Welcome to the first electronic issue of Weed & Seed In-Sites. CCDO has remade In-Sites into an electronic-only publication to give you quick and easy access to important information from the field and to update you on CCDO's new focus areas: public housing, reentry, American Indian/Alaska Native affairs, and more.

Table of Contents

Letter From the Director

Letter From the U.S. Attorney

Law Enforcement

Training in Buffalo—Standing Room Only

Hard Work Pays Off in South Texas Crime Prevention Programs

Combating Gun Violence With Local Solutions

Large U.S. Police Agencies Profiled

Community Policing

Gastonia: Model of Community Policing

Community Policing in Small Cities and Rural Areas

Prevention

Garfield’s DEFY Camp Keeps Going

Charter School Helps Delray Train Its At-Risk Youth

Conference Highlights From Indianapolis

Community Fair Fares Well

What Works in Delinquency Prevention

Neighborhood Restoration

Fighting Poverty With a New Partner

Super Sites: A HUD/DOJ Public Housing Safety Initiative

FDIC Can Help You

Reentry

Project Team: Recipe for Reentry Success

Easing the Transition

American Indian/Alaska Native

Improving Safety and Communication for Indian Country

Improving Detention Facilities in Indian Country

Letter From the Director

Welcome to our new e-version of In-Sites magazine! In this inaugural issue, you will find lots of informative articles and news. But the e-version will keep the focus the same—it will be about you—as In-Sites will continue the tradition of highlighting your successes. The only difference will be in the delivery. Thanks to electronic wizardry, In-Sites will be delivered via a few keystrokes on the computer rather than from the mail carrier's bag. In this era of tight budgets, this makes common sense and financial "cents!" Incidentally, we really want to hear from you. Tell us what you like about the articles and give us a few tips on the format. Most importantly, let us know what you are doing in the field so we can spread the news. I know this is not a shy bunch. We cannot give you a cash reward, but you will have the satisfaction of "psychic income" and the pleasure of helping others... and that is priceless.

Fall has been a busy time at the Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO). We received more than 100 Weed and Seed Official Recognition applications. Readers are going over each application and making sure we give each one just consideration. We also asked a few people representing a cross section of the country in various positions (e.g., U.S. Attorneys, LECCs, Weed and Seed site coordinators) to join us regarding a discussion about the future of Weed and Seed. They have given us plenty of great ideas and we anticipate a few policy changes based on their suggestions. Look for this office to continue soliciting your ideas. On a side note, fall saw the continuation of my promise to eventually visit every Weed and Seed site. My travels took me to Utah and Mississippi, and I learned something new with every trip. I just wish I had more time.

By the time you receive this edition, our new CCDO Deputy Director will be on board. Her name is Denise Viera. Denise has a great background in community development. She has worked for local government, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a public housing authority, and with nonprofit organizations. I am confident that Denise will make important contributions to CCDO, in particular on the seeding side of Weed and Seed.

Well, 2004 has come and gone with incredible speed. It seems our lives are on fast forward. The upcoming year brings great hope and opportunity for this office. You will see formations of national partnerships benefiting Weed and Seed sites and the evolution of CCDO. I know I can count on your help and support, which is why 2005 brings such hope.

According to the ancient Chinese calendar, 2005 will be the year of the rooster. Those born under the sign of the rooster are thought to be hard working, confident, and independent, and the new year is a celebration of change and a time to renew ourselves. We certainly see a lot of parallels with what's happening here at CCDO. I wish you, your families, and your communities abundant peace and great health in this new year.

Sincerely,

Nelson Hernandez
Director
Community Capacity Development Office

Letter From the U.S. Attorney

Many of you joined us in Indianapolis, IN, for the FY 2004 Application Kit Workshop and the Power of Prevention Regional Meeting (http://www.ncjrs.gov/ccdo/in-sites/winter2004/prevention_3.html) last July. We were pleased that more than 400 people from around the country participated in workshops, visited our Weed and Seed sites, and attended the Indianapolis Networking Reception hosted by the city of Indianapolis at the NCAA Hall of Champions.

In addition to having the privilege of welcoming Weed and Seed partners to the conference, we recognized our three former sites that have graduated from Weed and Seed funding but continue to remain active in implementing their strategies. We were so fortunate that Sue Webber-Brown, the heart and soul of an emerging national movement to protect drug-endangered children (DEC), spoke to us about the many risks associated with clandestine drug labs and the dangers to children particularly. Ms. Webber-Brown inspired all communities to join the national movement to better coordinate between law enforcement, social services, medical services, and the courts to protect our most innocent victims by implementing DEC protocols in their jurisdictions.

I'd like to thank our local planning committee headed up by our three active sites Steering Committee Chairs—Olgen Williams of Westside, Rachel Cooper of SUMO, and Charles Roseburgh of CNN—and acknowledge the leadership of our LECC, Joe Wainscott. The site coordinators, Indianapolis Police Department Grant Unit, the Mayor's Office, and other committee members did an outstanding job of coordinating local resources and added an "Indianapolis flavor" to the conference. Besides the usual coordination, providing workshops and site visits, they welcomed new site coordinators by hosting small dinners at local restaurants at the conclusion of the site coordinator training on the first day. I hope you felt their genuine love for their neighborhoods and their passion for the powerful nature of the Weed and Seed strategy.

