Responding to Gang, Crew and Youth Violence in the District of Columbia

CHAPTER 5: LESSONS FROM THE FIELDcific community’s needs. Community members includingparents, teachers, policy makers, police, youth advocates,and youth, for example, need to be active in determiningthe source of violence within their area. They need to beinvolved in initiatives that strive to develop and implementpolicies and programs that positively influence the community’sdeficits by focusing on its strengths and values.3. Suppression efforts alone do not reduce youth violence.The research shows that violence-prevention efforts centeredprimarily on suppression are not successful in themid- or long-term, regardless of how much money is spenton them. In fact, some cities that have directed most oftheir resources toward suppression activities, have experiencedan increase in youth violence, as young people becomeeven more alienated and marginalized.4. Youth violence is not an isolated phenomenon, but isrooted in the social/economic conditions of a community.Research shows a correlationbetween arange of risk factorsand the levels of adolescentdelinquency,violence, substanceabuse, teen pregnancyand drop out. The socialroots of violenceare entrenched in individual,family, school,Voices from the DistrictWe need to help youth“develop a blueprint for them tobe successful; we don’t tell theyouth just change yourbehavior, we will work withthem to find successand support their familiesas well.”peer and community conditions associated with poverty,educational underachievement, lack of employability andlife skills among youth, and the cognitive and physical inhibitionscreated by exposure to violence, poor parenting,unresolved mental health problems, and more. Wherethere are large concentrations of youth with high-risk factorsthe likelihood of negative outcomes for youth increases.5. Successful violence prevention efforts focus on evidence-based,best or promising strategies to strengthenthe protective factors in the life of a youth.Protective factors are conditions that either reverse or offsetrisk factors. Many young people who grow up in lowincome households do not engage in violence, as their economicsituation is balanced by such factors as strong parenting,quality schools, positive peer relationships andpro-social programs. Cities that have invested heavily instrengthening the protective factors in the lives of youthhave experienced the greatest reduction in youth violence.6. Successful violence prevention models have strongand consistent support from both political and communityleaders.Mayors and City Council/Assembly officials across thecountry have established task forces or commissions onyouth violence and gang intervention and passed the accompanyinglegislation that mandates the creation of acitywide strategy. These bodies have provided consistencywith direction, policy, data sharing and collection, evaluation,and funding support that make possible the longterm commitment required for a systemic response to increaseresiliency in youth, reduce violence, and ensure sustainabilityof effort. These entities (taskforces/commissions) signal to the public agencies that this workis a priority in their allocation of resources and their provisionof services to the community.San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, San José,Phoenix, and Philadelphia are among those cities in whichanti-gang and violence-prevention efforts have been madethe highest priority of government. In addition, these sitesrecognize that law enforcement and public agencies cannot achieve better outcomes for young people without astrong partnership with the community.Consistent across these models are political and communitystakeholders who:• Take shared ownership for violence reduction efforts;• Support efforts to reduce youth violence over anextended period of time;• Realign current efforts into a uniform, coherentstrategy; and• Fight for increased resources to support their efforts.7. Successful models are both community-based andcommunity-driven.Government officialsin the cities studied recognizedthat successfulsolutions must berooted in the communityand owned by residents,neighborhoodleaders, and local serviceproviders. SolutionsVoices from the DistrictSometimes there are beefs“between organizations thatneed to be putting out beefs.They fight for recognition andpublicity while forgetting aboutthe youth.”must be targeted to the strengths and needs of each neighborhood,with public agencies providing flexible supportsand services that are responsive to the unique circumstancesof the community.Community participants must be prepared to work collaborativelyon behalf of concrete and verifiable results, set36