The expected goals of HEAL are:
- preventing violence before it begins by building the skills of the youth, supporting healthy relationships, creating community conditions that protect youth and keep them safe and healthy, and promoting an equitable and fair society that provides equal access to the social determinants of health, values connection, and celebrates intersectional identities,
- creating equitable access to the protective factors that prevent youth violence,
- increasing youth’s psychological and physical safety and security, and
- to ultimately, to reduce risk factors contributing to youth violence.
The general scope of services:
- Social skill building
- Leadership of youth and people with lived experiences
- Community engagement
- Employment of youth and helping youth to develop independent living and financial skills
- Behavioral health supports
- Enhanced bullying and harassment prevention.
- Because exposure to many forms of violence is beyond the control of the individuals, HEAL’s intervention framework is group into the three levels of health promotion, primary, secondary, and tertiary: Primary violence prevention programs improve the health and wellbeing of a population
- Secondary prevention intervenes and responds to violence that has already occurred to stop or reduce the risk of future violence.
- Tertiary prevention is about equitable access to services and opportunities to soften the impact and lasting effects of violence.