Risk and Protective Factors of Focus in Colorado

There is immense research and practice related to addressing shared risk and protective factors. As an example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages violence prevention practitioners to Connect the Dots to address multiple forms of violence in prevention efforts.

In Colorado, communities engaging in a Shared Risk and Protective Factor approach are referring to the following risk and protective factors of multiple outcomes related to adolescent/youth health, including substance misuse, depression and anxiety, teen pregnancy, school dropout, violence, and delinquency. We also acknowledge that racism, oppression, and underlying systemic conditions are related to all risk and protective factors addressed in Colorado. 

Racism and other overlapping forms of oppression are systems of prejudice, dominance, and subordination of specific identities including, but not limited to, race, gender, sexual orientation, and class, that exist within every aspect of personal, cultural, and institutional life. Community members who experience racism or other overlapping forms of oppression are exposed to toxic and chronic stressors that increase the chance of experiencing individual risk factors and other risk factors present in families, schools, and broader community and society. Because of these systems, community members experience a lower quality of, and less access to, protective factors that could buffer against these risks. This is why differences in happiness, health, and wealth often exist between groups who experience racism and other forms of oppression.