The Children’s National Hospital has created a program at the northwest D.C. facility to support young people hospitalized by acts of violence.
Dr. Katie Donnelly, the program’s medical director, said the Youth Violence Intervention Program’s goal is to reach the victims to break the cycle of violence.
“Hospital-based violence-intervention programs have proven to be effective in preventing patients from returning to the hospital with violent injury and really being able to make an impact on their lives,” Donnelly said, WTOP reported. “We know that kids who are injured become kids who injure and hurt people. We want to see if we could intervene at that moment to help.”
The D.C. Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants funds the program, which is partly managed by social worker Yvonne Doerre and violence intervention specialist Jawanna Hardy. The city’s funding for the program has to be renewed annually, WTOP reported.
Similar programs have been implemented in the city at the Washington Hospital Center, George Washington University Hospital and Howard University Hospital.