Multidisciplinary Teams, Street Outreach, and Gang Intervention: Mixed Methods Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Denver

Abstract

Community violence intervention and prevention initiatives aim to develop local infrastructures that inoculate communities from violence. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to evaluate an intervention designed to facilitate disengagement from gangs and desistance from crime. An impact evaluation, based on a preregistered randomized controlled trial, was paired with a process evaluation, based on field observations and interviews, of the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver’s centerpiece intervention that uses multidisciplinary teams and street outreach workers to construct and implement coordinated case plans for high-risk gang members. The results of the impact evaluation revealed that clients assigned to the intervention were nearly 70 percent less likely to perpetrate violence yet were three times more likely to identify as gang members. The results of the process evaluation indicated that multidisciplinary teams were effective in securing services for their clients. Despite their limited training and heterogenous strategies, street outreach workers were viewed positively by their clients and were observed to prioritize behavioral over identity change. These findings are situated within longstanding tensions concerning the use of outreach workers and the targeting of gang behavior and/or identity in violence reduction strategies, along with the emergence of community violence intervention and prevention supported by large-scale federal investment.

Evaluating the impact of a street outreach intervention on participant involvement in gun violence

“…Past evaluations of CVIs have shown mixed results at the community level, and few have examined individual-level outcomes. Few contemporary studies to our knowledge have assessed the effect of a violence prevention intervention on individual risk for victimization or arrest; however, recent papers on similar programs, READI Chicago ( 27 ) and the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver ( 28 ), using different sampling and methodological approaches, also find a relationship between program participation and reductions in gun-related arrests ( 27 , 28 ). Results from the evaluation of READI Chicago report a statistically significant 79% reduction in arrests for homicides and shootings for the sample of men who came in through the outreach referral pathway ( 27 ), which is quite like CRED’s recruitment process ( SI Appendix ).…”

“…Results from the evaluation of READI Chicago report a statistically significant 79% reduction in arrests for homicides and shootings for the sample of men who came in through the outreach referral pathway ( 27 ), which is quite like CRED’s recruitment process ( SI Appendix ). Similarly, the Denver evaluation reported that treated clients were 70% less likely to perpetrate violence relative to their untreated peers ( 28 ). READI’s and Denver’s evaluators report their results in terms of likelihood of arrest, while we present our results in terms of likelihood of survival, meaning likelihood of no arrest.…”

“…A study of Philadelphia’s CeaseFire program also found a significant reduction in aggregate shooting rates in some, but not all, program service areas ( 26 ). Recent studies of individual impact are rare, but reports on the READI Chicago program (which resembles Chicago CRED’s phased programming structure) ( 27 ) and the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver ( 28 ) suggest a strong relationship between CVI programming and reductions in gun-related and shooting arrests but not necessarily shooting victimizations.…”