Weed and Seed is near and dear to my heart, having begun my work with this highly collaborative community-based initiative when I served as Deputy Mayor for Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith back in the late 1990s. Indianapolis has a long tradition with Weed and Seed going back to 1992; this strategy has produced truly successful results—lower crime rates and improved police/neighborhood partnerships. Weed and Seed has been a bipartisan effort. I am proud that Indianapolis continues to embrace the Weed and Seed strategy, regardless of which political party sits in the Mayor's Office. We have three former sites and three active sites, but we all work together to continue to search for new neighborhoods so we can extend this proven crime-fighting philosophy.

As the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, I have the privilege of chairing the Attorney General's Advisory Committee's Subcommittee on issues involving the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which includes Weed and Seed, LECC, and victim/witness issues. I have recently participated in two planning meetings under the direction of Deborah J. Daniels, Assistant Attorney General for OJP, to set the best course for the future of the Weed and Seed program over the next 3 years. Ms. Daniels, a former U.S. Attorney also from the Southern District of Indiana, was one of the original designers of the Weed and Seed concept and served as the first Executive Director. I am pleased to report that Weed and Seed is viewed as the flagship program for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) when it comes to crime prevention strategies. I am heartened that the longstanding success of Weed and Seed has been recognized by DOJ officials and will continue to grow and strengthen under the leadership of Director Nelson Hernandez and his new team. The Weed and Seed baton has been passed to this new team, but I have seen their belief in the philosophy, "Working Together Works!" See you in Los Angeles in 2005.

Susan Brooks
U.S. Attorney
Southern District of Indiana

Law Enforcement

Training in Buffalo Standing Room Only

If you plan a conference and more than double the expected number of people show up, you may have tapped into something. The Weed and Seed Law Enforcement Coordination Training Workshop held May 17–20, 2004, in Buffalo, NY, far exceeded attendance expectations. Originally, the Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) anticipated 500–650 registrants, but the actual number exceeded 1,100 attendees. The general sessions had to be moved from the conference hotel to the convention center across the street.

CCDO alternates a national law enforcement conference with a national Weed and Seed conference every other year. Participants were welcomed by Michael A. Battle, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York; Glen T. Suddaby, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York; Anthony Massiello, Mayor of Buffalo; Nelson Hernandez, Director of CCDO; and Cheri Nolan, Deputy Assistant Attorney General.

Ms. Nolan opened the conference with a panel on reentry, a major CCDO initiative, to explore effective strategies being implemented in Weed and Seed sites. General sessions covered homicides, the National Drug Intelligence Center, international and domestic responses to clandestine drug labs, and the Strategic Prevention Framework of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Sheriff Dave Reichert, National Sheriff's Association 2004 Sheriff of the Year and lead investigator on the Green River Killer case in King County, WA, spoke about the power of commitment and service.

The conference offered 7 preconference learning labs, 8 general sessions, and 48 workshops. Major themes focused on effective community and law enforcement partnerships, reentry, Project Safe Neighborhoods, drug and alcohol enforcement efforts, and crime mapping and analysis. New topics included drug-endangered children and human trafficking.

The Law Enforcement Coordination Honor Awards went to Bristol, TN; Lincoln, ME; Adroscoggin, ME; Oahu, HI; and Phoenix, AZ; with an honorable mention for Orange, NJ.

A new award was established in honor of officers slain or severely wounded while performing their duties in a Weed and Seed site: the Officer Nicholas Sloan Award of Valor, in honor of Officer Sloan who died in January 2004 in a St. Louis Weed and Seed site. Sloan’s partner, Officer Gabriel Keithley, who was shot during an undercover investigation with Sloan, received the first award.

CCDO is appreciative of the local conference planning committee and the strong support from the host districts. Tim Scioli, LECC for the Western District, convened a great planning committee with participation from each of the Weed and Seed sites in the Western District. Pete Laun, LECC from the Northern District, provided a learning lab and a number of workshops and general sessions. Oswaldo Mestre, the Buffalo Weed and Seed Coordinator, hosted a wonderful site visit.

Hard Work Pays Off in South Texas Crime Prevention Programs
Ron Cutlip, Community Relations Officer, Southern District of Texas

We know that we cannot continue to incarcerate every convicted felon who comes through our criminal justice system, but what if we could make a difference in the next generation of potential criminals? What if we could go to the schools and connect with just one youth and change his or her life? And what if we were able to set up youth courts to allow young men and women to adjudicate their own Class C misdemeanors and perform community service in lieu of having their parents pay a fine? And, what if we were able to do all that I just mentioned without spending a dime?

A couple of years ago, a new U.S. Attorney took charge of one of the largest district offices in the country and began leading a staff of more than 300 men and women. Although no stranger to Texas, this U.S. Attorney was something that we had not seen before—arriving at 6:30 a.m. every day and leaving long after everyone else had gone home. He carries two backpacks to work (one says "Go Navy") and very seldom has time for lunch. It is common to see his car at the office on the weekend. This person, Michael T. Shelby, is the man responsible for change, direction, and leadership in southern Texas.

