In this episode of our local program Making Democracy Work, host Maggie Castrey speaks with Darlin Mabins, director of community engagement with Community Partnership of the Ozarks (CPO). Mabins talks about the new gun safety collaborative and its work to reduce gun violence in the Ozarks.
One of the goals of democracy is keeping its citizens and communities safe from violence. Darlin, please tell us about the new Gun Safety Collaborative and its work to reduce gun violence in the Ozarks.
Mabins: The Gun Safety and Violence Collaborative consists of over 60 participants, representing more than 35 organizations from private, public and social sectors. It was established back in February 2023, and programing began in summer of 2024 for youth and young adults and for suicide prevention awareness across the community. We meet monthly to report on programming and outcomes. We're also part of a cohort established through the Missouri Foundation for Health, but we are starting to work more regionally in southwest Missouri, for example, with Columbia and Joplin are also part of this cohort.
Who is most often at risk of gun violence?
Mabins: We found that youth and young adults who live in areas where gunshots are reported the most. When it comes to suicide by gun, it's males 44 and older, particularly in the rural areas. Our focus areas in Springfield where gunshots are reported the most are within Kearney to West Bypass, down to Sunshine across to Glenstone and back up to Kearney. We call that the rectangle.
What have you found to be most useful in your efforts to prevent violence?
Mabins: Well, listening to the young people of what they want and need. We did this by providing surveys at various events around town to local youth that we were trying to reach, and they told us they wanted a safe space where they can meet, hang out with their friends, listen to music and not be bothered. We created a safe space, which later (was) named Safe Haven, and they can share lived experiences with their peers and a space where they can be heard. We also found that trusted relationships is the number one thing in doing the work that we do.
How have you structured your program?
Mabins: Year one was developing the infrastructure of how we would go about the work and about six months of pilots to see what activities would be most effective with the youth. Year two was the establishment of our street outreach workers. We have street outreach workers who live in the neighborhoods where gunshots are reported the most, and they are trained in ways to de-escalate situations that can lead to gun violence. On the community side, we worked with a lot of neighborhood associations, and we focused on gun safety by providing gun locks and boxes for their neighbors. Mental health and wellness was also a focus, and we provided educational materials and training for suicide prevention, awareness and gun safety to local faith and community-based organizations.
What are some other factors that influence your work?
Mabins: Well, we work with a community psychologist as a thought partner who shared with us that there are major factors to the work, and so prevention efforts cannot deliver overnight results. It can take 3 to 5 years before behavioral changes can be seen in a community. And 76% of the youth in DYS had child protective services that were called to their homes, and a large number of those youth live in that rectangle area. So, we partner with DYS for programing to introduce different choices for them when they finish the program. So, all those things can also influence our work.
You had mentioned before a ripple effect. If one youth has a good experience that they can influence others. Could you give us an example of that?
Mabins: Yeah. We work with youth within the activities that we have. We have a young man that we work with, and he has had run-in with the legal system. We've mentored him, we've worked with him, provided him with a business license to create music and also a clothing line that he'd like to start. And by working with him and mentoring him, and some of our street outreach workers are also working with him, he's brought along his friends, and now we're working with some of his friends to get them business licenses so that they can either create music or whatever area that they want to work in. And that's kind of the ripple effect. If we can positively influence and help and provide alternatives and choices to one youth, they will bring their friends along as well.
How are the collaborative's programs funded?
Startup funding was from the City of Springfield initially. Then we received a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. We also received in-kind mental health services from Burrell and Community Partnership of the Ozarks. Our street outreach workers, which I mentioned before, also volunteer a great deal of their time to the work.
What can listeners do to help reduce violence in their communities?
Mabins: The number one thing is to lock up their firearms. We learned from CoxHealth that most of the injuries and fatalities are from accidents involving kids having access to guns that are not secured in a safe place. Another thing is also keeping guns out of cars. People are breaking into cars, and they steal those firearms, and they sell them on the streets for money. So, those are kind of the key things that could help reduce access to guns and violence in our community.
My guest today has been Darli Mabins, director of Community Engagement for Community Partnership of the Ozarks. This has been a program of the League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri.