# Place Matters - Adaptable Solutions to Violence at the Community Level

> **NIH NIH R01** · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · 2021 · $544,884

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Project Title: Place matters - Adaptable Solutions to Violence at the Community Level
 Violence is a leading health burden in the U.S. and globally, and plays a significant role
in shaping population health and health disparities, given both immediate and long-term
consequences.4 Remediation of abandoned buildings and vacant lots has been shown to be an
effective and cost-beneficial solution to violence, especially firearm violence, in U.S. cities.9-11
This place-based blight remediation may be an effective population-based strategy for primary
prevention of serious and lethal violence among youth but few studies have tested this
approach among youth, specifically.12 Furthermore, it may have an impact on violence in the
home or family violence, including child abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV); but no
studies have examined this effect, although research on other forms of neighborhood disorder
and the nature of family violence suggest that it may have a substantial impact.15 The objective
of the proposed project aims to conduct the first community-level randomized controlled trial
aimed at blight remediation for youth and family violence prevention. Our long-term goal is to
define and address the role of community infrastructure and its potential impact on multiple
forms of violence, and to identify potential buffers that may be included in prevention efforts. Our
central hypothesis is that blight remediation will provide fewer locations for illegal weapons
storage but will also improve residential sense of community and social control, and reduce
stress among residents. This proposal is feasible because it leverages our ongoing evaluation
of blight reduction efforts by the City of New Orleans and ongoing neighborhood-based violence
research by the PIs. To address the current research gaps and achieve our objectives, we
propose to conduct a cluster randomized trial with 600 lots and two intervention arms (n=150
lots in each arm)—one without buildings/structures and greened and one greened and with
buildings/structures treated—propensity score matched 1:1 to control lots (n=300) across four
New Orleans communities experiencing high rates of violence. A qualitative evaluation will also
be conducted to examine the personal impact of blight remediation strategies. Confirmation of
our hypotheses that reduction of neighborhood blight impacts not only youth violence (including
serious and lethal) but also child abuse and IPV will provide critical information for policy and
prevention efforts. Furthermore, examination of potential structural buffers or deterrents will aid
in scaling up and translation of this highly innovative community-level program as well as
providing further evidence for the interaction between multiple neighborhood conditions on
violence-related outcomes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10225422
- **Project number:** 5R01HD095609-04
- **Recipient organization:** TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
- **Principal Investigator:** CHARLES C. BRANAS
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $544,884
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10225422

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10225422, Place Matters - Adaptable Solutions to Violence at the Community Level (5R01HD095609-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10225422. Licensed CC0.

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