Violence Prevention Technical Assistance Center

Violence is a widespread public health problem that occurs in many forms, including child abuse and neglect, youth violence, sexual violence, and intimate partner violence. Fortunately, decades of research and practice have proven that violence is preventable.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched the Violence Prevention Technical Assistance Center (VPTAC), through a contract with the American Institutes for Research, to serve as a training and technical assistance hub for organizations that receive funding from CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention. The programs supported include Rape Prevention and Education, DELTA Impact, Preventing Teen Dating and Youth Violence, Essentials for Childhood, and Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences. VPTAC’s training and technical assistance helps recipients achieve the goals of their CDC-funded programs while addressing factors that cut across multiple forms of violence and achieve community-level impact.

VPTAC also provides training and technical assistance to the military community through an interagency agreement between CDC and the Department of Defense. Technical assistance to action officers in the headquarters of the Services—Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps—and National Guard Bureau focuses on implementation of the Prevention Plan of Action, the Department’s strategic approach to preventing sexual assault. VPTAC’s training and technical assistance to members of the prevention workforce at service academies and installations builds capacity to implement an effective prevention process within an optimized prevention system.