To curb violence among teens, Denver teens helped develop a tipping app

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A new app for young people in three northeast Denver neighborhoods aims to reduce violence by connecting teens with the help they need before a crisis occurs.

The Power of One app, which launched in July, is somewhat similar to the national tip hotline Safe2Tell, but has two key differences. It addresses a wider range of issues than threats, violence or self-harm and aims to minimize police involvement unless absolutely necessary.

Teens can use the free Power of One app or its hotline to anonymously provide tips or request help with issues such as finding a counselor, preventing home power from being shut off, or preventing an impending fight at school. Four trained peer mediators will handle many of the submissions, but genuine emergencies will be referred to law enforcement. The program is aimed at students in Montbello, Green Valley Ranch and Park Hill, but submissions from other areas of the city will also be considered.

Although the app has only received one submission so far – a student request for volunteer opportunities – the initiative's leaders hope it will eventually expand citywide and help derail youth violence by providing holistic help to young people.

“When youth have problems, whatever those problems may be, if they are not addressed, they can lead to a sort of cascade… and ultimately lead to involvement in violence,” said Dave Bechhoefer, project director of the Youth Violence Prevention Center-Denver, the app that initiated the initiative.

According to the University of Colorado Boulder, where the center is located, arrests for violent crimes, murder and aggravated assault exceed the quota in the neighborhoods targeted by the app in Denver and across the country.

Kaliah Yizar, one of about a dozen youth counselors who helped design “The Power of One” app, said one way the app can help is by connecting teens with positive outreach opportunities.

“What we have seen is that when young people are provided with opportunities such as playing sports, joining clubs or being involved in school, the likelihood of them becoming involved in youth violence is much lower,” she said .

The app, which is monitored around the clock, is also intended to interrupt potentially impending violence.

Yizar, now a student at Howard University in Washington, D.C., said she appreciated the app when she was in high school at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood.

It would have helped “if I knew something and was afraid to go to someone at school, if I was afraid of calling the police and being labeled a snitch,” she said.

When Yizar's aunt was principal at her school, students often let her aunt know if, for example, a classmate had posted a photo of a gun on Snapchat or was planning a fight.

The Power of One app “is great for teens who don't have those contacts at school and still want to share what they know with people, but want to do it in a way that's anonymous and safe for them,” she said.

The app took shape in 2022 with the help of a $6 million federal grant focused on finding innovative ways to reduce youth violence. Bechhoefer said the basic idea is to connect youth in the targeted neighborhoods with community resources, but the project's youth advisors have agreed on the best way to accomplish that.

“When we talked to our youth council about the strategy, the first thing they said was, 'Well, you need an app,'” he said.

The Power of One uses the same software and architecture as the 20-year-old Safe2Tell service, but includes additional features such as links to local organizations and event calendars. Several Youth Council suggestions have been incorporated into the app, including the phrase “Make a connection” instead of “Leave a tip,” which Yizar said can have a negative connotation for teens.

One of the app's main selling points is that it is a community-based service, she said.

“In the future, the youth would like to create a link to job opportunities, internships and everything that can also support the youth,” said Bechhoefer.

For now, the biggest challenge for Bechhoefer, Yizar and other advocates of this effort is convincing local youth. The app was downloaded 163 times, received one direct submission and some recommendations from other reporting services. In contrast, Safe2Tell received more than 28,000 tips in the 2023-24 school year.

Yizar said she and other students involved in the project attended block parties over the summer to tell teens and parents about the app. Some downloaded it immediately. Although Yizar is now out of college, other teens are working to spread the word at their Denver schools.

The federal grant to finance the app project expires in 2026.

“We basically have two years to really show that this is an effective intervention against youth violence,” Bechhoefer said.

Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at [email protected].