Father Figures Are at the Heart of Community Violence Intervention
Men across the country, many of them fathers, are leaders on the front lines of public safety efforts as community violence intervention professionals.
Community violence is one of the most prevalent drivers of the gun violence epidemic, and community violence intervention (CVI) interrupts the transmission of violence by engaging those at highest risk. The experts who practice this intervention are crucial to keeping our communities safe from violence and contribute to the public safety infrastructure without relying solely on law enforcement.
These peacemakers are effective not only because of their deep relationships within the community, but also because they bring a grounded presence that reflects the qualities often associated with fatherhood. Their role in the community frequently mirrors that of a consistent, caring, and trusted guide—attributes that many associate with effective fathering.
Rather than assuming that being a father directly causes effectiveness in CVI work, it might be more accurate to say that the relational strengths found in fatherhood—patience, accountability, and presence—also show up in how many CVI workers lead. These experts don’t just interrupt violence; they’re caregivers to the people they work with, and can act as a positive male role model.
This form of leadership pushes back against harmful stereotypes about Black and Brown fathers, which are rooted in structural racism and decades of disinvestment in their communities. Recognizing CVI professionals in this light allows us to better understand their contributions—not just as violence interrupters, but as community anchors whose relational approach is integral to healing and long-term public safety.
To understand the impact of CVI professionals, it’s important to understand what current research tells us about father engagement and youth development. Father figures are men who take on paternal roles in a young person’s life, and can be biologically related (e.g., uncle, cousin) or not (e.g., mentor, coach, community leader). Regardless of the nature of their relationships, father figures can play a complementary role to biological fathers and are key to building youth resilience across different developmental stages.1
Moreover, father engagement has been associated as a protective factor in managing depressive symptoms and substance use, particularly with youth in urban environments.2 Father engagement isn’t just about the quantity of time spent with young people, but the quality of these relationships. A strong father-child relationship—especially a sense of closeness—has been associated with a lower likelihood of high-risk behavior.3
While research supports the role of father engagement, we must also acknowledge that in many impacted communities, fathers face barriers to their consistent physical presence due to a history of generational trauma and structural violence. “Father absence” is sometimes used in situations where the father does not physically live with the child; however, not physically living with their child does not indicate a lack of connection. In some cases, such as incarceration, a father’s physical presence can be limited because they are removed from the community.
While many of these fathers have a strong, supportive relationship with their children, their physical presence can be missed. And even for young people with strong paternal relationships, having access to other positive male role models can be beneficial.4
Because of these factors, frontline professionals play a significant role in filling in or strengthening the fatherly presence. As JB, a CVI professional from Connecticut Violence Intervention Program, shared, “You’re working with a kid. You’ve got to be consistent… Because especially if a kid don’t got no father, [his father] has been lying to him in life.”5 CVI professionals intuitively understand how their fatherly presence is healing and allows them to build a connection with youth to facilitate peace and protect neighborhoods from gun violence.
This fatherly presence that many CVI professionals bring—whether biological or symbolic—is part of what makes their work so impactful. CVI professionals earn credibility not only through their consistency, but by being familiar, trusted figures who have shared lived experiences with the communities they serve. They then leverage this credibility to build connections, interrupt cycles of violence, and walk alongside community members, deterring them from gun violence and guiding them toward peaceful solutions.
In many cases, their steady presence fills a relational gap that may exist due to the structural barriers facing many fathers. That’s why it’s so important to use credible messengers in violence prevention work—individuals who have earned the community’s trust through shared history, presence, and commitment. Isaiah, a CVI professional from COMPASS Youth Collaborative, described the impact of these roots from being born and raised in the neighborhood of those he serves: “I think they respond well because they [the youth] know who I am… I worked in the school… I played basketball in the community.”6 Through this kind of ongoing involvement, CVI workers not only serve as mentors but often embody the consistent care that youth need.
Their relationships extend beyond neighborhood boundaries as well. CVI professionals’ history with a community and their consistent presence can also allow them to build trust across different neighborhoods. Sam, a CVI professional from the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, shared how this dynamic increases their reach and effectiveness: “They’ve allowed me in their space to help them… Even though I’m not from their neighborhood.”7 By leading with familiarity, empathy, and relational strength, these peacekeepers are interrupting cycles of trauma—many of which they have experienced themselves—and modeling a different kind of public safety rooted in connection.
Consistency, attentiveness, and being an emotionally available father figure in their community is a key aspect of a CVI professional’s role. JB discussed the importance of being consistent, even in the small acts like showing up and supporting the youth at their basketball games: “You know, kids tell me they’re playing summer league basketball. I got to be there. Cheer them on… Just give him that encouragement.”5
While actions like this may seem minor, they represent the fluidity of CVI professionals’ formal and informal working relationship with the community. These professionals are not just showing up in the bad moments, but also in the moments of celebration and accomplishment.
CVI professionals acknowledge the inherent worth of young people in their community, and showing up for them contributes to creating “Beloved Communities,” a framework outlined by Dr. Martin Luther King’s principles of non-violence.8 This framework notes four responsibilities required of individuals to be part of a Beloved Community: to educate, to console, to sustain, and to celebrate.
The impact of CVI professionals lies in their personal community connections and ability to leverage their lived experience to build relationships to address generational cycles of violence. CVI professionals intentionally step up and provide safe, stable, and supportive relationships with program participants. As Sam stated, “They pay me to love on people. To be there at those [difficult] times…”7 Whether these CVI professionals show up to support someone at their basketball game, mediate a conflict, or after someone has experienced gun violence, CVI professionals provide a stable and parent-like influence that is essential to public safety and community healing.
