Strategies

Limit increases in the number and concentration of alcohol outlets by area or by population through licensing or zoning regulations

Match disadvantaged or at-risk youth with volunteer mentors in school or community settings

Provide financial assistance to working parents, or parents attending school, to pay for child care

Impose penalties on adults for a child’s unsupervised access to firearms

Expand federal or state child tax credits by increasing credit amounts, making credits refundable, decreasing or eliminating the earnings threshold, or creating a fully refundable supplement

Use individual or group therapy to help offenders discover and change the thought processes that lead to maladaptive behavior

Implement a policing philosophy based on community partnership, organizational transformation, and problem solving techniques to proactively address public safety issues: also called community-oriented policing

Detect and intervene in potentially violent situations, educate and mobilize communities, and connect high-risk individuals to services; formerly called Chicago CeaseFire

Use specialized courts to offer criminal offenders with drug dependency problems an alternative to adjudication or incarceration

Expand refundable earned income tax credits for working individuals and families with low to moderate incomes

Require a potential purchaser to obtain a permit or license before purchasing a firearm

Prohibit firearm purchase and possession by people convicted in any court of a domestic violence misdemeanor or by people subject to a domestic violence protective/restraining order

Target a particular crime through law enforcement and community agency cooperation and coordination of various deterrents and social services; also called pulling levers policing

Adopt policies that allow custodial parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to collect all child support paid by the non-custodial parent; no portion is retained by the state

Focus police resources and enforcement on high-activity crime locations within a community (e.g., street blocks and buildings) using policing tactics such as increasing enforcement time, problem-oriented policing, etc.

Restrict youth under a certain age from being in public places during certain hours, usually at night

Establish locally mandated wages that are higher than state or federal minimum wage levels

Pair youth at risk for delinquent behavior with mentors to develop relationships and spend time at regular meetings for an extended period; mentors have greater knowledge, skills, etc. than mentees

Increase the lowest hourly, daily, or monthly compensation that employers may legally pay to workers

Support the efforts of neighborhood residents to work together in preventing crime by reporting suspicious or potentially criminal behavior to local law enforcement

Provided work supports for low income individuals and families (e.g., job search assistance, transitional jobs, subsidized child care, health insurance, etc.); participants worked at least 30 hours/week

Allow adults to possess a limited amount of marijuana for personal, non-medical use

Offer a refundable tax credit to working families with qualifying children or other dependents that receive care outside the home (e.g., a spouse with disabilities)

Use victim-offender dialogue to address the harm caused by a crime and victims’ needs; can take place pre-arrest or post sentence via sharing circles, victim-offender mediation, or face-to-face conferences

Organize tours of prison facilities for juvenile delinquents or youth at risk of delinquency and allow them to observe prison life and attend inmates’ presentations; also called juvenile awareness programs

Provide short-term employment opportunities for youth, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds

Explore ways to increase Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program benefit amounts for aged, blind, or disabled individuals, including children, with little or no income

Increase compensation provided to unemployed workers looking for jobs by expanding eligibility, amount, or duration of benefits

Provide all individuals with regular cash transfers, without conditions, over their lifetimes

Require both licensed firearm dealers and unlicensed (i.e., private) firearm sellers to conduct background checks of potential firearm purchasers; also known as comprehensive background checks