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On May 23, 2024, more than 100 young people and dozens of local leaders and decision makers, including elected officials, law enforcement, public health professionals, and community service providers, came together for Student Voices, a youth empowerment project of Impact Sac. Student Voices is designed to engage Sacramento-area students as “teen experts” and connect them to people in positions of influence who collectively have the resources to enact positive, youth-centered solutions to teen health, safety, and wellness issues.

The Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency collaborated with the UC Davis Center for Regional Change and Rose Kagawa, PhD, MPH, from our team for evaluation of the Yolo County Basic Income (YOBI) pilot project. Learn more about the YOBI pilot project.

In June 2024, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a landmark Advisory declaring firearm violence a public health crisis in America, urging immediate awareness and action.

The Advisory provides an overview of firearm-related death and injury epidemiology in the U.S., the toll of firearm violence, including impacts on communities, children and adolescents, and families, and discusses factors contributing to firearm violence, including socioeconomic, geographic, and racial inequities, as well as lethality, availability, and access to firearms.

On March 30, 2023, more than 100 young people and dozens of local leaders and decision makers, including elected officials, law enforcement, public health professionals, and community service providers, came together for Student Voices, an empowerment project of Impact Sac.

Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, PhD, MPH, and Shani Buggs, PhD, MPH, co-wrote an evaluation report alongside Christy Adams, PhD, MPH, RN and Ian Brown, MD, PhD on the UC Davis Medical Center (UCDMC) Wraparound Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program. 

Amy Barnhorst, MD, co-authored a report led by The Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy and the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on policy recommendations to address alcohol misuse and gun violence.

Key policy recommendations were as follows:

In an article published by Arnold Ventures, Shani Buggs, PhD, MPH, argues for increased recognition and support of community-based violence intervention (CVI) as an integral element of public safety strategies to reduce community violence. 

Shani Buggs, PhD, MPH, served as an expert for a report by the Joyce Foundation to address gun violence and its disparities in the United States.

The Joyce Foundation lists the following recommendations, summarized in brief, as follows:

Shani Buggs, PhD, MPH, co-wrote a report, alongside members of the John Jay College Research Advisory Group on Preventing and Reducing Community Violence, summarizing research on policies and programs known to reduce community violence without relying on police. This report was requested by and submitted to Arnold Ventures.

Seven key strategies identified by the group were: