The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control is soliciting research proposals to expand the evidence base for the prevention and reduction of community violence, including youth violence and violence among young adults.

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violence is violence between individuals who are unrelated, and who may or may not know each other, generally taking place outside the home.

Examples of community violence include youth violence, such as assaults or fights among groups, and shootings in public areas such as schools and on the streets.

The purpose of this announcement is to fund rigorous evaluation research projects that will expand the evidence base of proven prevention approaches for those most at risk of experiencing community violence, including youth, racial and ethnic minority groups, and disadvantaged or underserved groups.

Research will evaluate community-centered prevention approaches implemented or planned for implementation in communities to reduce community violence victimization or perpetration, including severe forms of violence such as homicides, firearm-related violence, and violence-related hospitalizations.

Community-centered approaches are programs, policies, or practices that include and prioritize community members as key producers of knowledge, designating the community as an important decision-maker.

Such community-centered violence prevention approaches are feasible and acceptable to implement in one or more geographically defined communities experiencing high rates of violence.

The results from this research will inform efforts to eliminate racial, ethnic, and economic inequities that increase risk for community violence across the country.

Applicants must propose to rigorously evaluate a community violence prevention approach that is currently implemented or planned for implementation in a proposed community(ies).

Applicants must propose to evaluate an approach from one of two categories:
(1) evidence-based prevention approaches that are significantly or substantially different from the original approach, evaluate key implementation factors that might drive the program effectiveness, or examine additional community violence outcomes that have not been evaluated previously; or (2) an innovative prevention approach that has never undergone a rigorous evaluation.

For the purpose of this funding opportunity, rigorous evaluation designs include those that utilize experimental designs (i.e., randomized controlled trials) or quasi-experimental designs (e.g., comparative interrupted time series design, difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity, regression point displacement, stepped wedge, propensity score matching, comparison groups, pragmatic trials).

This NOFO also requires recipients to explicitly focus on achieving health equity, including describing how the selected prevention approach will reduce inequities in risk for community violence experienced by racial and ethnic minority groups.

Other disproportionately affected populations (e.g., people returning home after incarceration, people experiencing homelessness, commercial sex workers, people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities, etc.) and intersections of populations experiencing high rates of violence may also be addressed.

The community(ies) in which the selected approach is implemented must be an equitable collaborator and given the opportunity to provide input on implementation (if applicable), the outcome evaluation of the community violence prevention approach, as well as interpretation and dissemination of the findings.