Advancing a whole-of-government, community-driven approach to violence prevention
Project: Community Safety Coordination Center Roadmap
Client: Chicago Office of the Mayor
“Civic Consulting Alliance helped us develop a structure for approaching community safety that is driven by the needs of Chicago residents, and that will ensure more effective and efficient use of City resources. I am deeply grateful to your team for providing us the capacity and expertise we needed to accelerate this critical work.”
The Community Safety Coordination Center (CSCC), is a first-of-its-kind, multi-agency coordination center to advance a whole of government, community-driven approach to violence prevention and reduction for the City of Chicago. The CSCC brings together City departments and agencies—ranging from the Chicago Police Department to those not traditionally considered part of the safety ecosystem, such as Chicago Public Libraries, Chicago Park District, and Chicago Public Schools—alongside community organizations and leaders to advance community safety initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes of violence. The CSCC takes a place-based approach, focusing on 15 communities prioritized in the City’s comprehensive violence reduction plan, “Our City, Our Safety,” starting with West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Little Village, and Englewood.
Civic Consulting Alliance has experience structuring effective models for collaboration— including standing up the City’s Racial Equity Rapid Response (RERR) Team, and supporting violence reduction coordination at intergovernmental levels. Because of this recent work, the Mayor’s Office requested that we provide expertise to align CSCC stakeholders on a unified vision and roadmap to support City agencies and departments in evolving their initiatives and operations to align with the City’s vision for reducing and preventing violence.
The Mayor’s Office and CSCC stakeholders are now using this framework, initiative map, and best practice toolkit to coordinate violence prevention and reduction efforts across City departments, sister agencies, and community-based organizations. This systems-level approach represents a new way for the City to work to reduce violence in Chicago, focusing on the root causes of violence, and centering on community knowledge and expertise. In addition to supporting intergovernmental coordination, Civic Consulting Alliance also provides support to the individual entities’ strategies.
