Exploring Contextual Influences on the Implementation and Impact of Safe Streets, a Community Violence Intervention

Safe Streets, a community violence intervention (CVI) program originally based on the Cure Violence model, aims to reduce gun violence through conflict mediation, behavior modification, and community-level normative change. Program effectiveness has varied across implementation sites in prior evaluations. To better understand community-level factors that may influence Safe Streets implementation and effectiveness, this study explores Safe Streets workers' descriptions of violence dynamics and violence prevention approaches at the community level. Semi-structured interviews with 27 staff across all ten active sites were conducted from July to November 2023. A thematic constant comparative approach was used, incorporating inductive and deductive coding. Findings were analyzed across sites, and previous estimates of program effects were integrated with current findings. Themes identified included differences in neighborhood stability, types of conflicts, approach to community norm change, depth of community relationships, and differences in policing. Variability in the level of transience between neighborhoods and the most prevalent conflicts suggests the need for model adaptations to fit neighborhood dynamics. Integration with recent estimates of Safe Streets' impact on homicides and non-fatal shootings suggests that Safe Streets is most effective in neighborhoods experiencing current generational conflicts, and strong relationships with community partners are associated with more effective violence reduction. Sites that reported recent large police takedowns were also more likely to be associated with significant violence reductions, suggesting that while siloed, the effectiveness of CVI and law enforcement may impact the other. Additional research exploring the mechanisms of community normative change is needed to inform program implementation at this level.