 The Violence Intervention Project (VIP)
Visit the VIP website
www.violenceinterventionproject.com
The VIP is a youth engagement violence prevention program that engages and mobilizes youth to contribute their ideas, energy and solutions to promote school and community safety. It provides youth with the opportunity and skills to effect positive change in their schools and communities through involvement in pro-social activities, and is based on a best practice approach that incorporates skill development, experiential learning and education.
The goal of VIP is to reduce youth violence by engaging and mobilizing marginalized youth in creating safer schools and communities through training, skill development and civic participation.
Youth participate in all aspects of the Violence Intervention Project, including delivering violence prevention workshops and training for other youth, conducting community safety projects, organizing youth conferences, website and multimedia development, and participation on advisory committees.
VIP provides a wide range of services to schools, community centres, youth shelters and other youth-serving organizations. These services include youth-led violence prevention workshops on such topics as Bullying, Gang Violence, Dating Violence/ Healthy Relationships, Diversity (including Anti-Racism and Homophobia), Conflict Management, and Gendered Violence. Additionally, VIP staff and youth participants organize and host violence prevention forums and conferences. Project staff also provide violence prevention training and consultation services for other professionals on a fee-for-service basis.
VIP’s programs include:
Community Program:
VIP engages and trains youth to provide targeted violence prevention strategies in their communities and schools. VIP volunteers deliver workshops and training, organize conferences, work with the media about issues of violence, and develop multimedia resources.
Studio 2 Multimedia Program:
VIP provides both multimedia skills and social skills to marginalized youth, with an emphasis on violence prevention and media literacy. It utilizes various forms of industry standard digital media software and hardware to engage youth to design a variety of media projects including film and documentaries, print and web design, graphic design, photography, and music/audio recording.
"Say Word" Journalism Internship Program:
The "Say Word" program is offered in partnership with Ryerson University’s School of Journalism. Youth from Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods who are interested in journalism and multimedia receive training in a number of areas - e.g. film production, video-editing, copywriting, graphic design, photography, animation and sound. Participants can also participate in a residency internship on-site at Ryerson University.
Youth Outreach Worker Program:
VIP coordinates the work of 18 Youth Outreach Workers in a comprehensive multi-agency outreach initiative for marginalized youth in 7 underserved neighbourhoods in East Toronto. As part of a city-wide strategy directed towards Toronto’s 13 priority neighbourhoods, Youth Outreach Workers have been assigned to a key youth organization in each of the underserved neighbourhoods. Their role is to engage marginalized youth and connect them with needed services, as well as collaborate with other community resources to coordinate youth activities and services.
Respect In Schools Everywhere (RISE):
Visit the RISE website - www.riseaboveviolence.com The Respect In Schools Everywhere Program (RISE) is an intensive youth-led school based violence prevention program for grades 7-12 focusing on bullying, cyber-bullying, dating violence and harassment. RISE has developed a program model for schools based on evidence-based practices and current research, and is delivered in selected schools in the Toronto District School Board as well as in the Toronto Catholic District School Board. To date, the RISE Program has received several accolades including being cited as a recommended student leadership program in the Ministry of Children and Youth Service’s Safe Schools Action Team report “Shaping a Culture of Respect in our Schools: Promoting Safe and Healthy Relationships and winning the 2007 Louise Russo Youth Award. RISE has the capacity to bring the program to any school or community agency interested in starting the program. For more information visit our web site at www.riseaboveviolence.com
School-Based Prevention/ Diversion Program:
VIP is working in partnership with another organization to deliver a school-based diversion program in a Scarborough high school. This program focuses on youth who have committed or are at risk of committing an offence in the school setting. The program also focuses on the whole school population through violence prevention initiatives such as peer-led workshops on issues such as bullying, dating violence, gang violence and conflict resolution. This program increases the ability of the school to manage conflict, and aims to reduce the number of youth who are suspended and/or expelled, as well as the number of youth entering the judicial system.
Consultation and Training for Professionals:
VIP offers training and consultation on a fee-for service basis for educators and other professionals in developing and implementing violence prevention strategies.
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