Spring 2006
Produced by the Community Capacity Development Office
Welcome to the spring 2006 edition of In-Sites, where CCDO gives you quick access to important information from the field. This issue includes stories about stopping public intoxication, revitalizing a historic downtown, assisting with reentry for juvenile offenders, and more.
Table of Contents
- Letter From the Director
- Letter From the U.S. Attorney
- Law Enforcement
- Letter From the U.S. Attorney
- Public Intoxication a Thing of the Past in Gulfton
- Resources
- Community Policing
- Brevard Cops and Youth Strive for Understanding
- Youth and Family Center Builds Bridges Between Cops and Kids
- Resources
- Youth and Family Center Builds Bridges Between Cops and Kids
- Prevention
- Cleveland Central Hosts Health and Safety Fair
- How Boys Learn To Become Men, Twice a Month
- Pre-Teens Become Successful Leaders
- One-Day Event Becomes Lifetime of Change
- Sunnyside Women Take Charge of Their Lives
- Special Feature: Dolores Mendiola
- Resources
- How Boys Learn To Become Men, Twice a Month
- Neighborhood Restoration
- Calais: On the Edge
- Homeless Work Crew Cleans Up
- Resources
- Homeless Work Crew Cleans Up
- Reentry
- Documentary Tries To Show a Prisoner's Human Side
- Young Offenders Get R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
- Resources
- Young Offenders Get R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
- American Indian/Alaska Native
- Food for Elders Program Teaches the Yurok Way
- Gang Trainings Successful in Arizona Indian Country
- Resources
- Gang Trainings Successful in Arizona Indian Country
Letter From the Director
Springtime has long been associated with beginnings; it is nature's way of renewing our precious earth. As spring approaches, it is only fitting that CCDO also refresh and give new life to its flagship strategy—Weed and Seed. Nature never stops growing nor does it discard its success; the same is true for Weed and Seed. We are enhancing the many fine features of Weed and Seed, all attributes that have worked to make it a success throughout the country.
We have already made some important changes for the FY 2006 applications, regulating that every steering committee will include a representative from the Drug Enforcement Administration and placing a new emphasis on fighting gang activity. Both of these changes show how we have already started to expand our mission. We are now raising the bar. The FY 2007 guidelines will be a critical point in the continued development of Weed and Seed.
In what ways are the FY 2007 guidelines new and improved? Let's begin with the process. In FY'07, communities will need to submit only one application along with a budget. If a strategy is approved, the community will receive “Weed and Seed Community” designation and a grant all in the same fiscal year. This will save time, and therefore money, for both grantees and CCDO. A second process change will be the scoring of Weed and Seed applications. Previously, Weed and Seed applications were scored on a pass/fail basis but starting in FY 2007, CCDO will score Weed and Seed applications on a 0–100 scale. CCDO will approve only as many applications as it can fund, based on congressional appropriations. The revised scoring system will be divided into small sections, thus allowing CCDO to provide very specific and detailed analysis of where applications fell short. Applicants who score well but not well enough to be a “Weed and Seed Community” will be offered targeted technical assistance.
The new process favors communities that are organized and community groups that are already collaborating on crime reduction. Quite simply, we are looking for communities that have completed startup work and are ready for implementation. We believe this change is important because with only a 5-year timeframe it is critical to select communities that will be able to implement their strategies quickly.
Clearly the steering committee is central to Weed and Seed and applicants will notice our added emphasis on the steering committee. For instance, we believe—as you do—that residents must be involved from beginning to end in every aspect in order to promote sustainability. Therefore, at least a quarter of every Weed and Seed steering committee must be composed of residents. However, resident involvement is only part of the equation. The other part is engaging decisionmakers who control important local resources. Therefore, the new guidelines emphasize securing participation of such key local decisionmakers.
There are other important changes which you can view for yourself on our Web site: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ccdo. On our home page, you will find a link to the draft guidelines. These guidelines are an example of how we continue to make Weed and Seed the best it can be.
I am saddened to say I am leaving CCDO and returning home to California where I will be Director of Community Development for the City of Ventura. Managing Weed and Seed has been an unbelievable experience, and I gained much beyond what I expected. I am proud of our partnerships, our new policies, and the special initiatives. Most of all I enjoyed the site visits and meeting people all across the country. You motivated me to work harder.
I love what Weed and Seed is about and the people it serves. I will forever be a supporter, and I wish everyone involved the very best of luck. Please welcome Denise Viera (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ccdo/about/denise_viera.html) as the Acting Director of CCDO.
Sincerely,
Nelson Hernandez
Director
Community Capacity Development Office
Letter From the U.S. Attorney
Over the past few years, we have seen tremendous progress in the effort to reduce violent crime here in the Nation's Capital. Through the tireless efforts of federal and local law enforcement and our community partners, homicides have declined by 21 percent since 2003, marking the lowest homicide rate in two decades.
We have used the principles of community policing and community prosecution to build public safety partnerships with a variety of organizations, including the faith-based community, schools, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. In order to maximize our impact, we have coordinated the efforts of our Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), Weed and Seed, and Public Housing Safety programs. We have combined the resources of these initiatives, and the talents of their respective members, to focus on combating our most prevalent and persistent crime issue: street gangs.
Gang-related crime is an entrenched problem in DC. The most prevalent form of gang (or crew, as they are commonly known in this city) is built around neighborhood-based associations. These street gangs control the distribution of narcotics in a group of blocks within a defined area. They identify themselves by neighborhoods, and inter-gang disputes spread to all areas of the community, including clubs, schools, parks, and playgrounds. According to PSN data analyses, including homicide incidence reviews and gang audits, more than half of all homicides in the District in 2002 involved some element of gang activity; 61 percent of suspects and 39 percent of victims were linked to gangs. Although drug trafficking triggers many of their violent disputes, these gangs are increasingly engaging in organized acts of violence unrelated to drug trafficking, most notably armed robberies, home invasions, murders-for-hire, and inter-gang retaliations.
To combat this serious problem, the U.S. Attorney's Office worked with its local and federal partners to develop the Homicide Reduction Strategy, created in early 2004 specifically to reduce gang-related homicides. This joint federal-local strategy draws upon the efforts of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), FBI, DEA, ATF, USMS, DC Attorney General's Office, and Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA). The strategy includes five elements: (1) Suppression: An intelligence-based process for targeting a different neighborhood gang every few months for sustained investigation and arrest operations by local and federal law enforcement; (2) Deterrence: “Call-Ins” of gang members on probation/parole, in which we highlight previous sweep operations to illustrate what happens to gangs that become the focus of our attention and we warn them that the entire gang will be held responsible if individual members engage in violence; (3) Intervention: Working with community-based groups on prevention, school-based education, and community outreach; (4) Investigation: Training for police and prosecutors, as well as improved evidence collection and intelligence sharing; and (5) Prosecution: Creation of a Homicide Section in the USAO to focus on those murderers responsible for a disproportionate amount of the District's gang-related violence.
To further strengthen our intervention and prevention efforts, the U.S. Attorney's Office joined MPD and other community partners to create the Violence Intervention Partnership (VIP). This collaboration of law enforcement, the community, and service providers was established to combat gang-related violence in the most violent neighborhoods of the city. The VIP is modeled after the highly successful Gang Intervention Partnership (GIP), which was established to combat Latino gang violence. To date, we have joined a dozen community-based groups in the target areas, and we are addressing systemic issues such as truancy, delinquency, and recidivism with programs for conflict resolution and at-risk youth mentoring.
