Frequently Asked Questions

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The main goal of VICTOR Program is to help reduce violence and improve the quality of life for individuals and families living in communities most impacted by daily violence.

VICTOR Program doesn't offer direct services/programs.  Our Violence Intervention Prevention Specialists and Street Outreach workers provide mediation, conflict resolution, and case management to the clients we serve.  Our team make referrals to a range of supportive programs, including job training, financial assistance, and housing support. 

VICTOR Program is funded through donations from individuals, corporations, and grants from foundations and municipal/federal governments. 

An intervention is an effort (e.g., activity, program, policy change) to change knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors after a problem has been identified. CVI-focused interventions typically aim to end criminal or delinquent behaviors among specific individuals or groups already involved in delinquent/criminal behavior, including those that may have developed serious, violent, or chronic offending patterns.

Prevention is an effort (e.g., activity, program, policy change) to change norms, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors to prevent a negative outcome. CVI prevention efforts typically focus on individuals who are not involved in delinquent/criminal behavior but who may be at risk of involvement.

A credible messenger is an individual with lived experiences and deep ties to the community they serve. Their credibility allows them to build relationships with community residents and stakeholders and intervene with individuals who are at risk of being involved in violence in a way that outsiders often cannot.

A Violence Intervention Prevention Specialist aka a violence interrupter is someone who intervenes to prevent retaliation and other modes of violence spreading through a community by responding to shooting scenes and mediating active conflicts, among other actions.

A street outreach worker is someone who works to connect with a community’s high-risk individuals to build trust and relationships and to connect them to, and keep them connected to, formal programs and services.  They provide case management services to VICTOR Program clients

Stakeholders are those who may be affected by or influence an initiative, project, or program.  A stakeholder may care about, be directly affected by, be able to help solve, bring knowledge or skills to, benefit from, or bring a diverse viewpoint to the initiative, project, or program.

A community-based organization is a nonprofit civil society organization that works to serve people in the community in which it is based. Activities and services that it provides can include healthcare, education, public safety, legal services, youth programs, employment, training, and advocacy.

A community comprehensive plan is a document that guides a community’s future actions. Its aim is to achieve improved outcomes for individuals and families as well as improvements in community conditions by addressing needs in an integrated way across sectors. Such a plan often includes interrelated strategies focused on housing, employment, health, safety, and recreation, among other sectors.

A community violence assessment draws on multiple data sources to document where, what type, and when violence is occurring as well as to identify who is involved as victims, perpetrators, or both.

A city’s community violence intervention (CVI) ecosystem deploys several coordinated, community- driven strategies to reduce violence using credible messengers.  A CVI ecoystem is typically driven by city leadership and connects a city’s violence intervention prevention infrastructure—including community-based organizations, offices of neighborhood safety, and public health departments that too often work separately—in order to implement a comprehensive slate of strategies that address violence dynamics. 

The goal is to provide adequate funding and coordination, with a shared vision of public safety, to maximize the response to high-risk people and make violence reduction sustainable.

Source:  The Coalition to Advance Public Safety CVI Ecosystem site.

A landscape analysis outlines the strengths, resources, and needs of a particular community. The information gathered is used to map a community’s assets, needs, and aspirations, ensuring that they remain paramount when a new program is designed, priorities are set, and strategic decisions are made.

Local assets are people, places, and/or organizations that offer support, care, or services to the larger community.

A trauma-informed program, organization, or system realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices. It seeks to actively resist re-traumatization.