This interim evaluation report presents findings and insights regarding Oakland’s school violence intervention and prevention (VIP) teams. Each school VIP team consists of one life coach, one violence interrupter, and one gender-based violence specialist. Though still in its early implementation stage, the school VIP program shows promise in its work to meet the safety and security needs of Oakland high school students.

What we found

Drawing on staff interviews and analyses of school VIP activities, the report documents a high rate of life-goal completion, increases in students’ knowledge of how they can access help, student engagement with school VIP resources, and strong collaborative relationships between school VIP program partners. Analyses of student outcomes compared with a matched comparison group did not reveal a significant impact on students’ grade point averages, absences, or suspensions. This analysis is limited by a small sample size and the recent implementation of school VIP teams in schools. These analyses will be extended in a final report to include participants and outcomes from the 2024–25 academic year, which will strengthen the analysis of the program’s implementation and impact.