CVI professionals are not immune to generational trauma; they work to interrupt, and in many cases, this becomes their motivation for their work. Several of the CVI professionals reflected on how their experiences as a father (and as a son) shaped how they view the importance of their role. JB discussed how not having his father involved in his life motivates him in his work: “I know that person needs probably an extra push, extra love, because I was that kid. I didn’t have a father.”5
For others, their relationship with their children furthers their urgency and commitment to the work. Sam reflected on how having a child in the community deepens his commitment and understanding of the importance of his work: “As a father to a young man who lives the lifestyle, I could definitely relate… It keeps my intense and relentless engagement.”7 This deeply personal understanding through their lived experience emphasizes CVI professionals’ mission-driven commitment to disrupt cycles of violence.9 Ultimately, this commitment provides a pathway of healing and skills to disrupt cycles of violence and trauma.
CVI professionals disrupt cycles of trauma by showing that emotional vulnerability is not a weakness but a tool for healing and connection. Sam spoke about the impact of vulnerability: “When you can come in a room and share some of your own things and be like, my shortcomings were this, this, this, this… Them little brothers appreciate that, man. So that is a powerful tool, I say that all the time.”7
This message resonates with young people because it allows them to be vulnerable about their pain and opens the door for healing. Several of the men we spoke with shared how they actively engage in personal healing to model this vulnerability through therapy as a form of self-care. This self-care is not only for their well-being but also allows them to be emotionally present as father figures. One of the CVI professionals we spoke with stated, “I’ve been going to therapy, which I believe more people should do… And then through that journey, maybe I do reflect on some of the things I went through and see how that impacted things later on.” While many of these men are still healing from their trauma, they offer youth a relatable example of what it means to prioritize healing, break cycles of violence, and stop gun violence in their communities.
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These men redefine what it means to father across bloodlines, blocks, and broken systems. In doing so, they offer a critical element to the public safety infrastructure.
Black and Brown men in urban environments often die at higher rates due to gun violence and disproportionate incarceration: In the 20 largest US counties, Black men and boys between 15 and 24 years old have a gun homicide rate more than 20 times that of white men and boys. These outcomes are influenced by communities’ overwhelming exposure to trauma, which increases the likelihood of father absence in the home.
It is in these spaces that CVI workers often step in as supportive adults for young people and fill this void. CVI workers are not just violence interrupters; they are caregivers whose work represents a needed form of fathering rooted in safe, consistent, and supportive relationships. This form of care is not only stabilizing—it is transformational. Their presence helps shift trajectories for young people and rebuild trust in communities fractured by violence and disinvestment.
To truly advance public safety, we must invest not only in CVI programs, but in the people who carry this work with integrity and love—those who are showing up every day to model what healing, accountability, and belonging can look like.
Thank you Sam Castro, Isaiah Jacobs, William “JB” Outlaw, and all of the other frontline professionals across the country for your dedication to the field and commitment to creating peace.
SPOTLIGHT
TRACKING CVI LEGISLATION
Community violence intervention is a crucial approach to fighting gun violence. Keep up to date on the latest CVI legislation in your state with the Giffords Community Violence Intervention Policy Analysis & Tracking Hub—CVI-PATH.
Read More- Christopher Curtis, Claudette Grinnell-Davis, and Binta Alleyne-Green, “The Effects of Father Figure Involvement on Educational Outcomes in Black Adolescents,” Journal of Black Studies 48, no. 6 (May 2017): 591–609, DOI: 10.1177/0021934717706971; Ruth Feldman, “Father contribution to human resilience,” Development and Psychopathology 35, no. 5 (April 2023): 2402–2419, DOI: 10.1017/S0954579423000354.[↩]
- Anthony T. Estreet et al., “Examining the role of parental factors on depression among Urban African American youth living in public housing,” Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 28, no. 4 (February 2018): 494–508, DOI: 10.1080/10911359.2018.1430647; Susan Yoon et al., “Vulnerability or resilience to early substance use among adolescents at risk: The roles of maltreatment and father involvement,” Child Abuse & Neglect 86 (2018): 206–216, DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.09.020.[↩]
- Jay Fagan, Natasha Cabrera, and Julia Kobulsky, “Longitudinal associations between early risk and adolescent delinquency: Mediators, moderators, and main effects,” Development and Psychopathology 37, no. 1 (2025): 192–206, DOI: 10.1017/S0954579423001517.[↩]
- Elizabeth B. Raposa et al., “The Effects of Youth Mentoring Programs: A Meta-analysis of Outcome Studies,” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 48, no. 3 (2019): 423–443, DOI: 10.1007/s10964-019-00982-8.[↩]
- William “JB” Outlaw (CVI professional), interviewed by Kristopher McLucas (GIFFORDS Center for Violence Intervention), April 23, 2025.[↩][↩][↩]
- Isaiah Jacobs (CVI professional), interviewed by Kristopher McLucas (GIFFORDS Center for Violence Intervention), April 25, 2025.[↩]
- Sam Castro (CVI professional), interviewed by Kristopher McLucas (GIFFORDS Center for Violence Intervention), April 18, 2025.[↩][↩][↩][↩]
- “The King Philosophy – Nonviolence 365,” the King Center, last accessed April 25, 2025, https://thekingcenter.org/about-tkc/the-king-philosophy.[↩]
- Kathryn Bocanegra and Nathan Aguilar, ““We’re Not Miracle Workers”: An Examination of the Relationship Between Community Violence Intervention Workers and Their Participants,” Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services 105, no. 3 (February 2024): 374–383, DOI: 10.1177/10443894231222586.[↩]