In addition to PSN and the VIP/GIP programs, we are fully engaged in a number of other fruitful partnerships. We are working closely with CSOSA in their reentry effort to help ex-offenders return to the city and become part of law-abiding society. We participate in regular orientations for recently released offenders, in which we discuss the consequences of failing to follow the law and/or their conditions of release. In addition to this deterrence message, the sessions also provide ex-offenders with referrals to resources and services that can assist their transition back to the community.
We also are participating in the Public Housing Safety Initiative to address violent crime and gang activity in public housing. We are working closely with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the DC Housing Authority to streamline the process for evicting criminals from federally subsidized housing, thus making these neighborhoods safer.
Finally, we are working with city agencies and law enforcement to address the conditions that encourage criminal activity. Each week, police and prosecutors meet with representatives from city agencies to deal with abandoned cars, street lighting, drug nuisance properties, and other conditions that breed crime. Addressing these issues has succeeded in both reducing crime and improving the quality of life in the affected communities.
I am proud of the collaboration between law enforcement and the community in the Nation's Capital, and I am gratified that these efforts are helping to make our neighborhoods safer and better places to live.
Kenneth L. Wainstein
U.S. Attorney
District of Columbia
Law Enforcement
Public Intoxication a Thing of the Past in Gulfton
Sometimes little things make a big impact.
Like most Weed and Seed sites, Gulfton, TX, started out with a strategy to target its chronic violent crime problems—robbery, aggravated assault, domestic violence, gangs, and drug trafficking—but from there, it also attempted to stem crime that is less violent but still destructive to the community. One such crime, public intoxication, had been a constant thorn in the side of the community.
Gulfton, a subdivision of a neighborhood in Houston, is a transient community with a sizeable immigrant population, according to Sgt. Chuck Pugh, who runs the Public Intoxication Initiative. “Crimes per capita and a lower social economical area with a lot of migrant workers and a lot of day laborers make this small area seem like it has a lot of problems, but it also has a lot of people,” he said. One of the area's biggest problems was people who assaulted and robbed day laborers. When intoxicated people were out in public, they also became vulnerable to being victimized by young gang members. They were assaulted, robbed, and injured, and some died.
Jesse Gutierrez, Weed and Seed Coordinator and Program Manager, and Patricia Harrington, Director of the Mayor's Anti-Gang Office, have worked hard on the initiative. “What really makes the program work is the collaboration between the community residents and the police officers,” Gutierrez said. “One of the key things that the Weed and Seed program in the Gulfton community has provided is the opportunity for residents and police officers to work together towards a common goal.”
Gutierrez said there was an outcry from the community for such an initiative to be implemented, and police officers confirmed that these problems were out on the streets. Monthly Steering Committee and Weed Task Force meetings now give officers and residents a chance to share information about the target area, which covers 69 apartment complexes in a 3.5 square mile area with 60,000 to 70,000 residents.
“Community residents are very outspoken when it comes to identifying the problem areas in the community, and the police officers are good at taking that information, analyzing it, and coming up with an action plan that will be most effective,” he said.
At the Weed Task Force meetings, officers use crime mapping, statistics, and feedback from community stakeholders such as residents, business owners, and schools. Apartment managers also keep police abreast of information regarding their residents, and police officers perform strategic sweeps that pinpoint troubled areas so that time and money can be used effectively.
“The key is to listen to the people on how they are being impacted by the crime and then catering the program accordingly,” said Sgt. Pugh.
As a result of the initiative, the community has seen a reduction in assault and domestic violence cases. Police enforce the City of Houston's ordinance on public intoxication, which makes it illegal to be intoxicated when you become a danger to yourself or others. Behaviors such as urinating in public or indecent exposure are not tolerated and are punished by jail time.
“Public intoxication is very simple in that it is time served and they are released the very next day, but for the time they are in jail, they are not victimized nor are they victimizing anybody else,” Gutierrez said.
In addition, cars are no longer being bumped and scratched by intoxicated people, there is no longer a stench of urine on the sidewalk, and there are no bottles and cans around the community's businesses or apartment complexes. The feedback from the community was almost immediate, according to Gutierrez, and he was constantly thanked by business owners, apartment managers, and residents because they were no longer being harassed.
After 2 years, Gulfton has found great success in its Public Intoxication Initiative. Public intoxication is a crime that has a trickledown effect to other crimes; the results of the initiative's success were felt immediately and have had a long lasting effect. The feedback from community residents and business owners has been overwhelmingly positive.
The Public Intoxication Initiative was part of a Special Emphasis Project, and it cost $14,350 for overtime initiatives to be carried out. Continued support from officers and fine-tuning of the program will help ensure its sustainability and success. Because of the program's success to date, Gutierrez expects to get future funding with the help of the city council and other government agencies.
For more information, contact:
Jesse Gutierrez
Gulfton Weed and Seed Program Manager
jesus.gutierrez@cityofhouston.net
Resources
Security Partnerships Guidance
Engaging the Private Sector To Promote Homeland Security: Law Enforcement-Private Security Partnerships describes the advantages of law enforcement-private security partnerships in helping to prevent terrorism and terror-related acts, and protect the nation's infrastructure. It discusses why these partnerships are important to homeland security, provides nine guidelines for collaboration, and profiles a number of federal, state, regional, and local programs and initiatives.
View it on the Web: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/210678.pdf
Adapting to New Intelligence Procedures
Intelligence-Led Policing: The New Intelligence Architecture discusses the strengths and pitfalls of traditional intelligence-led policing and the need for fundamental change in the way information is gathered, assessed, and redistributed in light of the new dangers presented by terrorism.
View it on the Web: http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/210681.pdf
2003 Statistics Sourcebook Available
The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics contains more than 600 tables on issues such as judicial processing of defendants and public attitudes toward crime. The site is updated regularly as new statistics become available. The Bureau of Justice Statistics book also is available in print (http://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/bjspubs.aspx).
View it on the Web: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook
Working With Early Intervention Systems
Supervision and Intervention within Early Intervention Systems: A Guide for Law Enforcement Chief Executives. This publication provides practical advice on many aspects of early intervention systems and presents some key recommendations for developing, implementing, and maintaining these systems based on the lessons learned from other law enforcement agencies.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1634
Police Conduct Examined
Enhancing Police Integrity identifies characteristics of police agency culture that encourage officers to resist or tolerate certain types of misconduct. This Research for Practice summarizes findings of a national survey of police officers and includes an assessment tool that police chiefs can use to measure integrity within their departments.
View it on the Web: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/209269.htm
Looking at Crime-Fighting Technology Information
Tech Docs: Technology Resources for Law Enforcement provides more than 50 documents and resources related to law enforcement and crime-fighting technology. Information provided by the COPS Office, U.S. Department of Justice, and other federal agencies covers information technology guides and reports, crime mapping and crime analysis, interoperable communications and information sharing, surveillance video and in-car cameras, and 311 nonemergency call systems.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/html/cd_rom/tech_docs/index.htm
New Management Strategy Explained
Knowledge Management in Policing introduces the concept of “knowledge management” in policing and its use in a West Coast police department. It also outlines a series of guidelines for adopting and implementing knowledge management as an organizational development and management strategy.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1615
Tailored Technology Guide for Small and Rural Agencies
Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Small and Rural Police Agencies: A Guide for Executives, Managers, and Technologists provides strategies, best practices, recommendations, and ideas for successful information technology (IT) planning and implementation. Agencies with minimal personnel and financing can learn how to implement IT projects from preliminary planning to technology acquisition, implementation, and maintenance.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1619
Community Policing
Brevard Cops and Youth Strive for Understanding
They say kids are people too, but so are police officers.
