Grant-Funded Collaboration Between KCK Community and KU Aims to Reduce Youth Violence

Thu, 06/10/21

Youth violence in the U.S. is a leading cause of death for young people and leads to 400,000 nonfatal injuries each year according to the Centers for Disease and Prevention. Although these violent incidents can have serious physical, mental, and social effects on young people, it can be difficult for them to navigate and receive support afterward, and that can lead to further violence.

For youth who are treated through The University of Kansas Health System, a hospital-based intervention program provides support to young victims of violence in hopes of reducing the reverberating effects.

REVIVE, or Reducing the Effects of Violence through Intervention and Victim Empowerment is a collaboration between the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, Wyandotte County Community Corrections, The University of Kansas Health System, and a federally funded grant program based at KU called Thryve, or Together Helping Reduce Youth Violence for Equity.

Directed by Jomella Watson-Thompson, associate professor of applied behavioral science and associate director at the KU Center for Community Health and Development at the Life Span Institute, ThrYve is funded by a 2017 four-year, $1.7 million grant awarded to Watson-Thompson to study comprehensive approaches to prevent youth violence in the Kansas City area.