The City of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee have developed three interwoven violence prevention initiatives—Operation: Safe Community, the Memphis Youth Violence Prevention Plan, and the Defending Childhood Initiative.

Key components that support the structure of these intiatives include

• developing a strong, representative board of directors and diverse community partners to support implementation;
• involving an independent intermediary to coordinate plan implementation;
• establishing multiple layers of leadership to manage plan implementation;
• outlining clear strategies and objectives in a strategic plan to guide and structure implementation;
• integrating violence prevention and crime reduction approaches within policies to support buy-in and sustainability; and
• limiting overhead costs to provide majority of funding to partners implementing the strategic plans.

The best practices include

• collaborating across initiatives in order to minimize duplication of effort and maximize results;
• involving the highest levels of government and law enforcement ;
• developing a message that connects violence prevention and economic growth;
• creating a unifying mission for collaborations and coalitions that were already in place;
• creating transparency and eliciting feedback from the community;
• developing data-driven initiatives by using data to develop strategic plans, share information with the public, and support implementation;
• coordinating with other initiatives to support sharing data across agencies; and
• conducting both national and local evaluations.

To work collaboratively and minimize violence, Memphis and Shelby County have discovered it is important to

• incorporate an additional layer of leadership to translate the board’s vision to ground-level implementation;
• utilize strategies to keep a large group of stakeholders continuously engaged;
• continuously inventory community assets; and
• have a clear message about the coordinated initiatives to share with the public and stakeholders.

Find additional resources and information about the collaborative work occurring in Memphis and Shelby County.