The Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education, led by  Dr. Daniel J. Flannery, is home to a distinguished group of applied community-based research, evaluation, training, and technical assistance specialists in operation over the past two decades. With grants and contracts of nearly $6 million annually, our center serves as a research partner to various local, state and national non-profit, foundation and government organizations to learn innovative ways to address some of society's most pressing problems.

Andr é s Gonz á lez is passionate about keeping Cuyahoga County residents safe. He serves as Chief of Police for the 7th largest housing authority in the United States - the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority . In addition to serving on the Begun Center Advisory Board, he has played a vital role in the effective implementation of the Police Assisted Referral Initiative , creating a conduit for police officers to connect families and youth exposed to violence to social services. Read more

The Begun Center has grown tremendously over the past few years and currently is home to 54 staff and students - 51 of whom are researchers! These researchers are currently engaged with more than 60 active, funded projects. Who keeps track of all that information? The answer: Wendy Boerger, Department Administrator. She has been with the Center for over six years - since just before the Institute for the Study and Prevention of Violence at Kent State University moved to and merged with the Begun Center. Read more

$1 Million Grant from National Institute of Justice Funds Opioid Overdose Protocol Evaluation

The Begun Center is recipient of a nearly $1 million grant from from the National Institute of Justice that will allow us evaluate opioid overdose protocol in Cuyahoga County. Drs. Dan Flannery, Mark Fleisher, Karen Flynn, and Krystel Tossone will lead this work. The full release is available here as well as coverage by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Dr. Flannery spoke about this upcoming project as part of a bipartisan public policy briefing on Capitol Hill at the end of November organized by Case Western Reserve University. Read more

Diverting from Detention: Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth with Behavioral Health Issues

Ohio's Behavioral Health Juvenile Justice (BHJJ) program is a diversion program for juvenile justice-inovlved youth with behavioral health issues. Drs. Jeff Kretschmar, Fred Butcher, Dan Flannery, and Mark Singer co-authored this article in Criminal Justice Policy Review exploring the efficacy and implications of BHJJ, adding to the growing literature supporting juvenile diversion programs. Read more

Rachel Lovell was featured in the Cleveland Plain Dealer's What might we learn from the Ohio Rape Kit Survey project?: Progress Report for her assistance in designing a survey to monitor the progress of rape kit testing in Ohio. The work of the Begun Center was mentioned in a bipartisan House Resolution (H. Res. 550) urging reforms to sexual assault kit processing. Our SAKI team analyzed the cost of testing backlogged sexual assault kits in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Case Western Reserve University's Think Magazine featured the Begun Center twice in their fall/winter 2017 edition: PERI, the work of Jeff Kretschmar, Ashley Bukach, and Rebecca Bray in Demonstrating Success: Researchers Help Small Nonprofits Make Their Case Mark Singer's work in Understanding an Epidemic: Researchers Delve into the Expanding Opioid Crisis—and Work to Combat It End the Backlog highlighted a connection our research drew between two related types of violence: Serial Predators: The Connection Between Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Jane Timmons-Mitchell published a new article in Psychology Today about talking to our children about active shooter incidents in schools: How Do You Say It Will Be Alright?

Xinyi (Sammy) Situ (left, top) was hired in October as Research Assistant 2 for the Police Assisted Referral Initiative with Dr. Mark Singer. Welcome, Sammy! Christine Gordon (left, bottom) was promoted to Research Assistant 4 to continue her work focusing on specialized courts with Dr. Margaret Baughman-Sladky. Congratulations, Christine! We are in the process of hiring three new staff - a Center-Based Research Associate, who will divide their time between various projects; a Research Assistant who will focus on the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) project; and another Research Assistant who will focus on projects related to juvenile justice diversion programming. Stay tuned!

In 1998, our work began at the Institute for the Study and Prevention of Violence at Kent State University. In 2000, similar work also began at Case Western Reserve University at the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education in the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. In 2011, the two centers merged at Case Western Reserve University. In 2018, we will recognize the past 20 years of violence prevention. Mark your calendars and save the date for: October 3-4, 2018 Stay tuned for more information on events to learn about and help us honor our work !

Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education Daniel J. Flannery, PhD, Director Jeff Kretschmar, PhD, Managing Director Richard Shepler, PhD, Director, Center for Innovative Practices r

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