At the Youth Crime Prevention Summit last fall more than 200 Brevard County youth got to see the human side of the men and women in blue. In turn, police officers held candid conversations about how kids can get along with the “po po” and handle peer pressure.
Delores McLaughlin, Site Coordinator for the Diamond Square Weed and Seed site in Brevard County, FL, considers any proactive involvement between officers and youth to be community policing, and she sees it working.
“It is an opportunity to build a rapport with neighborhood kids,” she said. “When the kids hear it from the police, it's a little bit different than hearing it from parents.”
For some kids, hearing officers tell stories about their childhoods is something of an eye-opener. But the police are also there to tell them to stay away from drugs and to teach them how to protect themselves, and to know their rights.
The summit, which is held annually for 9- to 17-year-olds, has had strong police involvement and leadership from the start; officers have planned and presented most of the workshops. In addition, school resource officers have identified specific youth and encouraged them to attend the summit and other prevention activities.
Although the summit may be the high point of the year—with high profile speakers, T-shirts, and a crowd from not only the targeted site but all over the county—McLaughlin is constantly working on developing new programs. Ongoing options include a scouting program in the Safe Haven for young boys and girls, a leadership program for older children that runs service projects such as cleaning up the properties of elderly residents, and a youth employment training program for teens ages 14 to 16.
Every year, about 100 kids come through the different programs that the site runs, and 25–30 kids come year after year, according to McLaughlin.
With an eye toward sustaining all of its programs, the site created the Alliance for Neighborhood Restoration (ANR), a nonprofit corporation, in 2001. ANR partners with many other organizations to serve resident-identified needs. In its mission statement, ANR explains how, together with the Brevard County Family of Housing Authorities, it uses the Weed and Seed strategy and provides young people and adults with “alternatives to crime and violence and teaches them how to divert anger and confusion into positive actions.” Other ANR services and resources include computer labs, after-school tutorial programs, visual and performing arts activities, family literacy programs, employability skills training, and crime and drug prevention classes.
McLaughlin's goal for the site is simple:
“We have to keep the funding coming so we can maintain and expand,” she said.
For more information, contact:
Delores McLaughlin
Diamond Square Site Coordinator
dmclaughlin@cfl.rr.com
Youth and Family Center Builds Bridges Between Cops and Kids
It's the new thing in town, it's all the rage, and Megan and Hanna Schmidt were among the first to sign up. It's not a club or anything to worry parents; in fact, it's a place for parents and kids to spend time together.
The new Village PAL Youth Activity and Family Resource Center, which opened in January, is a first for this unincorporated rural community. It supports the mission of the Mt. Hood Coalition Against Drug Crime, which is the Weed and Seed site for the Mount Hood Corridor in Oregon, and is the result of a partnership between the Police Activity League and Clackamas County Sheriff's office.
Officer David Schmidt, his wife Cindy, and their two children live in the community and volunteer at the center. Officer Schmidt plans to lead talks for kids at the center about what it is like to be a cop, as well as informative sessions about the dangers of methamphetamine. He also wants to organize field trips to the police station for tours.
“I work the night shift,” said Schmidt, “And often kids do not see me in a very nice setting when we are arresting someone.”
Schmidt's perception is a correct one. According to a recent survey of children in the community regarding their attitudes about cops, 90 percent of the children surveyed said that they did not like cops because they “make mistakes, are pigs, get in your business, arrest you, cause trouble, are greedy, and intimidate us.” The 10 percent who indicated that they liked cops said police officers “give their life to protect us and keep people in line.”
“It is our family goal to get involved in the center so that the community can see that we are just a regular family just like they are,” Schmidt said. “Cindy and I find that the new Youth Activity and Family Resource Center actually helps facilitate community connection.”
The kids in the community have demonstrated their love for the new center by being its greatest marketers and telling their friends about it. Members of the area's small Hispanic community are already joining up as well.
The goals of the center are to provide homework tutors, educational trips, substance abuse education, computer training, English as a second language programs, games (pool, foosball, air hockey, ping pong), parenting classes, and opportunities to learn more about how law enforcement works in the community.
The center emphasizes the role of the family. It will provide families with various educational materials to help them understand the dangers of illegal substances as well as refer families to needed resources, such as counseling, substance abuse treatment, and assistance with domestic violence. The center requires that parents come in with their children, fill out a membership application, and attend an orientation to learn about the center's goals to protect youth and to educate them about the dangers of using illegal substances.
Schmidt said his daughters love coming to the center because it is safe. They receive one-on-one tutoring, play games, and get a snack; they can just be kids and have fun without the peer pressure and bullying often found in a school environment.
The new center is already creating quite a stir and getting more people involved in new and creative ways. The center has admitted more than 10 kids and 22 volunteers, some of whom are retired teachers, principals, and local law enforcement officials.
“We love it here,” said Cindy. “It is like coming home, where you are greeted with a smile. It is nice for us as a family because when we get home the kids already have their homework done, and we are spending more quality time together. One of the girls is actually helping me do the cooking.”
The center receives federal funding through the Drug-Free Communities grant as well as from Weed and Seed. Grassroots coalition efforts raised close to $100,000 in cash and in-kind goods to open the center.
I have lived in this community for 32 years, and we are making history with this center. It has been awesome. Kids are coming out of the woodwork wanting to get in, because there has never been a place for them to go other than school. We think that this center is going to be a huge success!
For more information, contact:
Shirley Morgan
Mt. Hood Coalition Against Drug Crime
http://www.hadit.org
shirley.morgan@aecinc.com
Resources
2005 School Indicators Report Available
Indicators of School Crime and Safety is an annual report jointly published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics. It presents data on crime and safety at school from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population.
View it on the Web: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/iscs05.htm
Assisting Crime Analysts in Problem-Oriented Policing Projects
Crime Analysis for Problem Solvers in 60 Small Steps covers the basics of problem-oriented policing and shows how many new concepts that have been developed to analyze crime patterns can sharpen understanding of crime and disorder problems.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1597
Fighting Methamphetamine
Tools for Combating Meth contains several technical assistance resources designed to help law enforcement and communities combat methamphetamine and crimes related to the drug's use, production, and distribution.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1645
Fighting Gang Crime
Street Gangs and Interventions: Innovative Problem Solving with Network Analysis reviews prevention, intervention, suppression, and comprehensive strategies to address the issue of gangs, and provides examples of each strategy. It also offers a case study of problem analysis in Newark, NJ, through the Greater Newark Safer Cities Initiative.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1616
Stopping Juvenile Co-Offending
Co-Offending and Patterns of Juvenile Crime links co-offending with increased risks for recidivism and violence. This study of delinquents in Philadelphia found several patterns related to juvenile co-offending. Researchers recommend early intervention targeting very young offenders, especially co-offenders, and caution that some interventions may unintentionally provide a negative peer learning environment.
