Targeted Outreach - Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Appendices 51 part-time staff comprised of the two youth development specialists and two outreach workers per site. The program coordinators organize service providers to give presentations and also may give presentations themselves in the areas of recreation, social and educational activities. They do (documented) case management of at least 25 youth and paperwork for their Club (e.g., monthly calendars, monthly reports), transport youth to their court docket dates and/or job interviews, and conduct home visits youth involved in the program. There are also two program directors who work out of the Comin’ Up program administrative office. Each of the program directors oversees four facilities, provides additional support for the program coordinators and helps with the paperwork. In addition, one program director supervises and monitors programming issues, helps find service providers that can offer programs and ensures that each Club meets the program objectives. The other program director hires and supervises the youth development specialists. In addition, the program directors obtain equipment and supplies and run intersite leagues. Finally, they are involved with the court docket agreement that was established with the city. The program directors rotate among the Clubs, going to a different one each night during the hours they are open. Another individual, the director of mediation, does not work with any specific facility. His responsibility is to help diffuse any crises in the community that have to do with gang violence. He also monitors all the facilities to make sure the Outreach Workers are doing their jobs and reaching out to gang-involved youth. A full-time project director is directly responsible for supervising the program staff and for general management as well as for seeing that the program is meeting the nine objectives established by the city. The project director is also the main point of contact for the outside agency service providers as well as for city officials and the county crime commission. Programming The facilities are open from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday (except for Como, which is open only three nights a week), after the Clubs close to the “regular” Club members. All people who enter the facility must pass through a metal detector to ensure no weapons are brought in; the goal is to provide a “safety zone environment.” The program lures the youth by activities such as basketball, videos, movies and a safe place to hang out. Because getting the gang members to the classes the program offers can be challenging, Clubs provide incentives and rewards for good attendance. A reward might be the opportunity to go waterskiing or rock climbing. These events give youth an important chance to see appropriate behaviors outside of the neighborhood. During the hours the facilities are open, five staff members provide programming and get to know the youth at each site. Service providers also present programming, including GED classes, job skills classes, computer classes, AIDS awareness, MADD presentations, non-violence training, parenting classes and life skills. One of the obstacles for youth in finding legitimate jobs has been that they have many tickets (for traffic violations, fighting, drinking, curfew violation, truancy) or have been in jail and have a record. The Comin’ Up program helps in multiple ways. The first has to do with the tickets. There is a court docket specifically for Comin’ Up members (one Friday night each month). The youth plead guilty and then they do community service at the Club. The youth’s record is then clean. Another agreement made with the police department is that officers will not come into the Clubs/facilities to make arrests and thereby destroy the trust of the youth in the project staff. Second, job placement is a big part of the program effort. Service Providers such as the Job Skills Program of Boys & Girls Clubs and Fort Worth Weed and Seed seek out employers who are willing to take on employees from the Comin’ Up program. Staff work with the youth and the employer to help the youth apply and interview and, if the youth is hired for the job, to help make sure the experience is positive for both. Outside agency representatives and Club staff reported that the relationships developed between the youth and the staff are key to the project’s success. They described it as “easy access” for youth to find someone to talk to because there are five staff members available at each facility. Staff members go out of their way to help youth both when the Club is open and also at all other times of the day. Furthermore, one of the main mechanisms for diminishing gang violence is the building of trust between youth and staff, which has led to youth “anonymously” informing staff when something is about to happen. Staff then relay the information to the police and also become involved (via the director of mediation) in trying to diffuse the situation before it leads to violence. Changes in the Clubs Staff reported that it was not necessary to make changes in the Clubs to accommodate Comin’ Up because the program is an extra operation, after the regular Boys and Girls Club hours. However, the project did lead to an expansion
