Expert: Violence is a public-health problem; task force urged to pilot and test interventions

Dr. Belinda Rose Young, founder and executive director of Liberty Generation, told the task force that "violence is a public health problem" and urged members to use validated public-health models when designing prevention strategies.

Dr. Young outlined two frameworks for the task force: the social-ecological model (individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, policy) and a four-step public-health approach that she summarized as: define the problem, identify risk and protective factors, develop and test strategies, and scale effective interventions. To illustrate, she offered a scenario about four teenage boys caught spray-painting a store and led the group through questions that highlight individual, family, school and policy influences.

She cited two data points she described as the most recent North Carolina figures: "5 people a day die from firearm injury" and the 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which she said found that "30 percent of high school students say that they can access a firearm within an hour's time without any parental or caregiver knowledge." Dr. Young used those figures to argue for early, targeted prevention and for piloting strategies in diverse counties before attempting statewide scale-up.

Task force members reacted with examples from their work groups and said the presentation reinforced the need to test recommendations in varied settings. Chair said the group should diversify pilot locations so recommendations can be adapted to rural and urban contexts.

Whats next: Dr. Young invited questions and highlighted the need for clarity when defining the problem (who, what, when, where, how) so the task force can design measurable, testable interventions appropriate to different North Carolina communities.