View it on the Web: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/210360.pdf
Prevention
Cleveland Central Hosts Health and Safety Fair
One day last October, children went to school and found dogs, an eagle, and a monster truck. It was all part of the Cleveland Central Weed and Seed strategy's Health and Safety Fair at Giddings Elementary School. The purpose of the event was to increase knowledge of safety in the home, at school, and in the community.
First, students of all ages visited various safety vehicles, including a Cleveland Fire Department firetruck, the Cleveland Police Department's Mobile Command Unit, an EMS ambulance, a Cuyahoga County Sheriff armored SWAT truck, and the D.A.R.E. monster truck. At each vehicle, police officers, firefighters, and other public safety officials presented information about how kids can stay safe in their homes and communities. Kids especially enjoyed touring the inside of the ambulance, trying on SWAT gear, and seeing the police and fire dogs.
Inside the school, police officers visited classrooms to talk about safety. McGruff the Crime Dog® came to tell kids how they could "take a bite out of crime," and Eddie the Eagle® taught them what to do if they find a gun. Officer Jeff from the Cleveland Police Department integrated magic into his presentation about valuing diversity, avoiding drugs, befriending the police, and staying on the fast track to success. Lastly, kids were given some ideas for healthy after-school snacks, like peanut butter on celery.
Giddings Principal Octavia Reid opened the assembly portion of the event, and representatives from the mayor's office and the city council addressed the student body. Jim Ballotta, Area Superintendent of Cleveland Municipal Schools, spent the day having his students read to him and collecting their thoughts on health and safety.
Community residents were invited to the fair to learn about safety and ways in which they can improve the quality of life in their neighborhood. They spoke with representatives of local governmental and nonprofit organizations to attain information about services available to them. Residents also received free smoke detectors and other items to make their homes safe. A nurse from the City of Cleveland Department of Health provided blood pressure and blood sugar screenings.
After the fair, students were assigned to document what they had learned. Younger students used their artistic talents to design safety-themed posters and competed to win a class pizza party for the best poster, while children in higher grades wrote essays about their experiences at the event. These items can be viewed online at http://www.bbcdevelopment.org/bbc/ ccwshealthsafetyfairposters&essays.htm.
This event was sponsored by Burten, Bell, Carr Development, Inc.; Cleveland Central Weed and Seed; Giddings Elementary School; and the Partnership for a Greater Cleveland. Special thanks go to the participants and volunteers who made this event a huge success!
For more information, contact:
Orlando O. Grant
ogrant@bbcdevelopment.org
How Boys Learn To Become Men, Twice a Month
Clayton Muhammad is not trying to help boys who are in desperate situations, and he's not trying to solve the worst cases.
The Director of Boys II Men, a multiracial fraternity for young men in middle school and high school, Muhammad sees his target group as those boys who need guidance and support but are sometimes simply forgotten.
“Boys II Men appeals to those in the middle, and it attracts those who want to do better, regardless,” he said.
Founded in 2002 with only 12 charter members, Boys II Men was set up to offer young Black and Latino men alternatives to the gang violence that had taken hold in East Aurora, IL. It is sponsored by East Aurora Weed and Seed, which gave the program $6,744 last year as part of a special emphasis grant.
The program emphasizes five core principles—discipline, education, culture, brotherhood, and service—to inspire the youth to excel in their development. Today, the program has more than 70 official members and hundreds attend its community workshops and activities.
Every other Sunday, members meet to discuss different issues, ranging from how to respect women to how to stay out of gangs. They work with their mentors, and then serve as mentors to elementary school students. They also tutor their peers, organize youth events, and even work with legislators to develop statewide legislation for youth. The program is establishing a type of positive peer pressure, according to Muhammad.
“It's like birds flocking together,” he said. “There are more kids doing right.”
Boys II Men tries to bridge the racial divide between Black and Latino males and enforces equal representation in the fraternity, prompting a healthy competition in recruitment to keep the numbers even.
“Discipline is the best gift that a man can give himself, and education is the greatest equalizer,” said Jared Marchiando, a Black member and one of the 12 charter members. “With these two principles, Black and Latino males can truly understand their cultures and realize that we are one brotherhood. Then we can be a true service to our community.”
Workshops held over the past year have included the following: 19 Steps to Becoming a Phenomenal Young Man, College Preparation through Middle School and High School, Overcoming Obstacles and Adversity, The History of Hip-Hop, Dress to Impress and for Success, The Making of a Gang Member, Proper Male and Female Relationships, Financial Management, and Stereotypes of Black and Latino Males and How to Combat Them.
Muhammad maintains a robust e-mail list of his members and their families. Some parents are very involved and others less so, Muhammad said, but they are supportive.
Gang colors are shunned by fraternity members, but Boys II Men is proud to show off its name. It has emblazoned T-shirts, key chains, lanyards, jackets, and sweatshirts with its look. “Change Your Mind, Change Your Life,” the official motto of Boys II Men, also resonates with its members.
“It's that simple to get and stay on the right track,” said Joel Donatlan, a Latino member of the fraternity since 2002. “All we have to do is make the decision in our mind that we are going to do better, and our entire life changes for the better,” he said.
In June 2005, the fraternity's first four students graduated from high school. All four young men, some of whom were labeled “at risk,” are now attending major 4-year colleges and universities throughout the country. Each one is majoring in elementary or secondary education and plans to come back to the Aurora area to teach.
“‘To whom much is given, much is required.' It is through Boys II Men that I really learned the meaning of this,” said Errin Smith, a freshman at Hampton University in Virginia. “Once I get my own classroom, I am going to inspire students in droves to defeat the stereotypes and be phenomenal in everything that they do.”
For more information, please contact:
Clayton Muhammad
Boys II Men, Founder and Director
claytonmuhammad@aol.com
Pre-Teens Become Successful Leaders
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, so if a nearby site wants to copy what you're doing, you must be doing something right.
Last year the Westside Weed and Seed site in Chattanooga, TN, implemented its new Youth Leadership Cadet program, which was so successful that we placed it in the 2006 Weed and Seed grant for funding. The other Chattanooga site (MLK-Area) is going to try it with older teens, though the mission of the program will stay the same.
Our program serves children from ages 9 to13 who live in a low-income, high crime area. Last year we had 10 participants, but we plan to serve more than 20 youth this year.
Officers Vernon Kimbrough and Vincent Holoman facilitated the program; they also created its plans and mission, incorporating input from the community. Both officers have served more than 25 years with the Chattanooga Police Department, have worked with Weed and Seed and DEFY, and are well respected in the Westside community. The total cost of the program was $8,500; a lot of the supplies were donated. The money went to compensation for the two officers and transportation for field trips.
The 10-week program addresses leadership skills, life skills, drug and gang prevention, and community development. Participants met 2 days each week for 2.5 hours and wore uniforms. Each session began with physical training and ended with open dialogue on important issues facing youth in the community. Lawyers and judges were invited to speak to the youth about their roles and daily responsibilities. We took field trips to a baseball game, the Hamilton County Courthouse, and a local judge's courtroom. Participants also engaged in community cleanup activities and visited some senior residents.
