“When we hear about murders in the news, we often focus on the victim and the perpetrator. Homicide-related death has a huge ripple effect, devastating the family members, friends and communities left behind. It’s past time to recognize Black homicide grief as the public health crisis it truly is.”
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THRIVE: Toronto Hospitals reducing injury from violence
THRIVE, a hospital-based violence intervention program led by Unity Health Toronto - St. Michael's Hospital, an academic trauma hospital in downtown Toronto, works with individuals at a critical juncture of reflection after a violent injury to prevent recurrent injury due to violence or homicide by focusing on factors that put them at risk.
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Exploring the Health and Wellbeing of Black Survivors of Homicide Victims
In Canada, approximately 600 murders occur annually, with Ontario, consistently experiencing the highest homicide rates. Racialized Ontarians, especially those identifying as African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB), are disproportionately impacted, with ACB survivors facing severe trauma. The CRIB is currently conducting a study to address a critical gap in understanding the health and wellbeing of experiencing the homicide of a family and/or friend. This entails gaining a better understanding of the mental, physical, financial, and spiritual effects on members of the ACB community. This study aims to highlight the multifaceted challenges faced by ACB individuals and their families, to develop culturally and developmentally appropriate support systems.
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rise ybmen: THE CRIB + THE YOUNG BLACK MEN PROJECT
Supported by Movember’s "Scaling What Works in Community and Workplace Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Grant Fund", RISE YBMen Toronto is a partnership between The CRIB and The Young Black Men Project (School of Social Work, University of Michigan). This project aims to culturally adapt, deliver, and evaluate the YBMen program for African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) men and boys ages 16 to 30 residing in the Greater Toronto Area.
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Tracking homicide ACROSS the gta
The CRIB's Homicide Tracker is an interactive geographic information system map which marks all homicides in the city of Toronto (from 2004 to 2023), identifies African, Caribbean, Black neighbourhoods that are disproportionately impacted by homicide, and lists resources throughout the city designed to assist surviving family members & friends of homicide victims with the management of their grief.
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SAFETO + SCALE
The SafeTO Collaborative Analytics and Learning Environment (SCALE) is a platform that allows the City of Toronto and it's partners to share data, identify effective interventions, and communicate lessons to advance prevention-focused safety outcomes. SafeTO aims to reduce vulnerability; reduce violence; advance truth and reconciliation; promote healing and justice; invest in people; invest in neighbourhoods, and drive collaboration and accountability. It provides a roadmap for how the City of Toronto and social systems that serve Torontonians, such as community services, healthcare systems, education systems, justice systems, police and businesses, can work collaboratively across different sectors and across governments to support community safety and well-being.
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SURVIVORS OF HOMICIDE VICTIMS & MENTAL HEALTH
In partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Ontario, The CRIB engages Indigenous, ACB and Racialized survivors of homicide victims and their service providers across the province to advance understanding of existing approaches to supporting survivors, determine where supports are needed, provide culturally responsive training to service providers and inform the development of policy related to survivors of homicide victims services.
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INVISIBLE WOUNDS: STORIES OF SURVIVORSHIP
Experiencing the murder of a loved one leaves surviving family members and friends with “invisible wounds”, injuries not often visible and comprehensible to the untrained eye. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in collaboration with the StoryCentre Canada and key community-based organizations, THE CRIB led focus groups and engaged with African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) survivors of homicide victims in digital storytelling to understand the impact of murder on the well-being, coping strategies and unmet needs of ACB Canadian survivors of homicide victims in Toronto. From these focus groups came Invisible Wounds: Stories of Survivorship, a collection of digital stories as told by members of our focus group on their experience living through the loss of a loved one.
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SUPPORTING MALE SURVIVORS OF VIOLENCE
The Supporting Male Survivors of Violence (SMSV) Baltimore project identifies needs and addresses gaps in services to support effective community-based, trauma-focused treatment and support services for young male survivors of colour (YMOC) between the ages of 14-24 and their families who live in the Madison/East End neighborhoods of Baltimore, Maryland. The CRIB serves as the lead evaluator for this project.
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Inventory of Coping for African American Survivors of Homicide Victims
The need for valid measures that capture the racial and culturally bound manifestation of homicide related grief for African American survivors of homicide victims led to the development of the Inventory of Coping for African American Survivors of Homicide Victims (ICAASHV). Designed to assess the origins and types of coping strategies used by African American survivors of homicide victims, this project examined the validity of the ICAASHV and assessed potential associations between coping with homicide violence, mental, behavioral health and well-being outcomes for African American adults.
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TRACKING (IN)JUSTICE
The Tracking (In)Justice project tracks police-involved deaths and deaths in custody across Canada while providing access to data and analysis so individuals, organizations and communities can collectively advocate, shape policy, and create accountability. Tracking (In)Justice is a collaborative project with interdisciplinary partners from the Data Justice and Criminology Lab of the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Carleton University, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Ethics and Technology Lab at Queen’s University, and The CRIB at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto.
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IN THE AFTERMATH
In collaboration with key community-based organizations, The CRIB will lead focus group discussions and engage African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) survivors in digital storytelling to understand the impact of murder on the wellbeing, coping strategies and unmet needs of ACB Canadian survivors of homicide victims in Toronto.
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