Affiliated Violence Prevention Programs at CHOP

In addition to programs led by CVP, there are other violence prevention programs throughout the CHOP Network that provide services to affected youth and their families or conduct relevant research. Learn more about these violence prevention programs.

Violence Prevention Affiliated Programs

Anti-Racism Training and ProgrammingVisit

The Center for Violence Prevention (CVP) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) promotes and supports racial equity and social justice through its research and programs and in the workplace. To combat racism, CVP is contributing to the development of anti-racism trainings and programs at CHOP and school-based interventions to prevent youth microaggressions.

Adolescent Initiative at CHOPVisit

The Adolescent Initiative evaluates and cares for adolescents living with HIV and provides prevention services to high-risk youth. An interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, peers and mental-health professionals creates a seamless continuum of service. Youth diagnosed with HIV often have multiple psychosocial problems such as basic subsistence issues, disclosure, housing, stigma, mental-health issues and lack of social support. Thus, the Adolescent Initiative programs link youth to care and provide services to help youth become more knowledgeable, self-sufficient and competent in managing their HIV. Providing this level of support also buffers these vulnerable youth from cycles of violence.

Children’s Intensive Emotional and Behavioral ProgramVisit

The Children's Intensive Emotional and Behavioral Services (CIEBS) provides comprehensive partial hospital services in a behaviorally-based, trauma-informed therapeutic setting for children between the ages of 5 and 13 years old. Located in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean Counties of New Jersey, the mission of the program is to improve child and family functioning so that a child who is at risk of being removed from the community or psychiatric hospitalization or being excluded from school because of psychiatric/behavioral symptoms, can remain and be productive in his or her home, school and community. CIEBS treatment focuses on the learning of emotional self-regulation, adaptive behaviors, pro-social skills and healing from trauma that can help prevent these children from becoming violent or victims of violence.

Community-Driven Research DayVisit

 Founded in 2010, Community-Driven Research Day encourages collaboration between researchers and community-based organizations (CBOs) in Philadelphia. Through an interactive poster session, CBOs lead the event and highlight their research questions to program participants, including area non-profits, community groups, public sector partners, and students and researchers from local academic institutions, including CHOP, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, and Thomas Jefferson University. These institutions also serve as co-sponsors at the annual event.

Gender and Sexuality Development ProgramVisit

The Gender and Sexuality Development Program (GSD Program) offers psychosocial and medical services for gender variant, gender expansive, and transgender children and youth and their families. GSD Program’s team includes specialists in gender identity development from Social Work and Family Services, Adolescent Medicine, Endocrinology, and Behavioral Health. GSD Program’s patients have unique considerations related to violence prevention that may be related to school bullying, intimate partner relationships, or child sex trafficking.

Additionally, in collaboration with CHOP’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion, GSD Program created LGBTQ+ Pride, an employee resource group. LGBTQ+ Pride supports the CHOP’s overall efforts to maintain a safe, non-discriminatory space for employees, families, patients, and other stakeholders, demonstrating that CHOP is a safe space for diversity in sexual and gender identities.

Healthier TogetherVisit

Healthier Together is CHOP’s initiative to tackle the social determinants of health as a path to improving the health of children, in partnership with community groups, nonprofits and government agencies. A specific area of focus for the initiative is reducing the impact and incidence of traumatic events to prevent negative long-term behavioral health issues. CVP staff members are working closely with the leaders of Healthier Together to guide and provide direct support for this initiative.

Through Healthier Together, CVP’s Violence Intervention Program will be expanded to provide trauma-informed case management in the community to youth experiencing trauma through a new program, Family Advocacy and Support (FAS). The team will work closely with other GRIT (Growing Resilience in Teens) providers, such as Uplift Center for Grieving Children and Child Guidance Resource Center, to help increase access, navigation, and support to youth and families after a traumatic experience.

PolicyLabVisit

PolicyLab at CHOP seeks to achieve optimal child health and well-being by informing program and policy changes through interdisciplinary research. PolicyLab researches, develops, and implements evidence-based solutions that are responsive to community needs and relevant to child health policy priorities. PolicyLab and CVP researchers are collaborating on an Evidence to Action policy brief that highlights existing research and provides evidence-based recommendations for new public health approaches to protect youth from unintentional firearm injury and death.

Safe PlaceVisit

Safe Place: The Center for Child Protection and Health is staffed by an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and other Hospital personnel. Its mission is to provide the best care to children and families dealing with child abuse or neglect. Prevention efforts include the development and dissemination of Pri-CARE, an evidence-informed approach to positive parenting. Safe Place has been a leader in innovative approaches in the care of vulnerable populations including a telemedicine clinic for child sexual abuse, and development of an electronic screener to evaluate social needs and resource map to assist families in accessing these supports and services.

Youth Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Research CenterVisit

Founded in 2019, The Youth Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Research Center (Y-SPIRC) utilizes clinical care, research, education, and community engagement to address depression and mental health concerns in children and youth and promote suicide prevention. A specific initiative of Y-SPIRC is its Zero Suicide program. Zero Suicide’s primary goals are to grow awareness, provide training, and improve screening and assessment practices of suicide risk. Y-SPIRC’s Zero Suicide team developed the Clinical Pathway for Children and Adolescents at Risk for Suicide in Outpatient Behavioral Health. This pathway supplies guidelines for screening, assessing, and intervening with at risk youth.