The participants were all youth who had serious discipline issues at home and school, and in the community. Both the parents and youth completed an evaluation indicating a positive change in their behavior during the program's implementation. Participants enjoyed themselves and learned; Shateria Parker, age 9, said, “I wished we had this program everyday.”
The response was overwhelming. I was very surprised to see how much interest our program generated among Chattanooga police officers, youth, judges, and parents. We increased the budget for this year's program to serve more youth, and made sure to begin the program before the summer to increase the interest in DEFY camp.
For more information, contact:
Pamela Winters-Colbert
Westside Site Coordinator
weedandseedcha@yahoo.com
One-Day Event Becomes Lifetime of Change
Every year for the past 5 years, Church on the R.O.C. (Reclaiming Our City) has partnered with area churches, agencies, and businesses to plan what has become one of the largest and most effective 1-day events in the City of Flint, MI.
This event, Convoy of Hope/Hope for Greater Flint, provides entertainment such as music, drama, and dance, as well as community information and services. Together with Flint Eastside Weed and Seed, we plan, coordinate, and present this annual event; this year we received $9,500 from Weed and Seed. Several faith- and community-based agencies volunteered staff and services, and fundraising and donations brought in additional support.
The Convoy of Hope trains churches to move beyond their traditional ways of thinking to meet the needs of the city's people by collaborating with area agencies to provide services. We want churches to become contact points for people because we believe that the spiritual side of life affects us more than anything else. Guests' names are given to faith-based groups so that they can become a pipeline for assistance year-round. We feel churches can bring hope back to those who feel they have none and can influence their communities in positive ways.
Last fall's Convoy of Hope was the most successful yet, with more than 2,800 guests and 35 agencies and organizations, 15 churches, and 150 volunteers helping out. A highlight was the “Kids Zone,” sponsored by Weed and Seed, where children found many activities and treats, such as large inflatable games, the “smoke house” (a safety house provided by the Flint Fire Department), snow cones, cotton candy, hot dogs, pop, prizes, and educational materials on safety and stopping violence. Community service tents provided free services to all who attended, such as health information and services, job services, family services, and much more. A free haircut tent, a food giveaway area, and a prayer tent also provided some much needed services. A number of the guests requested further prayer and support from the local faith groups and community organizations.
Church on the R.O.C., which began its work in the 1960s, offers positive alternative programming for all ages. Its programs include a youth club, neighborhood rehabilitation, a planned community center, a food bank, and more. We are a “come as you are” community-based nontraditional ministry, and Convoy of Hope fits our mission. The event encourages people to begin and to continue acts of kindness throughout the year, bringing continual hope to the city.
The concept has proved successful—we have received several testimonials from those involved.
One volunteer said, “This is the greatest experience I have ever had in helping others.”
Another woman, who went on to become a member and volunteer of her local church, said, “It changed my life.”
But perhaps the best success story is that of the woman who came to the Convoy of Hope drunk, and the impact the event had on her life that year led her to become the executive administrator at Church on the R.O.C.; she now coordinates the event every year.
For more information, contact:
Reverend Gene Warren
pgrocflint@sbcglobal.net
Sunnyside Women Take Charge of Their Lives
For 39 women in Flagstaff, AZ, FYI doesn't mean “For Your Information.” It means a whole lot more.
FYI! is the Family, Youth and Individuals resident empowerment initiative run by the Sunnyside Weed and Seed site. Through weekly workshops and trainings at a local elementary school, participants learn about employment, life management, parenting, education, health, and community involvement. The self-sufficiency and crime prevention initiative is available to all Sunnyside residents living in public or federally assisted housing.
According to Jennifer Eddy, who runs Sunnyside-FYI!, participants really enjoyed the workshops, especially those that discussed parenting, life management, health, and gang prevention. People came consistently and participated a lot throughout the different phases of the program, Eddy added, sometimes bringing their teenage children to the workshops, and making a real effort to finish the training.
After each workshop, most participants were enthusiastic and promised to change their behavior. After a law enforcement presentation, one woman said, “I'm going to go home and talk with my son.” Following a self-defense class, a woman said she would teach other women the skills she learned, and a number of participants in the health session said they would start a new diet and stop smoking. One workshop attendee learned to help her children resist negative peer pressure and wrote, “I liked the tip sheets the best. I'm going to read up and help my kids with it.”
Every Sunnyside-FYI! participant who graduated from Phase I—which includes 40 hours of training over 3 months—is eligible to participate in an “ACHIEVE” activity. These quarterly incentive activities allow families to spend quality time together. Last summer, participants and family members took a train to the Grand Canyon.
Different community members led most of the workshops, while elected officials and law enforcement lent their time as well.
“There was incredible community participation,” Eddy said, and a number of instructors indicated they were interested in teaching again.
The program will continue through June but then its future is uncertain. Eddy will evaluate whether the program can get private funding or if Weed and Seed money might go toward sustaining it.
For more information, contact:
Jennifer Eddy
Program Manager, Sunnyside-FYI!
928–214–1048
sunnysideFYI@aol.com
Special Feature: Dolores Mendiola
The Weed and Seed strategy has been in existence for almost 14 years. One of the unanticipated and exciting results of our program is the number of individuals who have come from Weed and Seed neighborhoods, and returned to their neighborhoods to participate in continued Weed and Seed success. From time to time, In-Sites will highlight these individuals who were motivated to come back to help. This month, we feature Ms. Dolores Mendiola, the Site Manager for the Northside Weed and Seed site in Houston, TX:
It is hard to believe 16 years have passed since I graduated from Jefferson Davis High School. It is even harder to believe I am back in my old neighborhood as Site Manager of the Weed and Seed strategy.
I graduated in the top 5 percent of my class, but college was not an option. I had not applied for scholarships, grants, or loans like many of my peers; my parents definitely did not have the money. I knew I did not want my parents' life of poverty and struggle. My stepfather, a construction worker, was very strict and abusive and my mother was a stay-at-home mom with five children. A close friend and classmate convinced me to join the armed forces with her. The Marine Corps recruiter said all the right things and we enlisted the very same day. In 1991 we were flown to Parris Island, South Carolina, the only training area for female Marine Corps recruits. I made it through boot camp and chose to go into administrative personnel. It was through this job that I learned the importance of organization and accountability. I was able to travel to other parts of the United States and other countries, including California, Virginia, Kuwait, Japan, and Hawaii.
It was during my tour of duty in Japan that I suffered a near-fatal accident. I fell off of a 20-foot cliff and shattered my vertebrae. My dreams of being a career Marine came to an end. I was medically discharged from the Marine Corps in 1997 as a Sergeant and I became a disabled American veteran with rods and screws in my back. While I thought my life was over, little did I know a new chapter was about to begin.
I returned home and in 3 years, while working part time, I earned a degree in social work from the University of Houston. I always knew I wanted to enter the social work field and work with young adults. It was through my sister, a Harris County juvenile probation officer, that I became aware of a job opportunity with the Mayor's Anti-Gang Office. I was hired as an Early Intervention Counselor working with 10- to 17-year-olds in the municipal court system. Six months later, the director offered me the position of Site Manager for the Northside Village Weed and Seed. My loyalty to the kids on my caseload made accepting the position difficult, but a talk with my older sister encouraged me to accept the new challenge and a chance to make a greater impact in the community.
