Founded in 2011, the mission of the Little Village Youth Safety Network (LVYSN) is to create a safe neighborhood by providing high-quality youth programming to at-risk youth and their families during the critical developmental stage of 5th to 9th grade. It is a collective impact effort that focuses on increasing the resources available for youth violence prevention efforts in the community, strengthening community partnerships, and supporting program evaluation to highlight best practices and demonstrate impact.

 

The LVYSN is founded on an outcomes-driven, preventative approach and theory of development. As youth violence is the result of many different factors, it must be addressed in a comprehensive way. The LVYSN aims to improve community safety over the long-term through the coordination of diverse, quality programming tailored for at-risk youth and their families. Programming is designed to develop the protective factors of youth that lower their risk of being victims or perpetrators of violence. As youth will continue to encounter risk factors, the LYSYN aims to equip them with healthy coping skills that will help them manage challenging situations throughout their lives. This helps them perform better in school, make better decisions that keep them safer and reduce risk factors that lead to negative life outcomes, thereby improving opportunities and choking off the pipeline to gangs and the criminal justice system. Community-wide, this will ultimately lead to reduced crime, diminished influence of street gangs, fewer community members involved in the criminal justice system, and a strong culture of education and community involvement.

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For more information about LVYSN, contact lvysn@enlacechicago.org.