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Plan pits 90 groups, millions of dollars against violence

New 5-year plan to stop the violence will be announced Tuesday by 90 local organizations.

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By Ben Sutherly and Doug Page, Staff Writers Updated 10:19 AM Tuesday, May 11, 2010

DAYTON — A new plan to end local violence is being called the largest coordinated effort of its kind in area history.

The initiative, United Against Violence of Greater Dayton, will include more than 90 organizations involved in public health, education, religion, law enforcement, social services, domestic violence, neighborhood associations and violence prevention, organizers said.

Samaritan Behavioral Health, which is leading the effort, received funding from Catholic Health Initiatives to work on long-term sustainable initiatives to prevent violence. Samaritan received an $89,000 planning grant, and has met benchmarks to qualify for an additional $137,000 in funding, said Susan C. Elias, director of development for Samaritan Behavorial Health.

Over the course of the five-year plan — July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2015 — the Miami Valley could potentially benefit from millions of funding to prevent violence, Elias said.

Elias noted a violence-prevention effort eight years ago “died on the vine” after losing funding and failing to reach desired outcomes.

During the past year, participating agencies assessed threats and opportunities to halting local violence. In one survey, 750 fifth- and sixth-graders attending public, charter and Catholic schools throughout Montgomery County were asked if they had carried a weapon such as a gun, knife or club. One in four, or 25 percent, of those students said they had.

The survey also found that 9 percent of those students had threatened or injured someone on school property with a weapon such as a gun, knife or club in the past year.

The findings are in line with what federal and state surveys have found, Elias said.

National school safety consultant Ken Trump said those numbers should raise eyebrows among parents and school officials and prompt comprehensive funding for prevention, security and preparedness. Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services consulting firm in Cleveland, said communities tend to operate on a roller coaster of concern and funding.

“We tend to put the proactive measures on the back burner until there is a high profile national incident,” he said.

Staff Writer Katie Wedell contributed to this report.

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