City of Birmingham / RESTORE

Challenge

Birmingham needed a clearer understanding of how young people and community members experienced crime and safety in their own neighborhoods. The questions were practical: what residents believed contributed to violence, where prevention could work, and what public systems might be missing.

Justice-impacted young people are often discussed in policy settings without being asked directly about their experiences. A strategy built only from administrative data can overlook the conditions, relationships, and barriers that shape daily life.

The City needed evidence specific to Birmingham. Findings borrowed from another community could not replace direct accounts from the young people and families living with the issue.

Role

The City of Birmingham engaged PRC Impact directly in 2024. PRC Impact designed the research rather than implementing a study created by someone else. The role covered focus-group design, participant screeners, discussion tools, moderation, survey design, survey analysis, qualitative analysis, findings, and strategic recommendations.

Approach

The work included focus groups with justice-impacted young people connected to the Resource Center. A subsequent phase was planned to reach school-age young people who were not currently justice-impacted, including young people living in public-housing communities.

PRC Impact also designed and analyzed surveys connected to the RESTORE Games. Approximately 400 responses, primarily from parents and guardians, captured perceptions of crime and safety and what respondents believed prevention efforts should include.

The qualitative and survey components were designed to work together. Focus groups provided depth and context. Surveys offered a broader view of recurring concerns among parents and guardians.

What the work produced

PRC Impact delivered youth-engagement findings, survey analysis, and strategic recommendations to the City. The engagement continues and has produced a body of local evidence grounded in what Birmingham residents and young people said about their own communities.

Why it matters

Public-safety programs are stronger when the people most affected by violence help define the problem. This engagement demonstrates how an original research design can reach populations that institutions often struggle to hear and translate their perspectives into direction a city can use.

The value is not simply participation. It is a more accurate basis for deciding where attention, resources, and future engagement should go.