As the Site Manager of a Weed and Seed program I have the opportunity to be a catalyst for change in my “village.” With the help of the volunteer residents, school principals, community-based organizations, and elected officials, we are bringing about positive change. I am able to bring stakeholders at every level together to reach a common goal. Although most agree on providing services and bridging gaps of service, it is challenging to be the one person who holds all these people together.
When I speak to parent groups, leaders, or youth, sharing my stories of growing up in the Northside Village always helps break the ice and a sense of being home overcomes me. People know I can empathize with their trials and tribulations and relate first hand to the obstacles most of them face on a daily basis. I attempt to convey the message that the cycle of poverty does not have to continue and that, through the efforts of Weed and Seed, we can offer assistance to improve their quality of life.
I'm pleased that Weed and Seed has helped my old middle and high schools receive much needed improvements. A new addition has been made to house a library, state-of-the-art teleconference room, TV production program, and cafeteria. It's hard to believe my high school did not have a cafeteria when I was a student there; we used to walk across the street to the library, and cross over a concrete bridge to use the middle school cafeteria. Sometimes I drive by my old house to remind me of who I am, where I have been, and why I do what I do.
Today, I am in my fifth and final year of programming for the Northside community. I feel confident I have made progress and brought about some enriching changes for the neighborhood. Developers continue to move into the area and renovations are being made to some of the existing buildings. I hope the rich, diverse culture and the integrity of the barrio are never lost. For me, the Northside Village will always be a part of me; it has helped define who I am today. I pray that someday my daughter will understand the importance of giving back and service to community. I know that when you give from the heart, God rewards you twofold. I'm living proof.
Since Dolores joined Northside, she has greatly added to the number of collaborations, enhanced its sustainability, expanded Safe Haven services to the residents (including increasing the number of hours available for the computer learning center), and directed numerous area cleanups.
CCDO Director Nelson Hernandez visited the Northside Weed and Seed site in Houston in April 2005. He noted their successes and commented on the wonderful progress they've made, much of it a result of Dolores's efforts.
—Fred Filberg, CCDO Program Manager
Resources
Improving Children's Development and Parents' Self-Sufficiency
The Nurse-Family Partnership is a national nonprofit organization committed to producing enduring improvements in the health and well-being of low income, first time parents and their children. Dr. David Olds, the program's founder, released updated, reanalyzed findings in January.
View it on the Web: http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/content/index.cfm?fuseaction=showContent&contentID=4&navID=4
More Girls Abusing Drugs
Girls and Drugs—A New Analysis: Recent Trends, Risk Factors and Consequences indicates that girls have caught up with boys in illicit drug and alcohol use and have actually surpassed boys in cigarette and prescription drug use, despite commonly held beliefs that boys are at higher risk for using illegal substances. Also, more girls than boys are new users of substances.
View it on the Web: http://www.mediacampaign.org/pdf/girls_and_drugs.pdf
Reviewing Drunk Driving
Drunk Driving describes the problem of drunk driving, reviews the factors that increase its risks, identifies a series of questions that can help law enforcement analyze local drunk driving problems, and reviews responses to the problem of drunk driving and the effectiveness of these responses.
View it on the Web: http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1665
Neighborhood Restoration
Calais: On the Edge
The City of Calais, ME, is on the banks of the Saint Croix River, the border between the United States and Canada. Calais is the largest city in rural and geographically isolated Washington County; with a population of 3,447, it is a retail and service hub for approximately 15,000 people. Calais was once an economic powerhouse, but things have changed.
With 32 wharves along its waterfront, lumbering and shipbuilding were once two of the most prominent activities in the city. Calais thrived in the “age of sail” when ships built here brought cargos of lumber and granite to the ports of a growing nation. As the shipping base declined in the 1920s so did the waterfront, and the wharves were abandoned. Calais has experienced an inexorable economic decline ever since. It took Weed and Seed, and a lot of hard work, to turn things around.
Calais is a classic example of a remote rural area with natural resource-based economies. The resource base is declining, and the remaining manufacturing is at risk and downsizing radically. There has been an out-migration of the more prosperous middle class families as mills closed, and the unemployment rate is high. The pattern of intergenerational poverty is profoundly difficult to break.
In 2002, when the city experienced the highest crime rate in the state due to an epidemic of prescription drug abuse, residents were compelled to act. In preparation for a Weed and Seed application, residents were surveyed about what they thought was the city's greatest problem. The vast majority agreed that the poor economy was the root of many of the city's ills.
Calais is now reinventing itself. Residents are working to preserve the city's historic core, document more than 6,000 years of human history, develop a creative economy, and promote sustainable and experiential tourism in the area. Development of the downtown and the riverfront areas is an essential element of the plan.
In 2003, residents prepared a conceptual Master Plan for the Calais Waterfront. In 2004, the city obtained a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Downtown Revitalization Grant of $400,000 and a Municipal Trust Fund Grant of $500,000. The funds were used to remove burned out and vacant buildings in the heart of the historic business district. In addition, more public spaces, more parking, more green space, and pedestrian walkways from Main Street to the Downeast Heritage Museum and the Saint Croix River were created.
In 2005, the city obtained $125,000 in CDBG Community Enterprise funds to complete the landscaping of the green space, bury utilities, and build retaining walls and accessible pathways between Main Street and the river to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Also in 2005, a combined $20,000 in city funds and $30,000 from the Small Harbor Improvement Program (Maine Department of Transportation) was used to construct transient docking facilities on the waterfront. These facilities provide docking and water access for recreational and commercial vessels as well as for an emergency boat and Homeland Security vessels.
Since 1991, volunteer groups have built, improved, expanded, and maintained the almost 2 miles of waterfront walkway, and they continue to do so. The volunteers' hard work to reclaim the riverfront from trash, abandoned cars, and garbage was the “seed” of the residents' waterfront plan which led to the revitalization of the downtown area. Parts of this plan will require substantial funds, but volunteers will complete other parts in partnership with businesses, local service clubs, public works, the community college, and local schools.
The Calais Comprehensive Plan—which encompasses improvements to Calais's industrial park, Pine Tree Zones, roads, and playgrounds, etc., in addition to the waterfront—has just been presented to the City Council and downtown businessmen, and building owners are working on the Calais Downtown Marketing Plan . Of course, the Weed and Seed site will work with these documents as it plans and implements new strategies for further neighborhood restoration.
The Saint Croix River was once the lifeblood of the community; Calais residents think it is crucial to develop the potential the river holds. Just one look at a map shows that the city is definitely “on the edge” of both the state and the nation, but it is also on the edge of possibilities.
For more information, contact:
Gail Wahl
Calais Weed and Seed Site Coordinator
wahl@midmaine.com
Homeless Work Crew Cleans Up
When Tom Washington met with the new mayor of Brockton, MA, he showed him some before-and-after pictures of graffiti removal. Next thing he knew, the mayor promised him money from the Department of Public Works budget to buy chemicals to continue the project.
Washington, the Director of MainSpring House, knows that his graffiti removal program makes sense for his work crew and for the business and residential areas. His crew is made up of homeless men (and sometimes women) who take part in the Work Express program. Work Express is a 6- to 12-month sobriety program for homeless and addicted individuals. Crew members do paid labor in the community 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, and live in MainSpring House. Through Work Express, participants learn the skills they need to become self-sufficient. The program consists of 20 crew members, a case manager, a counselor, an education specialist, and a work supervisor.
