Roughly 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Antelope Valley encompasses approximately 2,800 square miles and has become a bedroom community for LA commuters. For over twenty years, Antelope Valley Partners for Health (AVPH) has worked to educate, strengthen and advocate for the diverse residents of the region, many of whom suffer from mental illness, substance abuse and domestic violence–conditions exacerbated by the region’s difficulty recruiting health professionals.

Among its varied efforts, AVPH has strived to address the challenges that face the Antelope Valley, including high rates of child abuse, poverty, obesity and students dropping out of high school. In 2021, Los Angeles County created Regional Violence Prevention Coalitions, which ideally aligned with AVPH’s focus on community violence prevention. With new funding centered around the Accountable Community for Health (ACH), AVPH is working to align and develop existing and emerging cross-sector partners—public health, health care, county behavioral health, community providers and residents—to actively address this challenge.

AVPH is now developing and implementing a multi-pronged approach that includes: 1) addressing the root causes of violence; 2) advancing systems, structures, policies and practices that are grounded in principles of race equity; 3) prevention of all forms of violence; and 4) promoting healing across the community.

“Our goal is to enhance already existing violence prevention activities,” explains Jacqueline Johnson, associate director of policy, systems and environmental programs for AVPH. “We have two existing projects that are looking to reduce gun violence. Through our ACH, we’re looking into other factors that play into gun violence and trying to identify gaps in this work.”

According to Jacqueline, an initial gap is the lack of health care providers at the table. Since medical forensic units are the first people to interact with violence survivors, health care management’s participation is key to building trust, developing cooperative systems and delivering a smooth transition back into the community. Historically, survivors are assigned a case manager, but once they leave the hospital follow-up is limited and resources aren’t easily accessible. Now, the AVPH is forging a partnership with the local hospital’s forensic unit to help bridge that gap and ensure victims receive the support they need when they get home.

“This is about facilitating what the continuum of care looks like for survivors. Where do they go next? What types of services will they get? Can we support them when they go back out into the world?” says Jacqueline. “We’re really looking at healing activities in our community. Right now, we’re working with consultants to see what works, how we might train community members to provide that support and how best to work with our healthcare partners to facilitate all of this.”

Learn more at avph.org.