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

CHAPTER 6: RECOMMENDATIONSAction Items:5.1 Within 90 days of acceptance of the Blueprint forAction by the City Council, it is recommended that theCity Council pass enabling legislation creating a high-levelGang and Crew Prevention Commission (the Commission)to design the development of a community-based responseto preventing gang and crew violence based onrecommendations from the Blueprint. Members should beselected by the Mayor, Chair of the Council, and leadershipof the CCCYVP. Full-time staff should be detailed tosupport the work of the Commission.5.2 The Mayor should name a citywide Gang andCrew Prevention Coordinator at the level of an agency administrator.This position should:• Act as a government liaison working to ensure publicsectorsupport for all strategies and facilitate the deliveryof government agency services for identified youth;• Manage and monitor the implementation of all youth violence-preventionstrategies and facilitate the coordinationof community-based programs receiving funding for gangandcrew-related work;• Promote and facilitate cross-agency learning;• Convene regular meetings of the Commission; and• Ensure that every public agency builds capacity to supportpositive youth development strategies over the longterm.Recommendation 6: Within 120 days of establishingthe Commission, develop a comprehensive citywide violenceprevention plan in response to the Blueprint forAction. This plan should focus on a community-basedand community-driven strategy to increase the resiliencyof youth and prevent gang and crew violencewith a balance of prevention, intervention, and suppressionactivities. Strategies should include neighborhood-specifictimelines and expected outcomes.Efforts should be made to integrate the work of otherrelevant citywide efforts including the Focused ImprovementArea initiative, the ICSIC, the ReconnectingDisconnected Youth Committee, the HomicideElimination Task Force, the Truancy Committee, theChild Abuse and Neglect Prevention Plan currentlyunder development and the DYRS Service Coalitions.An expert advisory group should be created to assistthe Commission in the development of the plan.The plan should include:• A framework steeped in the principles of positive youthdevelopment and family centered practice;• Interventions that are community based, communitydriven and responsiveto the unique needs ofeach neighborhood;• Recommendationsfor programs and servicesthat are based onbest, promising and evidenced-basedstrategiesthat work toincrease protective factorsand address the fulldevelopmental continuumof youth;• Services that are culturallycompetent andrelevant to the needs ofyouth;• Proposals for longtermfunding that alignpublic and philanthropic funding streams;• Mechanisms for data collection and evaluation;• Identification of gang and crew related training;• Full involvement of youth, especially those who havebeen affected by or involved in gangs or crews; and.• A public education campaign to inform the general publicabout the culture of violence, violence prevention andthe roles residents can play in making their neighborhoodssafe.Action Items: PreventionVoices from the DistrictWe need an Office of Youth“Development; we need tohave somebody whose job itis to deal with kids who arenot caught up in any system;because right now we’ve gotCFSA, DYRS; there are10,000 young people in theDistrict who are neither inschool nor working betweenages 16 and 24. Those yearsweren’t easy to go througheven with two parents, a joband school. I don’t know howyou get through that withoutgetting into trouble. Thesekids need our help.”6.1 Engage community providers and residents in designingthe components of a seamless prevention network.Using this Blueprint, assess what existing programs andservices are working well in the area of violence prevention,document gaps in service delivery and funding, andbuild a system that expands the range and availability ofpositive opportunities for youth.6.2 Provide funding to support the development ofcommunity coalitions as defined by the RFP issued by theJustice Grants Administration last year but not funded.6.3 Establish services based on promising, best, andevidence-based strategies to address gang and crew membershipand violence prevention with a focus on positiveyouth development.6.4 Make decisions that are data-driven.6.5 Set measurable outcomes for all programs, sharedpractice standards and data collection procedures.48