When Mr. Shelby started, he knew that he had an opportunity to do something that very few federal prosecutors ever get a chance to do—realign the office to accomplish the priorities of the Attorney General. What is important for folks who are involved in crime prevention and law enforcement is that your boss supports what you are doing. In our office, Mr. Shelby tells you how much he appreciates what you are doing. I often think of our office as having one arm in the community conducting the prosecutorial affairs that we are charged with by the Attorney General, but the other arm is carefully reaching around with a crime prevention program. On any given day, an Assistant U.S. Attorney might be trying a case and later on that evening he or she may be explaining the USA PATRIOT Act as the guest speaker at a high school. Another might be chairing the Weed and Seed committee to ensure that it stays on track and that its meetings are productive, while another might be presiding over a teen court in Brownsville, Corpus Christi, or Houston.

We have built a strong alliance not only with our federal law enforcement partners, but our state and local police agencies as well. We have not limited our association with traditional police departments but instead invited other agencies to be part of a huge intelligence sharing program called the Anti-Terrorism Advisory Council. With terrorism as the number one threat in America, we can no longer depend on traditional methods of gathering information. When our federal law enforcement partners are not busy investigating, detaining, and arresting alleged criminals, you will find them assisting our office with community outreach programs—such as Red Ribbon, Career Day, DEFY Camp, and Reading in School—and teaching classes at the Law Enforcement High School.

Our office is totally committed to community policing. Our police force must be partners with the community to solve community problems. Wherever we have bike patrols in Weed and Seed sites throughout South Texas, crime has been reduced. It takes a special breed of cop to work bike patrol, and those patrols are making contact with local residents, not just the criminals.

I would like to feel that we are making a difference down here in South Texas. As Mr. Shelby likes to say, "remember what's important."

Combating Gun Violence With Local Solutions

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) links prosecutors, community leaders, and federal, state, and local law enforcement, and each local PSN task force designs its program to fit the unique gun crime problem in that district. Plans focus on prosecuting violent gun offenders; strengthening enforcement of federal gun laws; providing community outreach and technical training on firearms trafficking, identification, and tracing; and crime mapping. For more information on PSN, read Project Safe Neighborhoods: America's Network Against Gun Violence.
View it on the Web: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/bja/205263.pdf

Large U.S. Police Agencies Profiled

How many people do large local and state police departments employ? What do those employees do? How much are they paid? What policies do they follow? How are they equipped? Find the answers to these questions and many more from the essential reference tool Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers. This is the fourth edition of a series begun in 1993.
View it on the Web: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/lemas00.htm

Community Policing

Gastonia: Model of Community Policing

When Sgt. Dee Dee Rhinehart looked out her bus window at the hundreds of homeless people on the streets of Los Angeles, she couldn't believe her eyes. She was not used to the numbers, but she certainly understands the problem of homelessness and why police have to pay attention to it.

"We have to get to the root of the problem," she told In-Sites. "You realize how close anybody can come [to homelessness]. There are so many stories."

Sergeant Rhinehart was in Los Angeles to receive the International Association of Chiefs of Police's (IACP's) community policing award for the work she and her fellow officers of the Gastonia, NC, police department have done to prevent crime and help homeless people. Gastonia won the IACP/ITT Industries award in the category for cities of 50,001–100,000 residents.

The city's community policing efforts are only 3 years old, and yet the impact they've had on community relations is tangible. More people are forming community watch groups than ever before, and crime in the downtown area has decreased by 46 percent.

The success that Sergeant Rhinehart's unit of seven officers has had will soon be felt all over as Chief Terry Sult begins applying a problem-solving approach to the whole department.

The community policing unit has worked closely with faith-based organizations to help address the problem of homelessness. Though on a small scale—only about 30 people in the downtown area are chronically homeless and 3 people successfully went through detox and halfway house programs—the project demonstrates how to share information and build partnerships.

Sergeant Rhinehart discovered that one issue facing nonprofit groups was being able to help homeless people while working within cost barriers. The police knew that underlying substance abuse issues had to be dealt with and more outreach had to be aimed at this population. Officers helped homeless people get the services they needed and later even mentored them.

The "networking" that officers performed was a way of realizing resources that were already available, Sergeant Rhinehart explained.

"The key for any city trying to do what we're doing is to know your resources," Sergeant Rhinehart stressed. "You have to recognize the need and the need to work together."

The unit also worked with neighborhood enhancement teams to determine what city services were available and how to inform residents of where they could go for help and more information. The approach allowed police officers to know the neighborhoods better and empower residents.

Community policing has brought changes to Gastonia, and Sergeant Rhinehart thinks such changes are important not just for the community but for officers as well. "Policemen need to look at how to help people change their lives," Rhinehart said. Helping somebody means a lot. It means a whole lot more than how many tickets I can write or how many arrests I can make. It's doing something that makes you feel good. Even if you can change just one person's life."

