 Dennis E. Greenhouse, Director of the Community Capacity Development Office. |
One of the great privileges I have as the Director of CCDO is guiding the development of partnerships and programs that build local capacity, increase public safety, and improve the quality of life for Weed and Seed residents nationwide. Capacity development and partnerships are the essence of CCDO's mission. We aim to focus on emerging issues and proactively collaborate with public and private partners to address those issues.
In an effort to strengthen the Neighborhood Restoration component of the Weed and Seed strategy, we have embarked on an asset development approach to assist communities in building capacity in this area. CCDO is now one of more than 150 coalitions and partners engaged in a joint effort with the Internal Revenue Service to promote the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). As such, CCDO has 100 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) centers operating nationwide, providing our Weed and Seed residents with free tax services and facilitating their access to the EITC.
This year's tax season is almost over, and Weed and Seed VITA tax preparation performance is stronger than ever. During the 2005 tax season, the program's first year in operation, CCDO established 50 Weed and Seed VITA centers that processed over 11,000 tax returns and facilitated the generation of more than $15 million of disposable income in those communities. Our VITA centers also helped residents save almost $3 million in tax preparation fees, incorporated financial literacy components as part of their services, increased the number of volunteer hours and service to their programs, negotiated partnerships with banks and credit unions to open bank accounts, and linked residents to other asset development programs.
Our goal for the 2006 tax season is for CCDO's VITA centers to process over 22,000 tax returns and generate more than $30 million of disposable income in those 100 Weed and Seed communities. Recently, we conducted a preliminary review on the status of our VITA centers, and I am pleased to declare that we are well on our way to making this goal a reality. This is a great example of CCDO's ability to leverage our partnerships and resources to develop capacity in the nation's most troubled communities.
This year has also gotten off to a good start in terms of helping communities build capacity to reduce violent and drug crime in their neighborhoods. Our Weed and Seed sites have executed an array of services and programs at the local level, and we have been coordinating with them to do the same work on the national level.
One example of this work is our Drug Education For Youth (DEFY) program, which is conducted in partnership with the U.S. Navy and our Weed and Seed sites. The effectiveness of the DEFY program centers on its mission of building protective and risk-reducing factors for our youth ages 9–12. DEFY's promising practices strengthen and increase public safety for youth who are at greatest risk of substance abuse, school failure, delinquency, and violence. As with CCDO's capacity development abilities, partnerships are the cornerstone and an integral element of DEFY's structure. Many of DEFY's partnerships include local police departments, the National Guard Drug Demand Reduction Program, Boys & Girls Clubs, all branches of the military, federal law enforcement agencies, and local U.S. Attorneys' Offices.
We now have 80 Weed and Seed sites actively participating in the DEFY program. Weed and Seed sites in Arizona, California, Michigan, Missouri, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, D.C., all have DEFY programs that have been in operation since 1998. Our first pilot site in San Antonio, TX, was established in 1996, and I am glad to report that it is still going strong today. That particular DEFY program consists of a partnership with the local Weed and Seed site and the San Antonio Police Department.
In addition to the VITA and DEFY efforts, CCDO is strategically building local capacity by launching distance-learning mechanisms such as the CCDO Network Center and the Interactive Training Network (ITN). Both of these technology-based resources are designed to expand peer-to-peer learning opportunities among our practitioners, Weed and Seed network, and law enforcement partners. These new additions to our Web site will encourage cost-effective exchanges of promising practices and strategies nationwide and in real time. To learn more about these efforts, please visit the CCDO Network Center and review the postings and resources. In the future, we look forward to opening other topical forums to include gangs, drugs, neighborhood restoration, reentry, and tribal issues.
I encourage you to visit our Web site regularly and continue to learn about the capacity development programs and resources that CCDO has to offer and to keep up to date on the latest developments.
Finally, I am pleased to announce the upcoming 2007 CCDO National Conference, to be held in Detroit, MI, from August 20 to 23, 2007. This annual event is a great opportunity to learn about the latest trends in law enforcement technology and in community crime prevention and control. It will also provide plenty of opportunities to develop partnerships and strengthen relationships with other community leaders, faith-based organizations, and local law enforcement. Save these dates, and I look forward to seeing you in Detroit.
Sincerely,
Dennis E. Greenhouse
Director
Community Capacity Development Office