Mission

Protect DC strives to provide a safe and secure environment for all DC residents by supporting efforts to address and reduce violence. The program utilizes a multidisciplinary model that brings together partners from behavioral health, human services, law enforcement, and other disciplines to assess an individual’s risk of violence or serious harm, share information, and coordinate resources and services. 

Protect DC does this by:

• Empowering and enabling communities to identify and share concerning behavior or communication of individuals who may pose a risk of violence or serious harm with the appropriate officials
• Engaging in trauma-informed prevention practices to understand the historical impacts of violence on individuals and communities and implement tailored intervention strategies and management plans

How We Work

Identify: A community member leaves a referral about an individual displaying concerning behavior or communication.

 

Gather: We gather available information to understand the situation.

 

Review: We review the information gathered and assess whether an individual of concern poses a risk of violence or serious harm.

 

Intervene: We develop and implement interventions to mitigate the potential for violence and assist the individual in obtaining access to city resources and services.