Community Policing in Small Cities and Rural Areas

Community Policing Beyond the Big Cities, a report from the National Institute of Justice, discusses a study of eight law enforcement agencies in small- to medium-size cities and rural areas in California, Idaho, and South Dakota. Researchers identified five progressive stages of community policing and found a wide array of innovative problem-solving initiatives undertaken by officers and sheriffs. Community policing was most successful when officers worked closely with residents and other community partners to design and implement creative approaches to solve specific local problems.
View it on the Web: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/205946.htm

Prevention

Garfield's DEFY Camp Keeps Going

The Garfield Weed and Seed site located in central Phoenix, AZ, successfully completed its 2004 Phase I summer camp on July 23.

With this camp, the Garfield Weed and Seed site has offered 8 consecutive years of DEFY to youth in the Garfield neighborhood. Over the years, staff have seen this program assist in the transformation of a neighborhood. According to Weed and Seed Site Coordinator Roberto Frietz, where once the primary youth extracurricular activity was gang involvement, more than 300 youth have been DEFY participants and many are proud alumni of this group.

The 2004 camp served approximately 40 youth and was implemented by staff from the Arizona National Guard's Joint Counter Narcotic Task Force and the city of Phoenix's Parks and Recreation, Police, Neighborhood Services, and Transit Departments.

"This year's group was made up of some very intelligent and eager young people," Frietz said. "It also consisted of a number of youth from the same family participating at the same time. Interestingly, for the first time girls outnumbered boys!"

Staff say they look forward to working with this group of young leaders for the next 9 months during Phase II of DEFY.

For more information on the DEFY program, browse FAQs About Weed and Seed DEFY at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ccdo/pdftxt/faqdefy.pdf.

Charter School Helps Delray Train Its At-Risk Youth
Sharon L'Herrou, Project Manager, Delray Beach Weed and Seed

Delray Beach, FL, was a neighborhood out of control, held hostage by a Haitian youth gang called the Sons of Sterling. Although the gang was relatively small, it accounted for hundreds of stolen cars and violent crimes. A study of the area revealed that 70 percent of its youth were not expected to finish high school.

To address these problems, two Delray Beach police officers, Johnny Pun and Fred Glass, proposed a unique solution. With the support of the community and the Delray Beach Police Department, Officers Pun and Glass founded the Delray Youth Vocational Charter School (DYVCS), modeling it after a successful charter school in Hollywood, FL, about an hour south of Delray. The school was designed to offer at-risk individuals between ages 14 and 23 an alternative to a life of crime: a chance to learn a job skill, earn a GED, and gain life skills. Consistent with this mission, the school now provides training in various disciplines in the automotive industry, a field that has many well-paying jobs for people who have not graduated from college. While DYVCS was in development, officers helped to enroll and transport area youth to the Hollywood school.

During the past academic year, 33 students were enrolled in the school, a last chance effort for students who have dropped out of traditional high school environments and have demonstrated significant behavioral problems. The student body is male and predominately minority (approximately 33 percent are African-American and 50 percent are Haitian). Most of the enrollees live in the Delray Beach Weed and Seed area and are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Two-thirds of the students are older than age 18, and 16 percent are single parents. Most have been arrested and have been involved in the court system (as of December 2003, 22 percent had a record of assault and battery, 27 percent had been charged with robbery, and 9 percent had been charged with possession of a weapon before they enrolled in the school). Eighteen percent started school with an active warrant.

School staff mix lectures with hands-on lessons to engage students and offer incentive points for good behavior, attendance, and performance. Graphs in the classroom represent how each student is performing. Students use their points at periodic auctions to purchase donated items; some big-ticket items are bicycles and, on occasion, cars. Despite the best efforts of staff, many youth do not complete the program. However, those who persevere have made significant accomplishments.

• Graduating class of 2004:
  • 100 percent improved their reading skills by a minimum of two grade levels.
  • 100 percent demonstrated the minimum skills necessary to work in the automotive industry.
  • 100 percent were successfully placed in some type of employment.
  • 90 percent remained arrest free.
• Graduating class of 2003:
  • 64 percent are currently employed.
  • 27 percent obtained their GED.
  • 82 percent remained out of institutions.

To fully appreciate the significance of these results, one must remember that 75 percent of the nation's state prison inmates are high school dropouts and that the unemployment rate among dropouts was 29.8 percent between 2001 and 2002, 13 percent higher than the rate for recent high school graduates.

Perhaps one of the most effective and visible measurements of the school's success is that the Sons of Sterling gang no longer exists. Four of the former gang members are employed at the Delray Toyota dealership earning an average annual salary of $22,000. One former member said of his life then and now, "I was going nowhere, had nothing; now I have something to look forward to."

The Delray Beach Police Department has shown its commitment to the community by offering the charter school unprecedented support, which began with the department reassigning the two founding officers to the school during its first year. The police department continues to provide financial and staffing support.

Today, not only are residents comfortable leaving their homes, they have taken an active role and invested in improving their neighborhood. With new leases on life, charter school graduates can become productive citizens, breaking the cycle of crime, violence, and poverty.

