RESEARCH IN ACTION

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health recently published the country’s first peer-reviewed study on street outreach worker programs. The study finds that using street outreach workers is an effective strategy in youth violence prevention and intervention.

Researchers studied the street outreach worker program run by the United Teen Equality Center  (UTEC) in Lowell, a ‘gateway city’ north of Boston.

Typically, street outreach workers are community members who intervene to prevent conflict and retaliation, often between gangs. In some programs, street workers also connect individuals with needed services, such as housing and job training.

Though many cities across the United States have street outreach worker programs, such as CeaseFire in Chicago and Safe Streets in Baltimore, little research has been conducted on their efficacy or best practices.

Using UTEC’s program as a model, the study reveals five best practices:

  • Youth involvement in hiring street outreach workers
  • Quality training for the outreach workers
  • A comprehensive benefits package and team retreats to prevent staff turnover and burnout
  • Establishing community partnerships
  • Incorporating peacemaking into outreach

The process of peacemaking, closely coupled with the provision of job and educational resources, is at the core of the UTEC model. Not widely used or studied elsewhere, peacemaking is a unique feature of the Lowell program.

It typically involves engaging gang leaders in conflict mediation, convening peace circles, participating in a peace summit and organizing a peace council. The study recommends that this model should be incorporated by organizations creating similar programs.

Streetworkers, Youth Violence Prevention, and Peacemaking in Lowell, Massachusetts: Lessons and Voices From the Community Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action – Volume 4, Issue 3, Fall 2010, pp. 167-168

Author: Shannon Frattaroli, Keshia M. Pollack, Karen Jonsberg, and Jennifer S. Mendel (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health)Gregg Croteau and Juan Carlos Rivera (UTEC staff)

Contact: Jessica Wilson – jwilson@utec-lowell.org

Date: Fall 2010

Featuring the United Teen Equality Center, a grantee of the Theodore Edson Parker Foundation