OJJDP is developing “Changing Minds,” a national campaign to raise awareness about the impact of exposure to violence on children. The campaign’s public service announcements, website, and resource materials are intended to educate the public about the urgency and prevalence of childhood trauma and exposure to violence, and to motivate adults who regularly interact with children and youth to take action and help.

On June 29, 2016, Georgina Mendoza McDowell, Senior Policy Advisor at OJJDP, along with Brian O’Connor, Director of Public Education Campaigns and Programs at Futures Without Violence; Tracy Danicich, Vice President and Campaign Director at the Ad Council; and John Reid, Chief Creative Officer at Wunderman, previewed public service announcements from the campaign at the Fifth National Summit on Preventing Youth Violence. Each panelist discussed their organization’s contribution to the project as well as the overall creative strategy used to develop the campaign.

Ms. McDowell, who served as a member of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence, noted that the issue of children’s exposure to violence is “not something fun to talk about, but it’s important; in fact, it’s critical that we know what’s out there.” Describing the campaign as a message of hope, Ms. McDowell said, “Each and every single one of us can make a difference—a positive impact—on our children.” Mr. O’Connor credited the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence, cosponsored by OJJDP, with serving as one of the foundations for the campaign.

Changing Minds is expected to launch in September of this year and was created by OJJDP in partnership with Futures Without Violence, the Ad Council, and Wunderman, a digital agency. The campaign was created as part of the Defending Childhood initiative in response to a recommendation contained in the Report of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence, which called for “a national public awareness campaign to create fundamental changes in perspective in every organization, community, and household.”

Resources:

Learn more about the OJJDP-led Defending Childhood Initiative, which aims to prevent children’s exposure to violence, mitigate the negative effects experienced by children exposed to violence, and develop knowledge about and spread awareness of this issue.

Access publications in OJJDP’s National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence series.