Conference Highlights From Indianapolis

Indianapolis, IN, hosted the Power of Prevention Regional Meeting and the FY 2004 Weed and Seed Competitive Application Kit Workshop on July 12–15, 2004. Why Indianapolis? Maybe because the city has a long and illustrious history with Weed and Seed. Today, six Weed and Seed sites are located in Indianapolis, three of which were early leaders in the Weed and Seed movement and now serve as peer mentors to other sites.

Olgen Williams, cochair of the local conference planning committee, has been called a role model for other community leaders. Director of an original settlement house, Williams oversees Christamore House and is a vital voice for resident involvement, strong law enforcement partnerships, and dynamic prevention and neighborhood restoration efforts. He convinced the Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention to bring the conference to Indianapolis where they could see and hear from residents and community leaders about how to begin and sustain their efforts. As part of the workshop offerings, attendees visited two sites to learn hands on from local leaders how to develop and manage effective collaborations.

Deborah Daniels, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, recognized the five winners of the CCDO Coordination Awards for Prevention/Intervention/Treatment or Neighborhood Revitalization: Boston, MA; Macon, GA; Atlanta, GA; Waipahu, HI; and Highland Park, MI. An honorable mention went to Utica, NY. Robert Samuels, former Deputy Director for the Executive Office for Weed and Seed (which was folded into CCDO), was also honored for his dedicated service to the program over the years.

In addition to the basic instruction for competitive grant applicants, community residents and other representatives learned about a broad range of "seeding" activities and best practices. Nelson Hernandez, CCDO Director, focused particularly on energizing the neighborhood revitalization arena by bringing together resources from the Office of Community Services and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (for more information on IRS resources, read "Fighting Poverty With a New Partner" in this issue). This general session opened the door for Weed and Seed sites to become engaged in asset development strategies.

"There is a great difference between living a life of success and living a life of significance," Rev. Wilson Goode, former mayor of Philadelphia and Undersecretary of Education, told the participants. "My work today on behalf of children of prisoners gives my life significance." Reverend Goode, the son of an incarcerated father, urged the crowd to address the needs of children of incarcerated parents. He called them "down into the riverbed to help these children cross over the River Jordan on dry ground." Amachi, Reverend Goode's faith-based mentoring program, is being replicated in dozens of cities; a number of Weed and Seed sites are seeking to replicate his success.

Community Fair Fares Well

Rev. Jesse Turner says all it takes is planning.

This soft-spoken Weed and Seed Program Coordinator for Pine Bluff, AR, attributes the success of his site's community fair to early and careful planning. The Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment subcommittee planned what to do and whom to invite, assigned roles, and, sure enough, more than 450 people showed up.

"You bring all the players together," Reverend Turner said. "It will work every time."

In fact, this year's fair—and it has gotten bigger each year—had more people from the community involved in the planning than ever before. Sororities from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff helped out, and even elementary school students got involved, writing compositions about crime prevention for an essay contest. This year's theme was "Take a Bite Out of Crime." Reverend Turner and his staff publicized the fall fair on local radio stations and cable television and in newspapers and church fliers.

The fair showcased the neighborhood's progress and its partnerships between neighborhood residents, law enforcement officers, and all other collaborators in the Weed and Seed initiative. It was an opportunity for programs to reach out to the 3,600 residents. Years ago, it was difficult to get groups to set aside their own agendas and gather under the Weed and Seed banner, Reverend Turner admitted, but now they are able to focus on the "common good."

More than 40 local service providers attended the fair to share information on numerous topics, including home buying, loans for home repairs, health screenings, free computer classes, support for small businesses, parenting and youth support, crime and fire prevention tips, and educational resources.

Berdia Williams, Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager of Simmons First National Bank University Branch, said she received several positive comments about the fair from customers. "They said they enjoyed the fair because it brought out providers to the neighborhood that they did not realize existed in Pine Bluff," Williams said.

People told Williams they did not know about budgeting classes offered by the Good Faith Fund or the new K-Life Club for youth. Williams said the bank would now help spread the word about the programs throughout area churches as well as among family and friends. The Pine Bluff Citizens' Boys & Girls Club also added new members as a result of the fair.

What Works in Delinquency Prevention

Research shows that early childhood intervention programs can save the government up to three times their cost when delinquency prevention and other benefits are considered. Title V Community Prevention Grants Program: 2002 Report to Congress highlights how communities use a research base to implement, evaluate, and sustain their programs and current knowledge about what works in delinquency prevention.
View it on the Web: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=11702

Neighborhood Restoration

Fighting Poverty With a New Partner

Thousands of people who want to buy a house, go to college, open a small business, and save for their futures need help. The earned income tax credit (EITC) is money—a way to offset federal taxes paid by low-income wage earners—that may be used to meet their families' basic needs. The EITC has become the largest cash or near-cash program available to low-income families in the United States, making it a cornerstone of the nation's antipoverty effort. The effectiveness of the EITC depends, in part, on whether those who are eligible for the credit actually claim and receive it. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), works with community organizations to provide high-quality tax preparation services, free of charge, to low-income tax filers.

The Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) has partnered with the IRS to establish VITA centers in Weed and Seed Safe Havens and to bring free tax services to families, increase their disposable income, and assist them in meeting their tax obligations and claiming their eligible tax credits. VITA services are provided to residents on a one-to-one basis.

Three pilot sites have been selected for the 2004 tax year in Gastonia, NC; Phoenix, AZ; and Grand Rapids, MI. The sites were selected based on a cross-reference with strong IRS and Weed and Seed support systems, geographic and demographic distribution, and local site interest in neighborhood revitalization and economic development activities. The overall target for the CCDO and IRS partnership is to launch VITA centers in 50 Weed and Seed sites by 2006. CCDO also is actively working to build the savings of these families by connecting them to other asset-building programs such as individual development accounts (IDAs).

The VITA centers offer free tax help to people whose incomes are $35,000 or less, many of whom are eligible for untapped EITC and childcare tax credits that can generate up to an additional $4,000 plus $1,000 for each child. Research shows that low-income individuals are motivated to save but have difficulty in accumulating enough capital to make major investments or purchases. This partnership will make it possible for individuals to convert increased income tax returns into IDAs where their savings are matched by other investment dollars, increasing their capacity for home ownership and business development.

The CCDO/IRS partnership contributes to the EITC initiative and assists Weed and Seed sites by—

• Hosting free tax preparation sites.
• Marketing EITC to eligible individuals and families.
• Providing information and resources to link free tax preparation with other government programs such as those involving food stamps and reemployment, as well as information on home ownership and financial literacy.
• Training volunteers to prepare taxes.
• Providing computers for tax preparations.

Other benefits to the Weed and Seed sites include information on additional government programs, tax preparation software, in-kind promotional services, volunteers, funding, information on and knowledge of asset development and financial literacy, and free tax preparation services for residents. The EITC can have an extremely positive and measurable impact on families throughout the nation.

Each interested Weed and Seed site will be asked to identify a location for the VITA center—preferably their Safe Haven—that has access to computers and the Internet and to recruit community volunteers to staff the center. The IRS provides guidance on how to identify appropriate center volunteers and also will assist in tracking the number of families served, number of dollars these families save through the EITC, and number of tax returns filed as compared with previous years.

The Milwaukee Asset Building Coalition is a citywide program that represents a combination of financial education, VITA centers, IDAs, and partnerships with lending institutions to increase assets for low-income individuals. It is run by the Social Development Corporation, the fiscal agent for Weed and Seed in Milwaukee. In 2003, Milwaukee increased its citizens' filing of tax returns under its special initiative by 23 percent to $11 million dollars. Twelve locations citywide provide services to implement the strategy. One of those, the Spotted Eagle High School, is located in a Weed and Seed site, and three are located in former Weed and Seed sites. Sue Knealy, Site Coordinator for Milwaukee, said, "This initiative is generating real dollars for low-income individuals."

The CCDO/IRS partnership is expected to generate significant individual assets for Weed and Seed residents. These assets will promote greater neighborhood economic and social stability through increased home ownership, business development, and education levels, which will result in an increased quality of life for families and the community as a whole. Sites will be able to identify specific outcomes for the increased number of returns generated for residents, the increased amount of dollars generated by those tax returns, and how those returns are leveraged for additional savings and investment.

CCDO will train interested sites at the Application Kit Training and the National Conference in 2005. In addition, sites can e-mail Sonia Klukas (sonia.klukas@usdoj.gov) if they are interested in being considered for the next round of sites to launch VITA centers.

Super Sites: A HUD/DOJ Public Housing Safety Initiative

The U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have joined together to assist in the investigation, prosecution, and prevention of violent crimes and drug offenses in public and federally assisted housing, including Indian housing, in the following locations:

• Oakland, CA.
• Kansas City, MO.
• Detroit, MI.
• District of South Dakota (Pine Ridge and Rosebud).
• New Orleans, LA.
• Washington, DC.
• San Juan, PR.
• Atlanta, GA.
• Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn, Staten Island, Roosevelt, and Queens).
• Houston, TX.

DOJ's Office of Justice Programs is implementing the initiative through the Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO). CCDO's core mission is to work with local communities to develop solutions that deter crime, promote economic growth, and enhance quality of life. According to CCDO Director Nelson Hernandez, the office "develops partnerships and strategies to improve communities. The partnership with HUD is one example of CCDO's efforts to combine federal and local resources to prevent crime, improve services, and promote community revitalization."

Each of the participating sites has received $600,000; an additional 36 Weed and Seed sites will receive $50,000 each to implement similar crime prevention initiatives. The 10 main sites are developing strategic plans that will incorporate law enforcement proposals consisting of local, state, and federal components. The plans, which may include targeting homicide, drugs, guns, and gang crime, combine strong enforcement with vigorous prosecution efforts. Some crime prevention strategies may include programs such as Safe Haven, after-school enrichment activities, treatment options, and offender reentry initiatives.

Other activities include inviting affordable housing developers, public housing authorities, and other partners to participate in planning and enhancing long-term solutions for these communities. The strategic plans also will include outcome-based performance measures to guide the implementation and documentation of these efforts.

