SHIFTING THE FOCUS: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ADVANCING VIOLENCE PREVENTION

Shifting the Focus is a voluntary interagency violence prevention partnership. Its members, leaders from over 30 departments in California's state government agencies, as well as representatives from local violence prevention agencies, state commissions, and state organizations, recognize that effective violence prevention requires a new way of doing business. This new paradigm will ensure that California communities are well served through practice at the state level that supports success at the local level.

Shifting the Focus is committed to reengineering state government away from isolated efforts toward a broader service orientation. This will enable locales to better focus on strengthening individuals, families, and communities rather than responding to state bureaucracies. The partnership acknowledges that effective violence prevention requires the mobilization of a broad array of activities, staff, and resources across departments.

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Vision

Safe, healthy, sustainable communities in California supported by effective state and local collaboration

Principles

• Communities can and must be built from within. State government serves in a supporting role.
• Primary prevention is emphasized while working at all levels of prevention.
• Violence is a complex problem and therefore its prevention requires a comprehensive solution.
• Collaboration and sharing of resources are fundamental to success.
• State efforts are designed to maximize violence prevention outcomes at the local level through supporting locally owned, locally controlled efforts.
• Local successes inform state government practices.

Methodology

• Transform violence prevention efforts through intergovernmental collaboration with an emphasis on primary prevention.
• Reengineer state government away from isolated efforts toward a broader service-orientation -- this will not make it easier for government officials but it will improve service available to communities.
• Enable locales to focus on strengthening individuals, families, and communities rather than responding to state bureaucracies through identifying and addressing barriers placed on them by the states.
• Shift current government practices through educating practitioners, fostering coalitions and networks, changing organizational practices, and influencing policy and legislation in order to enable and facilitate local solutions to issues of violence prevention (using the Shifting the Focus framework as a blueprint).

Operational Strategies

• Encourage interdisciplinary work.
• Train across disciplines and departments.
• Foster interdisciplinary leadership in prevention.
• Share resources.
• Develop compelling local training.
• Develop innovative solutions collaboratively.
• Evaluate state programs to ensure effectiveness.
• Pool funds to implement innovative solutions.
• Increase data accessibility and utility.
• Reinvest savings into primary prevention.
• Ensure state interagency activities are outcome-based.
• Acknowledge the wisdom of local practitioners.

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Putting Prevention at the Center of Community Well Being
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