October 27, 2025
When violence disrupts schools and communities, the urgency to find effective solutions is felt by everyone. However, choosing strategies that enhance safety requires a thoughtful, evidence-informed approach.
WestEd serves as a trusted partner for leaders, providing technical assistance, research, and evaluation to improve school safety in partnership with schools, districts, and communities across the country. In this Spotlight, WestEd researchers share key insights on preventing violence in schools and communities.
Cross-Sector Collaboration Is Essential for Success
Pennsylvania’s PA Peace Alliance was established by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) in partnership with WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center (JPRC) and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). The first statewide initiative of its kind, the alliance provides violence prevention professionals with the resources, training, and support needed to build safer, thriving communities.
In a recent Q&A, PCCD Chairman Lt. Governor Austin Davis and WestEd’s Director of Justice Technical Assistance, Lori Toscano, discussed the PA Peace Alliance’s impact on community violence intervention, the importance of state investment, and the power of cross-sector collaboration. They also highlight how WestEd’s technical assistance and data-driven strategies are empowering community organizations to reduce gun violence.
Lt. Governor Davis reflected on how states have “stepped up” to be partners in violence prevention:
I’m really proud that Governor Shapiro and I are standing up the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention and the Commonwealth to make sure we are coordinating all of our efforts across agencies to tackle these issues and to make our community safer. And I’d encourage leaders in other states to be putting their money where their mouth is to make the investments and making our community safer because we’ve proven here in Pennsylvania that it delivers real results.
Pennsylvania’s PA Peace Alliance has supported more than 240 organizations working to prevent and reduce community and gun violence.
Read our Q&A to learn more about Pennsylvania’s PA Peace Alliance.
Identifying Risk and Preventive Factors Supports Systemic Change
WestEd’s Violence Prevention Navigation Framework (VPNF) helps communities reduce gun violence using data, machine learning, and local insights. Using the framework, researchers support states by analyzing key risk and protective factors, providing tailored recommendations, and offering technical assistance to implement effective prevention strategies grounded in evidence and community input.
To look at factors contributing to or preventing violence, researchers take a holistic approach. Lori Toscano, Shaun Ali, and Kerwin Henderson of WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center (JPRC) discussed this strategy on a recent Leading Voices podcast,
Looking at those different factors and then analyzing them in a way that looks at things like transportation, things like education, things like access to healthcare, even something as like mundane, you would think in terms of access, the amount of time someone has to wait to see a therapist or see a psychiatrist or receive medication. Just different factors like that, you can analyze and attribute in some type of way back to gun violence and saying whether it has contributed or are protected against gun violence.
Listen to our Leading Voices podcast to learn more.
Students Should Have a Voice in Conversations About Safety and Well-Being
In June 2023, WestEd and Futures Without Violence (FUTURES) hosted “Our Power: Making Space for What’s Possible”—a retreat at Mt. Eden High School that sparked meaningful conversations about power and themes for the upcoming Courage Museum.
Opening in San Francisco in 2026, the Courage Museum will inspire action and healing by addressing issues like racial, gender, and systemic violence, empowering communities to create change. WestEd’s Resilient and Healthy Schools and Communities team is working with FUTURES to create the museum, leveraging their expertise in violence prevention.
Lauren Trout, Senior Program Associate at WestEd, co-leads RHSC’s work on this project. Trout comments on the work of developing the museum:
This museum experience starts long before they step into the Presidio, right? It’s in classrooms, it’s in curriculum, it’s in conversations, it’s in relationships. So, how do we support people coming to that work and not having it be just one more thing for them to do? And so, in thinking about that, bringing in young people’s perspective, not just through feedback, but through different elements of like co-design and constructivist pedagogy, we have really been thinking about what is it that young people are asking for? And having their perspective and voice infused into those conversations for us has been really critical.
Read (or view) our Q&A about the Courage Museum.
How WestEd Assists Leaders in Building Safe and Secure Communities
Individuals, families, and communities impacted by violence, substance misuse, or justice system involvement often face long-term barriers to success. The lasting effects of violence and trauma disrupt healthy development, perpetuate cycles of harm, and limit future outcomes.
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