. One planned sustainability approach includes the creation of a train- the-trainer program where health education interns and prevention advocates will be trained by SU to staff C2H under SU supervision. This reduces the cost of the program while expanding the circle of support. Past MPH interns will mentor new MPH interns, and post-graduation awareness and support for C2H will help with diffusion as past interns begin their careers. Evaluation results of this approach will be widely beneficial. Activities take into account the culture of the participants by including the voice of the community in program planning/implementation and including a facilitator trained in cultural competence and sensitivity who is representative of the primary culture of the participants. The program is strengths-based and fits with the needs and assets of the intended audience by being tailored to the participants (time, location, building on existing leadership development programs) and flexible enough to adapt to the strengths of the participants in terms of program activities. This program is designed to create agents of change by coaching youth on how to mobilize their community, providing them with opportunities to put this knowledge into action, and creating the opportunity for the target audiences (primary and secondary) to experience the real world results of their collective efforts ? whether these are the desired changes or results indicating that more work is needed. Project activities are comprehensive in that they address risk and protective factors across multiple levels of the Socio-Ecological Model (SEM). In addition to being 13 comprehensive, program activities are supported by the remaining 10 Principles of Effective Prevention Programs as evidenced by: 1) The use of varied teaching methods including direct instruction (didactic lecture), interactive instruction (discussion, peer learning, and brainstorming), indirect instruction (problem solving, reflective discussion, and case studies), experiential learning (conducting program activities), and instructional skills (training others). 2) Sufficient dosage through weekly meetings over the course of each school year. 3) The use of theory to drive program planning and selection of activities. 4) Promotion of positive relationships including youth to youth (leaders and peers), youth to adult (SU/VHS staff, Safer Youth parent leaders, project action team adults, community partners), and adult to adult (SU/VHS staff; SU/VHS staff and community members on project action team; SU/VHS and community partners). 5) Appropriately timed strategies to target youth as they are exploring and developing their own identities and values around healthy relationships/sexuality. 6) Sociocultural relevance including community representatives in both planning and implementation as well as flexibility built into the program to ensure room for true youth and action team leadership. 7) Incorporation of outcome evaluation to document how well the program works and provide data to drive program modifications to maximize impact. 8) Well-trained, experienced, high-quality staff and supervisors who are culturally competent (including a bicultural/bilingual facilitator) and supported by SU and VHS administration. 9) Selection of the promising practice, Close to Home, and use of evidence (primary and secondary data as well as sound theory) to drive program planning and implementation. As part of its comprehensive approach, the program design takes into account the Socio-Ecological Model. Risk and protective factors are directly addressed across three levels of the SEM: 8 Individual ? Individual youth change is targeted during orientation and the C2H skill building activities. Targeted risk factors include gender stereotypes, a lack of empathy for intimate partners, and a lack of social development. Targeted protective factors include developing a commitment to social justice and gender equity, healthy relationship skills, and the willingness and ability to participate in civic engagement to promote healthy relationship/sexuality values. 8 Relationship ? Relationship-level change is targeted during the weekly youth leadership meetings, community assessment, project action team work, and peer youth leader collaboration and consultation. Targeted risk factors include peer support for adversarial relationship norms, the absence of role models promoting healthy relationships/sexuality, and the reluctance to hold others accountable. Targeted protective factors include an increase in peers and adults modeling and teaching healthy relationship skills, peers and adults identifying and responding to behaviors that could be precursors to SV, and the supportive environment that creates a safe place to explore, develop, and grow healthy relationship skills. 8 Community ? Community-level change is targeted by the C2H community conversations and action taking activities. Targeted risk factors include 14 community norms of silence around SV and weak sanctions for perpetrators. Targeted protective factors include engaging diverse people in activities that promote healthy relationships/sexuality, demonstrating related skills across institutions, and consistent application of appropriate boundaries and expectations around healthy relationship/sexuality across community entities. 8 Institutional change is not directly built into program activities; however, the work of the youth leaders and project action team, as well as VHS faculty efforts resulting from community engagement, may result in risk reducing/safety promoting changes in school policies, procedures, and overall climate. This new project will strengthen and build upon community strengths and resources. SU has three primary prevention programs: Project DATE, a campus-based youth leadership program at CSUN; Safer Youth, community mobilization of parents; and a new youth leadership community mobilization project that utilizes C2H for primary prevention of teen dating violence. This program will strengthen and build on these efforts by increasing cross-collaboration, cross-marketing, reinforcement of shared messaging (community members being exposed to consistent messaging from different channels), and expanding the impact of these prevention efforts. Building on SU capacity, skills, and experience, this program will also strengthen and build upon community partnerships by increasing opportunities for meaningful action to create change (i.e. joining and/or supporting the project action team, inviting their stakeholders to participate, and cross-training to increase use of community mobilization). Lastly, this will build upon and strengthen VHS?s commitment to developing youth leaders and efforts to create a respectful, healthy school climate that is free of harassment and SV. Roles and responsibilities are clear. In addition to the youth leaders, the primary partners responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating this program are Strength United and Valencia High School. SU will participate in all VPU/TAT activities and provide staffing (DOJ cleared) and facilitation of C2H. VHS will provide a point person, space, and access to youth for at least two hours each week as an afterschool leadership program for at least the duration of the grant. SU and VHS will collaborate to plan and evaluate the program, with SU accountable for documentation, grant reporting, and formalizing agreed upon processes and systems. SU and VHS will also collaborate to market and recruit youth leaders. Recruitment will begin with past and current students in VHS? mentorship program and will then spread campus-wide. Evaluation will be overseen by SU with participation by youth leaders and VHS. SU?s cadre of five carefully screened and selected unpaid public health interns (DOJ cleared) will support program activities. They have all taken graduate-level coursework in community mobilization, health education, and evaluation. In closing, Strength United is invested in community mobilization to target the roots of violence. This funding opportunity will lead to a dynamic youth leadership project while also ensuring that community mobilization efforts in the Santa Clarita Valley incorporate promising strategies to maximize impact and change. This is the only way we can truly end abuse.