FDIC Can Help You

When we hear the phrase "we're here to help" from the federal government, we all tend to be a little skeptical. The good news about the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is that it really can be of assistance to Weed and Seed sites. Here's how:

Community Affairs Program
FDIC's Community Affairs Program can support partnerships between bankers, community organizations, small businesses, and local governments and can even work with lenders and the public to revitalize communities. The program can work with financial institutions in Weed and Seed communities to identify community and economic development initiatives that promote financial services, affordable housing, small and microenterprise development, and financial education.

The Community Affairs Program is designed to get financial institutions more engaged in community outreach activities, increase bankers' and consumers' knowledge of Community Reinvestment Act regulations and fair lending practices, help financial institutions develop strategies to respond to credit needs, and foster positive banking relationships between consumers and financial institutions. Each of these objectives can be part of a thoughtful and comprehensive neighborhood restoration effort in a Weed and Seed site.

Weed and Seed neighborhoods often face special challenges in securing financing to support community housing and business development activities. Familiarity with the laws that protect consumers and communities from predatory or discriminatory lending practices is an important aspect of community economic development efforts in a Weed and Seed site.

Community affairs officers can work with sites on how to use the proactive aspects of these laws to revitalize designated neighborhoods. Examples of these laws include the Community Reinvestment Act, which encourages investment in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods; the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibits discrimination in any aspect of a consumer or commercial credit transaction; the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in all aspects of residential real estate transactions; and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which prohibits discriminatory lending practices and promotes accountability. Weed and Seed sites can access regional FDIC community affairs officers by going to FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/community/offices.html.

Money Smart: An Adult Financial Literacy Program
Money Smart is a free, comprehensive curriculum designed to help adults develop financial skills. Nationally, 10 percent of adults have no banking or credit history; in Weed and Seed sites, the percentage is likely to be even higher. Weed and Seed sites can strengthen their neighborhood restoration strategies by providing Money Smart workshops to Weed and Seed residents, particularly those who tend not to use banking institutions. Money Smart can be a component of a broader effort to move low-income families out of poverty by increasing their knowledge and understanding of and experience with financial institutions, credit issues, and banking services.

The 10 Money Smart workshops are—

• Bank On It, an introduction to banking services.
• Borrowing Basics, an introduction to credit.
• Check It Out, how to choose and keep a checking account.
• Money Matters, how to keep track of your money.
• Pay Yourself First, why you should save, save, save.
• Keep It Safe, your rights as a consumer.
• To Your Credit, how your credit history will affect your credit future.
• Charge It Right, how to make a credit card work for you.
• Loan To Own, know what you're borrowing before you buy.
• Your Own Home, what home ownership is all about.

To train trainers from Weed and Seed sites to provide the workshops locally, the Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) will provide Money Smart learning labs in 2005 at the Weed and Seed Grant Management Training event and the National Conference.

Free copies of the Money Smart program can be ordered online at http://www2.fdic.gov/moneysmartregister. Sites can sign up online at http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/trainthetrainer.html for train-the-trainer opportunities before the CCDO conference in 2005.

CCDO encourages sites to include some type of financial education component for residents in combination with other complementary offerings such as volunteer income tax assistance centers and individual development accounts to promote asset development. A combination of these strategies has been shown to move families out of poverty and create increased neighborhood stability through increased home ownership and business development.

CCDO wants your feedback—if you are interested in Money Smart, please contact Sonia Klukas (sonia.klukas@usdoj.gov), Community Partnership Outreach Officer.

For more information, visit the following Web sites:
FDIC
http://www.fdic.gov

Community Affairs Program
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/community/program.html

Money Smart
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/index.html

Reentry

Project Team: Recipe for Reentry Success
Karen Thurber, Weed and Seed Coordinator, Ogden, Utah

In 2001, Ogden's eight-block Weed and Seed site had one of the highest concentrations of adult offenders on probation or parole in Utah—nearly 12 percent of the entire population. In many cases, an apartment building would have 3 of 4 units rented to offenders, and parole officers had caseloads that exceeded 40 adults. Supervision was identified as one of the biggest challenges because offenders knew that their probation officers might get to them only once a month. It was generally accepted that parolees committed half or more of the crimes in and around the site. During a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design training, trainer Pat Harris said that he could not imagine how Ogden could possibly revitalize the area given its extreme concentration of offenders.

An aggressive partnership between the Ogden Police Department and the Utah Division of Probation and Parole began in early 2002 to address the high concentration of offenders and to tighten supervision. This partnership administers Project Team, which pairs probation officers with community police officers. Funding for the project comes from a partnership with Project Safe Neighborhoods and Weed and Seed, providing critical overtime dollars for both the police and probation agencies. Upon release, when parolees list the Weed and Seed site or the blocks immediately surrounding it as their intended residence, a meeting is held with the parole officer and community police officer. The parolees are informed that they will be enrolled in Project Team and will receive home visits from both parole officers and the police. Parolees receive between three and five weekly visits and their homes are watched daily by officers on routine patrols. Lieutenant Scott Conley has even requested that patrol officers park outside parolees' homes to write reports, giving parolees the feeling that they are being watched constantly. Some parolees immediately decided to find residence elsewhere in the county and others moved within the first several months of parole.

