Developing Local Terrorism Prevention Capabilities

Risk Assessment Tools to Support Secondary and Tertiary Interventions of Violent Extremism

Engaging stakeholders to understand whether and how individual risk assessments are currently performed, perceptions of such tools, and recommendations for the creation and implementation of successful individual assessment tools.

Text-Enabled Safe Referral Call Center Protocols & Evaluation

S&T is filling a gap by funding the creation of protocols for safe-referral systems for friends, family, and other influencers to connect individuals with social service resources. Through coordination from the Office for Terrorism Prevention Partnerships (OTPP), S&T performers have identified a domestic crisis hotline center to partner with for pilot testing of the protocols.

The following publications are sorted chronologically.

• Countering Violent Extremism -- The Application of Risk Assessment Tools in the Criminal Justice and Rehabilitation Process: Literature Review (2018)
  Creating tools designed to identify early signs of radicalization and to assess individuals for successful completion of diversion and rehabilitation programs is an inherently complex and multifaceted process that has the potential for major positive impacts on security while also presenting a number of concerns.
• Leveraging a Targeted Violence Prevention Program to Prevent Violent Extremism: A Formative Evaluation in Los Angeles (2018)
  This report represents the results of a formative evaluation conducted from December 2015 to November 2016.
• Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) – Developing a Research Roadmap (2017)
  In furtherance of its mission to conduct evidence-based research to inform policy recommendations, operational requirements, and public safety needs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has developed a countering violent extremism (CVE) framework (the Framework). This Framework will assist DHS S&T in developing a research agenda that seeks to save lives, reduce property losses, and enhance community resilience in the face of rapidly changing threats of extremist violence in the United States.
• Countering Violent Extremism -- The Use of Assessment Tools for Measuring Violence Risk: Literature Review (2017)
  This literature review focuses on the identity and purpose of existing instruments used specifically in the context of violent extremism, particularly from the international community.
• Countering Violent Extremism -- Developing a Research Roadmap: Literature Review (2016)
  As the threat of violent extremism in the United States continues to grow and change, the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T), which serves as the primary source of scientific expertise for the Department, has strengthened its resolve to develop an agile, multidisciplinary, knowledge-based capability to counter this threat. To that end, DHS S&T created a Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Framework to guide evidence-based research intended to meet policy, operational, and public needs.
• Best Practices for Developing Resilient Communities and Addressing Violent Extremism (2015)
  Lessons learned from the fields of mental health and education can uniquely contribute to best practices for developing resilient communities and addressing violent extremism.
• Lessons Learned from Mental Health and Education: Identifying Best Practices for Addressing Violent Extremism (2015)
  Community-based practices within the fields of mental health and education range widely, and have been used to address varied levels and types of problems, needs and priorities. In the review of the literature, several themes emerged that are commonly drawn on in both mental health and education and also hold relevance to the challenge of addressing violent extremism.
• Reframing CVE as a Multidisciplinary Approach to Promoting Community Safety (2015)
  Lessons learned from mental health and education fields indicate that the U.S. needs to move beyond a criminal justice approach to countering violent extremism and to instead build a multidisciplinary approach to promoting community safety, which includes addressing violent extremism, as well as the other salient forms of violence that afflict communities.
• Supporting A Multidisciplinary Approach to Addressing Violent Extremism: What Role Can Education Professionals Play? (2015)
  Education professionals are uniquely poised to contribute to effective prevention and intervention activities for addressing violent extremism.
• Supporting A Multidisciplinary Approach to Addressing Violent Extremism: What Role Can Mental Health Professionals Play? (2015)
  Mental health professionals are uniquely poised to contribute to effective prevention and intervention activities in the service of addressing violent extremism.
• Supporting A Multidisciplinary Approach to Violent Extremism: The Integration of Mental Health in Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) and What Law Enforcement Needs to Know (2015)
  Law enforcement professionals can help individuals who may be radicalizing to violence, but who have not engaged in criminal acts, by connecting them to mental health services.
• Building Resilience to Violent Extremism Among Somali‐Americans in Minneapolis‐St. Paul (2012)
  This study asked members of the Somali‐American community in Minneapolis‐St. Paul to describe the challenges of living in a refugee community, how violent extremists try to exploit their condition for recruitment purposes, and what resources and strategies are needed to minimize their vulnerability.