Youth are seen as resources to the community.

Teens are not seen as troublemakers but rather as resources to their communities, capable of exercising leadership and taking action for positive change.

Victims are part of the solution.

Victims are not blamed or seen as part of the problem but as part of the solution. Participation in community policing, prosecution, and activism are common ways for victims to play a solution-oriented role.

DECISION MAKING

They are given real (as opposed to symbolic) power by serving on boards, city councils, and leadership committees. They are accorded the same respect at the table as adults.

Victims regain control by making their own decisions.

The power to make choices is fundamental for victims, who often feel that power has been stripped from them. Service providers respect the decisions victims make.

Youth and adults work in partnership.

Youth and adults are on equal footing, with each exercising leadership and contributing strengths to solutions that benefit the community as well as its individual members of all ages.

Victims work in partnership with police and providers.

Victims are brought to the table as partners with those whose job it is to help them-primarily law enforcement and victim service providers.