These activities accomplished the first goal of Project Team—a 68-percent reduction in the number of offenders living in and around the site. Scattering adult offenders throughout the county and to neighboring counties not only reduces crime but also has provided offenders with a better chance of successful reentry because they are not encountering other offenders on a daily basis. Ken Bingham, a Weed and Seed area supervisor for adult probation and parole, reports that the remaining Weed and Seed area parolees—a number fluctuating between 25 and 35, down from a high of more than 90—are more compliant with the terms of their parole. Bingham tells a story of the wife of one parolee who called him to thank Project Team. It seems that her husband is afraid to use drugs or to do anything wrong because he is always being watched. She reported that this has been the longest time her husband, who has been in prison many times, has remained outside prison walls without recommitting a crime. She said he is in drug treatment, and that she has high hopes for his successful reentry.

Because 70 percent of returning adult offenders in Ogden lack diplomas and many are considered functionally illiterate, the next phase of Project Team will offer various community services to help parolees obtain high school diplomas and access a basic education. Through Ogden City's Enterprise Community, three neighborhood career centers have been established, including one in the Safe Haven: Central Middle School. Adult education services include English-as-a-Second-Language courses and a computer class offered at the Safe Haven, as well as adult basic education, high school completion, and GED classes offered near the Safe Haven.

Parole officers are accompanying adult offenders to their first meeting with a job coach now that job counseling is included in reentry plans. The job coach helps the adult offender with skills assessments, adult education and job training matriculation, employment readiness, and the job search. Then, this coach provides ongoing tracking and counseling to help the offender continue his or her education and retain employment. The Utah Department of Workforce Services, a partner in the career centers project, provides free skills assessments and will help parolees connect with employers who might be hesitant to hire an adult offender.

Under the auspices of Project Team, the residents of the Weed and Seed area are safer—as evidenced by a reduction in crime and an increase in private investment—and adult offenders are given a solid chance at a law-abiding future.

For further information, contact:
Ken Bingham
Utah Division of Probation and Parole
kbingham@utah.gov

Lt. Scott Conley
Ogden Police Department
scottconley@ci.ogden.ut.us

Easing the Transition

When transition back to the community is left solely up to the released offender, the community is put at risk. The Reentry Partnership Initiative (RPI) can minimize the risk while also achieving community safety. Offender's Views of Reentry: Implications for Processes, Programs , and Services is part of a series of papers evaluating RPI. The evaluation examines how eight demonstration sites pursued implementation, focusing on the organizational development across agencies to construct new reentry processes. Interviews, focus groups, network analysis surveys of stakeholders, and review of documents were all used to measure the fidelity of the implementation during the early stage of the RPI process.
View it on the Web: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/grants/196490.pdf

American Indian/Alaska Native

Improving Safety and Communication for Indian Country
Norena Henry, American Indian/Alaska Native Affairs Desk

Improving safety in Indian country is a high priority of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). As such, a new DOJ resource guide will list safety-related resources directed toward Indian tribes, tribal communities, and native villages. The Community Capacity Development Office is coordinating the effort to gather information for this guide from interested tribal communities. To help personalize the guide, which is set to debut on the Web in 2005, send your stories, pictures, and other ideas to Norena Henry (norena.henry@usdoj.gov).

Improving communication also is important. DOJ's Office of Justice Programs (OJP) highlights many issues involving Indian country on its American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Web site (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/americannative/whats_new.htm). This site provides the most current Web-based information on OJP activities. It also includes information on research/evaluation findings, statistical analysis, promising practices, and upcoming training and funding opportunities for the tribal law enforcement and justice community.

OJP has continued to invest resources to support the National Tribal Justice Resource Center (http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org), a clearinghouse for federal, state, local, tribal, and international governments. The center is a repository for tribal codes and tribal court opinions that benefits all tribal and nontribal parties interested in tribal law. OJP is coordinating with the center to provide information to Tribal Justice Today, the center's newsletter to Indian country.

Tribal input and information sharing continue to be key factors in OJP's program development and implementation. To improve communication, the office coordinates regional meetings and consultation sessions to share information with Indian tribes on federal government resources. OJP also works in partnership with Indian tribes to foster innovative ideas and strategies that help ensure healthy and peaceful communities.

Improving Detention Facilities in Indian Country

For many years, Indian country detention facilities funded and operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) have been understaffed, overcrowded, and underfunded. In 2003, the Office of the Inspector General requested an assessment of BIA's detention facility program to examine law enforcement and security programs and to determine if Indian country detention facilities were safe and secure. Overall, the assessment—as discussed in Neither Safe Nor Secure—found evidence of a continuing crisis of inaction, indifference, and mismanagement throughout the detention program. The report presented recommendations to improve the security, safety, and effectiveness of detention facilities in Indian country.
View it on the Web: http://www.oig.doi.gov/upload/IndianCountryDetentionFinal%20Report.pdf

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