RFA-CE23-005 Evaluating Economic Security Policies to Prevent Firearm-Related Violence and Injuries among Black Youth

Project Summary Firearm violence is a pervasive, preventable public health issue that disproportionately impacts Black youth and young adults due to structural racism in the form of systematic economic disenfranchisement. Economic security policies that address economic disenfranchisement by increasing economic security and access to opportunities for social mobility are promising approaches to reduce firearm violence inequities among Black youth and young adults. However, there are limited studies examining these policies as primary prevention strategies for firearm violence, and fewer still that focus on the population most at risk of experiencing firearm violence: Black youth and young adults. Our study proposes utilizing a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design and community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to collect and analyze quantitative data followed by qualitative data that will be collected and analyzed to provide context to quantitative findings. This sequential explanatory design will provide breadth (quantitative) and depth (qualitative) of understanding of the effects of economic security policies on firearm violence inequities experienced by Black youth and young adults. For our quantitative aim we will use rigorous quasi-experimental methods to evaluate the effectiveness economic security policies (Minimum Wages, the Earned Income Tax Credit, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) as primary prevention strategies for firearm violence among Black youth and young adults aged 10-34. For our qualitative aim we will conduct semi- structured qualitative interviews with Black firearm injured youth and young adults aged 10-34 living in a less generous policy environment and their primary caregiver to contextualize our quantitative findings with a more in depth understanding of the lived experience of these policies and economic disenfranchisement. Our research adds to the literature in important ways. We evaluate economic security policies as a society-level intervention using a structural racism lens focusing on whether existing policies are effective for primary prevention among those most impacted by firearm violence, Black youth and young adults, and how they are experienced among Black youth with firearm injury and their caregivers living in a less generous economic policy environment to better understand potential mechanisms. This study aligns with violence prevention priorities set by NCIPC by evaluating societal-level strategies to prevent firearm violence while being guided by principles of economic and racial equity.