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

CHAPTER 6: RECOMMENDATIONS12.14 Expand the capacity to provide specialized mentalhealth services to youth affected by violence includingtreatment for post traumatic stress, loss, and grief.12.15 Expand the wrap-around model to serve additionalmulti-system involved youth.12.16 Implement the recommendations of the BehaviorHealth Association’s recently released report Towards aTrue System of Care, including: (1) pay for quality servicesshown to be effective; (2) strengthen case managementand care coordination; (3) provide a unitarygovernance structure for mental health, by exploring anEPSDT mental health carve-out from the MCOs; and (4)provide a unitary governance structure for prevention.Action Steps: Department of Parks and Recreation12.17 Assure that the agency includes violence preventionin its core mission.12.18 Define the role of Roving Leaders to have a focuson youth violence prevention.12.19 Assign Roving Leaders to targeted neighborhoodsand align their work with local youth violence-preventionpartners.12.20 Assure that Roving Leaders work flexible hoursso that they are in the community during times of high risk.12.21 Provide training to Recreation Center staff on positiveyouth development, crisis response, and how to identifythe signs of gang and crew involvement.52