I am really pleased that, as the City of Madison continues to address issues of violence, we have a partnership with Public Health, Madison and Dane County, community based organizations, Dane County and other agencies. I am grateful that Public Health is elevating violence and injury prevention as a departmental priority and leading the way in this new initiative. A Public Health strategy recognizes that episodes of violence and injury are preventable and to have the most impact, requires a primary prevention approach, working to stop violence before it starts by providing support and education before problems occur. This “upstream” approach includes promoting safe, stable, nurturing, healthy relationships and environments, addressing risk and protective factors, and building individual and community resilience.

Planning is currently in the early stages, but one of the first things to happen will be to engage community partners through the creation of a Violence Prevention Coalition. Its purpose will be to identify strategies that will work best in our community to decrease violence and prevent injury. Additionally, to better understand the nature and scope of the problem, data will be collected to monitor and track violence trends, community engagement efforts will be completed to assure that residents have input and ownership of the prevention efforts and research will be done to explore evidence-based interventions appropriate for our community.

The coalition will be instrumental in determining an effective approach to prevent violence and injury and will involve multi-sector partners from criminal justice, land use planning, education, housing, social services, transportation and community-based organizations.

Violence in our community affects all of us as it can lead to devastating consequences for children and families. I know that as we collaborate on this initiative and make a difference. Stay tuned for more as we work together to decrease violence, injury and the impact these issues have on our community’s health and well-being.

Stay well.