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As part of an ongoing series on effective prevention programs, The Challenge will take a closer look at the lists and help explain how programs are nominated and selected for inclusion. In this second installment of the series, we present information about the Blueprints for Violence Prevention program. In 1996, the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) at the University of Colorado at Boulder launched a national initiative to identify violence prevention programs that were proven to be effective. The project, called Blueprints for Violence Prevention, has identified 11 prevention and intervention programs that have met demanding scientific standards of evidence and have proven to be effective in reducing adolescent violent crime, aggression, delinquency, and substance abuse. Another 21 programs are identified as promising programs. Soon after the initiation of Blueprints, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) became an active supporter of the project and provided funding to CSPV to sponsor program replications in sites across the country. As a result, Blueprints has evolved into a large-scale prevention initiative, providing training and technical assistance to help sites choose and implement effective programs with a high degree of integrity. Identifying effective programs Blueprints model programs all meet a strict scientific standard of program effectiveness. This determination of program effectiveness is based on the review and recommendation of a distinguished advisory board, comprised of seven experts in the field of violence prevention. How do the programs come to the attention of this advisory board? According to Blueprints Project Director Sharon W. Mihalic, she and the CPSV team comb scientific literature for research articles on topics such as prevention, drug use, violence, and aggression. When they find evaluations of new programs, they give them a first-level review to determine if they meet basic criteria. They are then put before the advisory board, which meets twice per year. Occasionally program designers also send data and information about their programs, asking them to go before the board for review.
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