CTC: Effects of Communities That Care on the development of community prevention structures and the local introduction of evidence-based prevention measures

Term 06/2024 - 12/2024

Sponsor

German Forum for Crime Prevention Foundation (DFK)

Project management and coordination

Prof. Dr. Ulla Walter (Project management)

Dr. Dominik Röding (project coordination)

Project assistant

In the project, the data from the BMBF-funded study "Effectiveness of the municipal prevention system Communities That Care - CTC-EFF" will be examined under the following broad questions. (1) To what extent has the community capacity of CTC municipalities changed with regard to prevention compared to municipalities without CTC? To what extent does this result depend on the extent to which CTC municipalities have succeeded in achieving the CTC milestones? Answering this question will provide valuable insights into the extent to which the causal model underlying the CTC approach is correct. It will also examine which factors are particularly important for the high-quality implementation of CTC. (2) What systemic changes in the municipality, such as the introduction of science-based prevention programs, can be observed in CTC municipalities compared to municipalities without CTC? Are there correlations between systemic changes and structural parameters of the municipalities (e.g. rural vs. urban municipalities, level of deprivation)?

Logistic regressions are used for trend analyses of the CTC intervention and control municipalities. Longitudinal data are analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance and multilevel models. Assumed paths of impact (mediation and moderation) are also examined in the multi-level model. The results will be used to formulate specific recommendations for action for the training and support of CTC municipalities. The knowledge gained can help to make municipal approaches such as CTC more effective and efficient.

Publications

Röding D, von Holt I, Decker L, Walter U (2025). Early Effects of Communities That Care on System Change Outcomes: A Quasi-Experimental Study (under Review). BMC Public Health. doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5685486/v1

Röding D, von Holt I, Decker L, Ünlü S, Walter U (2025). How municipalities can increase the effectiveness of the Communities That Care prevention system. Results of a re-analysis of data from the CTC-EFF study. Forum Crime Prevention (in print)

von Holt I, Decker L, Röding D, Ünlü S, Walter U (2025). First evidence for the effectiveness of Communities That Care in Germany. Results of a re-analysis of data from the CTC-EFF study. Forum Kriminalprävention (in print).

Walter U, Ünlü S, Decker L, von Holt I, Röding D (2025). Recommendations for the implementation of Communities That Care. wegweiser-gruene-liste.de/fileadmin/user_upload/wwgl/PDFs/CTC-Handlungsempfehlungen.pdf