A Toolkit for Cities: Building a Multi-Actor Local Prevention Framework

Chapter 1: Key Considerations for Developing a City-Led Local Prevention Framework

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to developing and operationalising a whole-of-city approach to preventing hate and targeted violence. Some cities may be developing a new strategy for the first time, while others could be looking to update, improve or otherwise change an existing strategy or approach. Whichever it is, an LPF should not just be an outline of what a city commits to doing; it should ultimately speak to the conceptual framing of how a city chooses to act on prevention. Cities should consider what works best for their particular challenges and circumstances, recognising that the proposed framework will need to be practical and achievable, taking into account their existing priorities, resources and local services.

Accordingly, an LPF is a flexible model that identifies roles for multiple segments of society working together in the service of hate and targeted violence prevention. Each city’s framework needs to take into account the particular needs, concerns and capacities across the relevant local communities, which will differ from city to city.

Despite the importance of contextualisation, there are a number of core elements, which, although they might manifest somewhat differently from city to city, should feature in any comprehensive, city-led approach to preventing these threats from manifesting. These elements can also be used to evaluate framework plans and actions.

What are the Key Components of a Local Prevention Framework?

• Statement of the need, including identification of threats and challenges
• Purpose, objectives and approach of the LPF
• Needs and Vulnerabilities Assessment
• Threat and prevention-related awareness raising and education

Individual and community resilience-building activities, including in schools or community centres (i.e., primary prevention). Programmes can include:

• Mental wellness
• Digital and media literacy
• Cognitive flexibility
• Addressing injustices
• Social cohesion
• Youth engagement
• Post-incident response activities

Activities and services (e.g., health, psychosocial, employment, recreational, housing, cultural) to mitigate risks from individuals, for both those on a path to violence (secondary prevention) and those who have already committed to violence (tertiary prevention).

• Mechanisms include bystander awareness training, reporting/referral channels for concerned family, friends and community members, as well as behavioural threat and vulnerabilities assessment and management teams to intake those referrals, vet them and take the appropriate next steps accordingly.

Who Should Be Involved in Developing and Implementing a Local Prevention Framework and What Are Their Key Enablers?

• Representing a broad coalition of local government and community actors, which can include both core and ad hoc members:
  • Champions/sponsors (e.g. mayor, city councilmember, police chief, senior public safety, youth engagement or violence prevention official coordinator, community foundation)
  • Mental health professional(s)
  • Public health professional(s)
  • Public safety/law enforcement professional(s)
  • Education professional(s)
  • Youth representation
  • Community and faith leaders
• Local business representatives
• Core participants are willing and able to serve
• Multidisciplinary representation
• Roles/responsibilities elaborated
• Information-sharing protocol(s) – which include necessary privacy protections – are in place for secondary and tertiary prevention efforts in particular.

What Are the Key Characteristics of a Local Prevention Framework?

• Alignment with local strengths, vulnerabilities and threats
• Informed by data from both government and community sources
• Addresses identified vulnerabilities
• Specifies a timeline for achieving goals with measurable outputs and outcomes
• Represented in a logic model, a visual representation indicating that the inputs, activities, outputs, anticipated outcomes and objectives to strengthen programme implementation are linked to your desired goal

What Resources and Assets Facilitate the Implementation of a Local Prevention Framework?

• Budget (state/local, grant funding, etc.)
• Executive buy-in (mayor, agencies, commissions, etc.)
• Community buy-in (city council, community organisations, public opinion, etc.)
• Dedicated staff in a lead governmental agency or community-based organisation or other local institution (e.g., hospital) to coordinate efforts
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with primary partners
• Training (for example, accessing prevention-related training already available, including through the Strong Cities/National League of Cities Prevention Academy)
• Supervision (see above re: dedication of local govt or staff – and/or staff from a community-based partner – to lead efforts)
• Technical support (e.g., Strong Cities help desk, retaining external consultants, partnership with local university or other local institution)

What Processes Strengthen a Local Prevention Framework?

• Shared governance
• Community collaboration
• Involvement of diverse community stakeholders
• Clarity of roles and responsibilities

How Can We Know Our Local Prevention Framework is working?

• Identify the primary outcomes, other key indicators and how they will be measured over time
• Identify who is responsible for monitoring and evaluation
• Identify additional partners and training needed for monitoring and evaluation
• Monitor and evaluate as the LPF implementation progresses, using the findings to iteratively improve the framework

What Are the Key Principles Underlying a Local Prevention Framework?

• A belief that prevention is possible
• An understanding that solutions require multidisciplinary thinking and partnerships rather than operating in silos
• A human-centred, trauma-informed approach that recognises the human potential for change and that suffering is a key contributor to violence
• Balance between protecting free speech and public safety
• A commitment to civil rights, transparency, anti-bias and non-discrimination