Joseph Stokes, Jr. Research Institute
Fein, Joel A.
3615 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4318
Email: fein@email.chop.edu
Center website

Project Title: UPACE: The Philadelphia Collaborative Violence Prevention Center.
Project Period: 9/1/2006 – 8/31/2010

The supplement to the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health (U.S. Public Health Service, 2001), emphasizes the need to develop, adapt, and evaluate empirically-based prevention efforts so that they are maximally sensitive to the needs of particular cultural groups, such as youth living in inner-city, under resourced settings, in which there are high rates of youth from minority ethnic backgrounds. Research demonstrates that these youth are at increased risk for experiencing emotional and behavioral problems, which often lead to violent, aggressive and disruptive behaviors (Black & Krishnakumar, 1998). This is not surprising, given that many of these youth and families are coping with an accumulation of chronic and acute stressors (Wandersman & Nation, 1998). Although many programs have been developed, few researchers have partnered with local communities to determine how best to make systematic cultural adaptations to best practice, empirically-supported programs to meet the needs of these youth, families, and communities. In response to this need, a collaborative prevention research project has been designed in which components of several CDC Best Practice Programs which are focused upon social problem-solving (e.g., Coping Power Program, PATHS), youth mentorship (e.g., Big Brother/Big Sister, National Mentorship Partnership, and parenting/family based strategies (e.g., Parenting Adolescents Wisely, Effective Black Parenting), will be adapted by partnering with community residents. Then a cluster randomized trial will be conducted to test the impact of the Prevention Program on 10-14 year old youth within neighborhood venues (e.g., recreation centers, after school programs, churches) of Southwest and West Philadelphia. Given that aggressive behaviors create many problems for youth, parents, and the community, and are very costly to society, the Prevention Program seeks to better understand the impact of aggression across different facets of the local community, and to take systematic steps to develop comprehensive, cost efficient, and culturally-responsive strategies to decrease aggression and its comorbidities among youth and their families living in high-risk urban neighborhoods.