Teen Dating Violence, Youth Violence, Community Violence Prevention and Male Engagement are key in turning the tide of violence in the future. The following areas focus on various aspects of prevention to help youth, community members and men gain an understanding of how important their voice is in helping to diminish violence in their communities.
Do the Write Thing
The Do the Write Thing Essay Challenge is an initiative of the National Campaign to Stop Violence, a non-profit organization made up of businesses, and community and government leaders. The Do the Write Thing Essay Program gives middle school students an opportunity to examine the impact of youth violence on their lives. Through classroom discussions and writings, students communicate what they think should be done to reduce youth violence in the community.
One of the program's primary objectives is to motivate students to make a personal commitment, in writing, to help prevent and reduce youth violence in their home, school, and communities.
For more information please contact CSSPrevention@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov
or call 704-336-3210.
Teen Dating Violence Prevention
The Healthy Relationships “Start Talking” Curriculum in the schools includes multi-session programming with students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on topics including skills for healthy relationships, conflict resolution, recognizing dating abuse, media literacy, how to help a friend, and understanding the resources. In partnership with Time Out Youth we coordinate prevention programming specifically for LGBTQ identified youth. Through the Forward youth group, young people involved in our programming have the opportunity to use their voices to make an impact on our cultural norms by creating and launching a social norms campaign.
Mecklenburg County CSS has led the collaboration of multiple community agencies as part of the Teen Dating Violence Awareness Committee including: Anuvia Prevention and Recovery Center, Center for Prevention Services, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Girl Talk Foundation, Inc., Johnson C. Smith University, Safe Alliance, Shalom Bayit, Teen Health Connection, Time Out Youth, the Forward Youth Group, the Center for Wellness Promotion at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the With One Word Foundation.
For more information contact CSSPrevention@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 704-336-3210.
Thank You to the Family Violence Prevention Services Program, US DHHS, and NC Council for Women for financial support:
LoveSpeaksOut
LoveSpeaksOut is a youth-adult speaker's bureau that engages, educates, and empowers youth to speak out against teen dating violence to create a world where all teens experience healthy relationships.
Our trained speakers give interactive, dynamic, educational trainings to teen groups and classes. Participants learn what teen dating violence is, healthy vs. unhealthy relationships, warning signs of abuse, and local and national resources for those who need help.
For more information contact CSSPrevention@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 704-336-3210.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Project Safe Neighborhoods is nationally funded program through the US Department of Justice that is working to keep our communities safe by eliminating gun violence. Managed by the US Attorney's office, Project Safe Neighborhoods is a collaborative effort among federal, state and local law enforcement and community partners to create strategies to address the unique gun crime problem in Western North Carolina. Through effective marketing campaigns and community engagement activities, select neighborhoods in Mecklenburg County have seen a reduction in gun crime.
OTHER RESOURCES
Connecting The Dots
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/connecting_the_dots-a.pdf
Preventing Multiple Forms of Violence
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/strategic_vision.pdf
For more information on Youth Violence Prevention call 704-336-3210.
Health Alert: To prevent spread of COVID-19, County services are operating at a limited capacity.