52 Targeted Outreach into city recreation facilities and the use of other non-Club facilities to run the Comin’ Up program around the city in the evening hours. The program also implemented a new practice by checking to see that no youth brought weapons into the Club. Boys & Girls Club of Ventura: “Facing the Future” Project Overview In Ventura, the gang intervention initiative is called “Facing the Future.” With a few exceptions, Facing the Future (FtF) youth are probation referrals and attend the Clubs as a “loose” condition of their probation. The youth are responsible for attending FtF for a total of 50 hours, and the ideal is to have youth participate in programming at the Club twice a week for 12 consecutive weeks. However, if youth miss a day, they simply attend for longer than 12 weeks. Program plans are developed according to a 12-week schedule, but because the FtF operates on a continuous basis, youth simply begin or finish attending classes according to their own schedule. Programming includes biweekly sessions that cover conflict resolution, job search assistance, team building activities, homework assistance, and recreational activities and field trips. Goals Almost everyone we spoke with felt that it was unrealistic to try to get youth out of gangs. Instead, they established a goal of having the youth living positive lifestyles, “facing the future in a way they had not done before,” though they may continue to verbally “claim” a gang. The adults seemed to understand that the gang represents a neighborhood or ethnic identity and not necessarily a criminal lifestyle. A “positive” lifestyle includes employment, no criminal activity and relationship development (mentoring, parenting, anger management). Gang Problem The gang problem in Ventura is reportedly a reflection of the gang problem in Southern California. Although police feel the gang situation in Ventura is not as serious a problem when compared to Los Angeles or neighboring Oxnard, they report a “significant number” of gangrelated crimes, including stabbings, beatings, vandalism, substance abuse, some drug dealing and a few homicides. Police estimate that there are approximately 1,000 gang members in Ventura, with eight gang killings that took place between July 1997 and June 1998, an increase from the previous year. Several people we talked to mentioned that, although most of the Ventura gangs (like the Avenue Gangsters) are Hispanic, the number of white supremacist gangs is growing. In fact, the Club was closed down for several months because of a fire allegedly set by a white supremacist youth. A few people also mentioned the influence of the Hell’s Angels, which they claim encourages white supremacist groups and brings drugs (mainly methadone) into communities. History and Development of the Initiative Fifteen years ago, Ventura was shocked by its first drive-by shooting. As a result of the drive-by, the then police chief started a gang enforcement team. The unit was exclusively concerned with enforcement and making a pro-active statement to the community. In 1992, a Gang Taskforce committee was formed, and a Boys & Girls Clubs unit director was one of the co-chairs. The taskforce included citizens, police and representatives of the department of drug and alcohol abuse. Out of this taskforce came the Youth Violence Prevention Committee. Over the next few years, this group spearheaded a community mobilization effort, put together plans for the area’s first youth summit and developed master plans for the city to reduce youth violence. In 1994, a group of people who were involved with the taskforce, including the judge, Club staff and some police, went to an OJJDP conference. Following the conference, Boys & Girls Club of Ventura applied to BGCA for a GITTO grant. Representatives from police and probation worked with the Club’s executive director and the Club project director to develop the structure of FtF, using Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s four-point philosophy as a foundation. The project was implemented in two Club units: Addison and LeFevre. Recruitment Process and Referral Partners The recruitment and referral efforts differ for the two Club units. One unit, Addison, receives all of its referrals from probation. After probation officers review their caseloads, FtF program directors help them decide which youth to refer. The youth referred to the LeFevre unit also include referrals from other agencies (e.g., the Westside Family Center, an agency that deals primarily with domestic violence problems, but with a focus on the emotional needs of at-risk family and youth) and members of the Club’s alternative high school program (whose youth are referred by the school district). Staffing, Intake and Tracking Process Youth referred through probation learn about FtF. On their first night at the Club, the youth along with his or her parent, the probation officer, all FtF staff and a police officer attend an orientation session. If the youth completes the program, the same group is invited back to celebrate. The probation officer indicated, however, that half of the time the youth’s parents do not show up.
Page 1 and 2:
Targeted Outreach: Boys & Girls Clu
Page 3 and 4:
Targeted Outreach Public/Private Ve
Page 5 and 6:
Contents Executive Summary . . . .
Page 7 and 8:
ii Targeted Outreach 4. Providing i
Page 9 and 10:
iv Targeted Outreach Girls Club sta
Page 11 and 12: vi Targeted Outreach
Page 13 and 14: 2 Targeted Outreach Community-Wide
Page 15 and 16: 4 Targeted Outreach place-based). T
Page 17 and 18: 6 Targeted Outreach Table 1 Evaluat
Page 19 and 20: 8 Targeted Outreach
Page 21 and 22: 10 Targeted Outreach Table 2 Recrui
Page 23 and 24: 12 Targeted Outreach Figure 1 Gang
Page 25 and 26: 14 Targeted Outreach Table 6 Target
Page 27 and 28: 16 Targeted Outreach School Many of
Page 31 and 32: 20 Targeted Outreach Table 10 Targe
Page 33 and 34: 22 Targeted Outreach Target youth r
Page 37 and 38: 26 Targeted Outreach from initiatin
Page 39 and 40: 28 Targeted Outreach Table 11 Chang
Page 43 and 44: 32 Targeted Outreach Contact with C
Page 45 and 46: 34 Targeted Outreach Clubs had vary
Page 47 and 48: 36 Targeted Outreach Table 12 Sourc
Page 49 and 50: 38 Targeted Outreach Case managemen
Page 51 and 52: 40 Targeted Outreach tracking the y
Page 53 and 54: 42 Targeted Outreach of interventio
Page 55 and 56: 44 Targeted Outreach Table 13 Cost
Page 59 and 60: 48 Targeted Outreach Pittman, Karen
Page 61: 50 Targeted Outreach History and De
Page 65 and 66: 54 Targeted Outreach The Getting Ou
Page 67 and 68: 56 Targeted Outreach the paperwork
Page 69 and 70: 58 Targeted Outreach Many of the ol
Page 73 and 74: 62 Targeted Outreach Table B.1 Comp
Page 75 and 76: 64 Targeted Outreach Table B.1, con
Page 77 and 78: 66 Targeted Outreach Challenging an
Page 79 and 80: 68 Targeted Outreach • log (p/[1-
Page 81: 70 Targeted Outreach Table D.1, con
show all

Targeted Outreach - Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?