MainSpring House, which is run by MainSpring Coalition for the Homeless, has also partnered with Weed and Seed, the Campello Business Association, and the Brockton Department of Public Works to clean city-owned vacant lots in the Weed and Seed target area. Work Express crews also sweep streets and dump trash for the city.
The Campello Business Association is made up of business owners from the city's Campello section. At their November meeting, the association and its members donated $795 to the program.
Brockton Weed and Seed, through the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office, funds the Work Express cleanup efforts in the target area, which includes 11 lots identified for ongoing cleanup. Signs to advertise the program are displayed at each lot. In addition, neighbors receive fliers that explain the initiative and ask them to help clean the area. By cleaning neglected lots, Brockton Weed and Seed hopes to decrease the number of places where crime can occur.
Washington believes people respond very well to the Work Express program. “People see homeless individuals contributing and getting back into the mainstream,” he said. Success in graffiti removal has also given the Work Express program a good reputation: the program has won the contract to clean the new baseball stadium. Some program graduates have moved into housing and obtained maintenance jobs.
Last year, the City of Brockton held the first “Keep Brockton Beautiful Day” during which residents, other community members, and the Work Express crew cleaned a number of areas around the city. The Weed and Seed coordinator was part of the planning process for this event. Recognizing the importance of neighborhood restoration, Brockton Weed and Seed used its funding for this initiative to augment the city's efforts to clean some of its most blighted areas. Initial responses from residents on Temple Street, the first lot cleanup with Work Express, have been very positive. Once cleaned and maintained, these lots may be bought from the city and redeveloped by new owners.
For more information, contact:
Tom Washington
Director of MainSpring House
twashington39@gmail.com
Resources
Tools for Small Cities
Downtown and Business District Market Analysis is a toolbox for using market data and geographic information systems to identify economic opportunities in small cities.
View it on the Web: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/dma
Universities Potential Help With Development Examined
Universities and the Development of Industry Clusters focuses on the key role universities can play in cluster-based economic development, establishes a foundation for a critical review of that role, and assesses the factors that are vital to successful university-industry cluster development.
View it on the Web: http://www.eda.gov/ImageCache/EDAPublic/documents/pdfdocs/ucluster2004_2epdf/v1/ucluster2004.pdf
Reentry
Documentary Tries To Show a Prisoner's Human Side
If you watch a film about drug addicts who steal—and who have been in and out of prison for 30 years—yet end up sympathizing with them, then filmmaker Tod Lending has done his job.
In Omar and Pete, Lending tells the story of two longtime friends taking part in a cutting-edge reentry program and trying to become engaged members of the community. The film mainly follows Leon “Omar” Mason from 2002 to 2005 through his ups and downs, drug relapses, and his ultimate inability to make it on the outside.
In the film, Omar appears ready to change his life. He was serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery, but he had been drug-free for 8 years and had become a devout Muslim. “Before, every time that I left prison I already made plans to come back,” he said. “What's different this time? I have been preparing myself not to be a recidivist . . . . I think I'm prepared to do that.”
After leaving the Maryland Transitional Center prison, Omar lived with his old friend William “Pete” Duncan who had been released 10 months earlier. Omar and Pete participated in the Maryland Re-Entry Partnership Initiative, a program run by the Maryland Division of Corrections and city and community agencies. The program supported Omar with case managers, transitional housing, health care, employment assistance, and educational opportunities, and made substance abuse treatment available as well. But while Pete used the reentry program to hold on to his success, Omar retreated from his case managers, used drugs, and ended up back in prison.
“I was hoping for a story of redemption and it didn't happen,” Lending said. “There are more Omars than Petes.”
The viewer is left wondering what ultimately caused Omar to give up his freedom—perhaps a biological addiction that was too strong, or institutionalization—but Lending hopes that viewers will not simply walk away from the story; he wanted to humanize Omar and demystify his experience as a drug-addicted African-American male who was never able to survive longer than a year at a time on the streets. Omar and others like him “are dealing with demons and you understand,” Lending said. “It's not acceptable to be an addict but it makes sense. It's not a mystery why this happens.”
Lending believes that the general public is not aware of how pervasive substance abuse is among offenders. “You have to come to know these people and what their issues and experiences are in order to design programs and to even care about them,” he said.
The majority of the returning offender population has alcohol and drug problems but Lending said a number of reentry programs that he saw throughout the country did not have a strong therapeutic component and were not properly addressing addiction or treating co-occurring disorders. He hopes that people who view his film will argue for reentry support structures, and that policymakers will realize that they need to do more to help returning offenders.
Omar and Pete is one of the documentaries featured under the umbrella effort called The Reentry National Media Outreach Campaign. The campaign attempts to expand public awareness and dialogue, provide media-based resources, and work in partnership with key organizations engaged in local initiatives to strengthen families and neighborhoods. Funding for Omar and Pete was provided by the Child and Family Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Lending has received positive feedback about the film through e-mails and at screenings. Blighted communities have embraced the film, but Lending does not believe the film will resonate for middle-class white communities that do not have a returning offender problem. CCDO has used the film in the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) Reentry site visits and trainings.
The film can be ordered directly from Lending's production company at http://www.nomadicpix.com/pages/omarandpete.htm, or communities and organizations interested in screenings can order the film at http://www.reentrymediaoutreach.org/pdfs/omar_pete_com_screening.pdf.
For more information, contact:
Denise Blake
Campaign Director
denise@reentrymediaoutreach.org
Young Offenders Get R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Juvenile offenders who are charged as if they were adults are particularly vulnerable in the criminal justice system, but since 1997 one program in Miami has been there to help them out.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. is a juvenile offender reentry initiative run by Miami/Miami-Dade Weed and Seed for 14- to 17-year-olds. It provides mentoring and life-skills training to prevent recidivism and equip youth with “life action plans” to succeed.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T., which is a collaborative effort between the site, the Miami-Dade Department of Corrections, and the City of Miami Parks and Recreation Department, takes place in the Turner Guilford and Knight (TGK) Correctional Facility. The program tries to reach as many as possible of the 75 to 85 youth who are released annually from TGK. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. stands for different things; each new group of participants chooses issues and behaviors they find important, matches them to the program name, and then works on achieving related goals.
Before R.E.S.P.E.C.T., no one was working with juvenile offenders on their reentry plans. Today, the program boasts a zero percent recidivism rate over 1 year and has several success stories of participants who have found jobs and earned GEDs, or are attending college. It has all but eliminated fighting among youth within the prison and has secured job opportunities for all participants who were released last summer.
Over the past year, the program has become more formal, making its curriculum replicable and getting some funding from Project Safe Neighborhoods. “We knew it was working,” said Mary Norris, the site's manager of community relations and communication. “We needed to track it and prove it was making a difference.”
R.E.S.P.E.C.T.'s key components are life skills, group sessions, the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Speaker's Bureau, mentoring, and aftercare. The program tries to help juvenile offenders obtain career goals by helping them to earn a high school diploma or GED, enroll in college or a technical program, get a job, and get involved with the community.
The R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Speaker's Bureau comprises individuals who volunteer their time to meet with the boys and talk to them about making changes in their lives. The speakers include professional athletes, ex-offenders, police, clergy, and teachers. Although the initial time commitment is minimal, many speakers become interested in spending more time to further mentor the youth.
The boys are told that if they do well in the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. program, they will get to play basketball. The sport helps them work on their conflict resolution skills and teamwork, Norris says, and coaches come in to work with the boys on their basketball skills as well as their behavior on and off the court.
Wilem Jose, the R.E.S.P.E.C.T. program manager, runs the weekly rap sessions and talks with the boys about why they are angry and disappointed. Many of the boys in the program have lived with abuse and neglect and have unstable homes; their role models are drug dealers and gang members.
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. participants work with their mentors, who are psychology and social work students from Florida International University, on issues related to their transition back into the community, substance abuse, and legal representation. Jose has applied for funding for more staff and more case managers.
Jose believes that if people really knew the stories behind the offenders, they would care about them. “They don't hear the story about boys who go to jail and get turned around,” he said. “But murder and mayhem make the 6 o'clock news.”
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. obtains monthly updates on offenders after they've been released and performs voluntary home visits. It is fairly easy to follow up on an offender's case if the boy lives in the local area, but it can be difficult if a youth lives outside the area. But those who are succeeding are actually proud to share news of their progress.
“Kids doing well will call to tell us,” Jose said.
Many ex-offenders want to be involved with boys and be mentors, as do current inmates. Jose has the boys read letters from men in the state penitentiary who want to tell the boys that they can change their ways.
“They're trying to open their eyes and show them that there are different paths,” he said.
For more information, contact:
Mary Norris
marynorris@weedandseed.com
Resources
Exit Surveys May Help Women's Reentry
Using Jail Exit Surveys To Improve Community Responses to Women Offenders addresses the usefulness of conducting jail exit surveys. Topics include designing the survey, the elements to include, and understanding the information provided. Also included are comprehensive listings of major data elements, lessons learned, and a sample questionnaire.
View it on the Web: http://www.nicic.org/Library/020853
Involving Community in Reentry
A Civic Engagement Model of Reentry: Involving Community Through Service and Restorative Justice discusses restorative justice decisionmaking and civic community service. The article looks at a holistic policy focus on reentry and ways to conceptualize the community both as an agent of reintegration and as a target of intervention.
View it on the Web: http://www.uscourts.gov/fedprob/September_2004/model.html
American Indian/Alaska Native
Food for Elders Program Teaches the Yurok Way
To keep tradition alive, the Yurok are teaching their children how to fish—and then how to give the fish away.
With more than 5,000 members, the Yurok Tribe is the largest Native American tribe in California. As part of a food service program for elderly tribe members, Yurok youth are returning to the traditions of fishing and gathering acorns for their elders. Put simply, the Yurok way is for adults to take care of children and for children to take care of elders. Many families still follow this tradition, but some do not.
One of the missions of Yurok Social Services, which reaches out to 49 kids from ages 8 to 16 and 106 elders, is to teach young people the history, traditions, and values of the Yurok people. Through the Food for Elders program, Yurok youth hang nets, catch fish, and then process the fish; they also gather, shell, and leach and process acorns. The young people distribute the food to elders who are living in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Just before Christmas, Yurok youth distributed 105 jars of kippered salmon and 64 bags of acorn meal to 105 elders. Many of the elders were thrilled with the visits and touched that the young people were thinking of them.
Felice Pace, Director of the Yurok Tribal Department of Social Services, and Yadao Inong, prevention coordinator, have been working on the program for 2 years. Even though the social services department is in its last year of a Tribal Youth Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Pace and Yadao plan to expand beyond fish and acorns to seaweed, mussels, and other traditional foods. Youth also will begin to gather basket-making materials for elders who are weavers.
Because Food for Elders is successful as a prevention program, Pace also wants to use it as an intervention program with youth in juvenile hall. Native American youth represent roughly 25 percent of the detained population in the area's juvenile hall, though the area's overall Native population is less than 10 percent of the general population.
“We want to keep our kids out of trouble,” Pace said. “It is very difficult; we are in one of the most infamous marijuana growing areas, have the meth epidemic, and our county has the highest rate of narcotic prescriptions per capita in the nation,” he added.
Research has demonstrated that involving young people in service to their communities builds character and helps them resist drugs and other problem behaviors.
“Kids are internalizing the Yurok value that they're responsible for the elders,” said Pace.
Modern society has discovered what Yuroks of old knew and practiced as part of everyday life and what Yurok Social Services is attempting to keep alive.
For more information, contact:
Yadao Inong
Prevention Coordinator, Yurok Social Services
yinong@yuroktribe.nsn.us
Gang Trainings Successful in Arizona Indian Country
Successful training sessions need support from leadership, continual updating, and good communication. Trainings on gang issues in Arizona's Indian country are meeting these criteria.
Members of tribal law enforcement feel that tribal gangs have long been overlooked. They also believe that the behavior of gang members has become more violent and that the gangs' ability to have autonomy on the reservation has not been aggressively addressed until recently. In response to this issue, a training committee representing the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO), the Arizona State Gang Task Force, and numerous Arizona tribal agencies established a series of training sessions to address some of the state's most pressing issues related to tribal gangs in Indian country. The tribal chiefs' and tribal leadership's interest is to address all aspects of gang participation.
The first training concentrated on law enforcement issues. Many of the trainers are from Arizona tribal law enforcement agencies and some are tribal members who work for local non-tribal law enforcement. These trainings have been successful in that all attendees receive the benefit of intelligence sharing.
Members of the training group have made a major effort to address information sharing as well as conventional and unconventional training topics, and each training hosts at least one new session. One unconventional training topic is the Fathers Program, which was developed to help previously jailed tribal members who are parents turn their lives around.
Funds to support the training sessions have come from the USAO Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee and the individual tribes and tribal businesses.
During the initial planning for the first tribal gang training session, support from local tribes was lacking. Since the first training, however, which was hosted by the San Carlos Apache tribe, participation has been outstanding. No fewer than 200 tribal law enforcement and service providers have attended each session, and there is a list of tribes that want to host the next training. In addition, Paul K. Charlton, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, continues to support a multiagency training effort to address the issue of gangs on the reservations.
For more information, contact:
Carla Friestad
Law Enforcement Coordinator, Arizona USAO
carla.friestad@usdoj.gov
Resources
Examining Public Law 280
Public Law 280 and Law Enforcement in Indian Country—Research Priorities identifies the significant gaps in data concerning crime and law enforcement on Public Law 280 reservations. Since the law went into effect in 1953, states and tribes have faced a variety of problems, including compliance obstacles, jurisdictional uncertainty, and insufficient funding for law enforcement. This publication discusses the key issues and lists areas for further research and action.
View it on the Web: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/209839.htm
Identifying Justice Agencies Operating in Tribal Jurisdictions
Census of Tribal Justice Agencies in Indian Country, 2002 presents detailed information gathered on tribal law enforcement agencies, tribal courts and services, and criminal record systems from the 2002 Census of Tribal Justice Agencies in American Indian Jurisdictions.
View it on the Web: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/ctjaic02.htm
Improving Telecommunications on Tribal Lands
Challenges to Assessing and Improving Telecommunications for Native Americans on Tribal Lands notes that the rate of telephone subscription for Native American households on tribal lands is substantially below the national rate. The report discusses barriers to improving telecommunications and steps some tribes are taking to address those barriers.
View it on the Web: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06189.pdf