MENU TITLE: GRASS-ROOTS ORGANIZATION Technical Assistance Manual . Series: OJJDP Published: DRAFT 1/92 62 pages 123,402 bytes Figures, charts, forms, and tables are not included in this ASCII plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe Acrobat graphic file available from this web site or order a print copy from NCJRS at 800-851-3420. Irving A. Spergel National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program School of Social Service Administration University of Chicago Distributed by: Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse Box 6000 Rockville, MD 20850 1-800-638-8736 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A great variety of community-based and criminal justice agency personnel as well as representatives of grassroots organizations assisted in the development of this manual. Each has a wealth of experience to contribute to effective organizing efforts. Special appreciation is expressed for ideas and suggestions from: Lois Cyprian, Concern Parents, Los Angeles, California; Miguel Duran, Director, Special Youth Services, Los Angeles County Probation Department, Downey, California; Nizam Fattah, Executive Director, Inner City Round Table of Youth, Brooklyn, New York; David Fattah, House of UMOJA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Sister Falaka Fattah, House of UMOJA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charles Ford, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Human Services, Chicago, Illinois; Mel Fraser, Coalition for Youth Services, Fort Wayne, Indiana; Clayton Hollopeter, Executive Director, Boys Club of San Gabriel Valley, El Monte, California; Reverend Leo Kelley, Executive Director, Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives, Denver, Colorado; Brother Leon Modesto, Soledad Enrichment Action Program, Los Angeles, California James Mills, Executive Director, Philadelphia Anti- Drug, Anti-Violence Network, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charles Norman, Director, Planning, Community Youth Gang Services, Los Angeles, California; Natalie Salazar, Director, Community Reclamation Project and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Whitter, California; Benny Swans, Administrative Consultant, Vision Quest, Exton, Pennsylvania; Steven Valdivia, Executive Director, Community Youth Gang Services, Los Angeles, California; Barbara Wade, Coordinator, Positive Programs, Mayor's Office, Miami, Florida; The author, however, takes full responsibility for content and errors in the document. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Program Mission and Background Purpose of the Manuals Problem Statement Discussion of Terms and Issues Approach to the Problem Overview of the Grassroots Organization Manual Summary CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM RECOGNITION Community Leadership Articulating the Problem Tapping the Neighborhood Influence Structure Organizing Local Concerns Holding Meetings/Hearings Developing Credibility Summary CHAPTER 3: ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING Purpose of the Assessment Elements of the Assessment Who Should Participate in Planning Inducing Parents, Local Citizens, Groups and Organizations to Participate Planning Further Hearings and Formal Meetings Countering Local Group or Agency Manipulation Summary CHAPTER 4: CREATING NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES Contributing to Organizational Capacity Developing a Relevant Community/Coalitional Structure Establishing Appropriate Community Group and Agency Interactions and Programs Creating Meaningful Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Procedures Summary CHAPTER 5: NEIGHBORHOOD MOBILIZATION The Police Schools Community-Based Youth Agency Established Local Organizations and Agencies Selected Principles of Good Neighborhood Organizing Summary CHAPTER 6: STAFFING, STAFF SELECTION AND TRAINING Staff Selection Staff Education and Training Summary CHAPTER 7: FUNDING Funding Priorities Funding Services Summary CHAPTER 8: RESEARCH AND EVALUATION Summary BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A: LIST OF PUBLICATIONS APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY AND DISCUSSION OF TERMS APPENDIX C: TABLES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Justice Department, entered into a cooperative agreement with the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, to conduct the National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program. Technical assistance manuals were produced, as part of the research and development program. They address promising approaches to dealing with the youth gang problem. This grassroots organization manual focuses on organizing at the level of impact to combat the problem. A local neighborhood leader(s) must recognize the gang problem and call it to the attention of other local citizens and agencies. The message must be communicated loud and strong. Local citizens and community agencies must aggregate their concerns. Leadership should be highly credible. An assessment must be conducted to develop understanding of the scope and seriousness of the problem and determine what needs to be done about it. Reliable and valid data should be collected from a wide assortment of local citizens and agency representatives. Special care is required to avoid manipulation of proceedings by self-serving individuals, and sometimes intimidation from gang members at the various organizing and planning meetings that need to be held. A special structure to deal with the problem should be established. The organizer should build the organization and assist its members to act effectively with respect to the problem. Different kinds of structures are required in different problem neighborhoods. Specific goals, objectives, and strategies appropriate to these different contexts have to be developed. A range of different program activities are required as local citizens collaborate with the police, schools, community-based youth agencies, and other organizations. They include: citizen antigang patrols, court watch groups, parent support groups, tutoring, and recreational projects, as well as monitoring the efforts of organizations who are funded to deal with the problem. Neighborhood organizing requires that successful antigang programs contribute not only to resolution of the gang problem, but to building the competence and self-esteem of citizen participants. Furthermore, the militant actions taken should be purposeful and lead to constructive negotiation and bargaining whenever possible. The grassroots organizer must be a catalyst, problem-solver, educator, and developer of local citizen leadership with respect to the gang problem. An appropriate mix of professional and nonprofessionals, local and nonlocal people should be selected for staff functions. Both staff and local community leaders should be required to undergo short-term training courses that provide knowledge about gangs and strategies to deal with them, the nature of local community service arrangements, and techniques of grassroots mobilization, including networking and interagency coalition formation. High priority must be given to funding interagency or collaborative programs. It should be recognized that resources include the determination or will power, the skills, and the energies of a great many local community persons, including parents, residents, bureaucrats, and professionals. Nevertheless, external funding is almost always required and should be obtained from diverse sources to ensure program stability and continuity. Finally, while sophisticated evaluation of the efforts of local neighborhood organizations to combat gang crime may not always be feasible, focus should be on evaluation of the extent to which local citizens and organizations participate together. A university or college may be helpful in setting up a data system and evaluating whether the neighborhood mobilization effort has indeed contributed to the control and reduction of the problem. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Program Mission and Background Purpose of the Manuals Problem Statement Discussion of Terms and Issues Approach to the Problem Overview of the Grassroots Organization Manual Summary Program Mission and Background ------------------------- There has been an increase in the youth gang problem and the need for information and guidance. ------------------------- Criminal youth gang activity represents a serious threat to the safety and security of local citizens and impedes positive youth development. In recent years, higher levels of youth gang violence and gang member-related drug trafficking have been reported in an increasing number of neighborhoods, high schools, public housing projects, correctional institutions, and other social contexts throughout the country. Police in small towns have begun to identify "gangs" and are requesting assistance in how to deal with them. In response, the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Justice Department, entered into a cooperative agreement with the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, in October 1987 to conduct the National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program. This program was initiated as a four-stage Research and Development process: Assessment, Prototype/Model Development, Technical Assistance, and Testing. ------------------------- This technical assistance manual is part of a four- stage research and development process. ------------------------- Three of the four stages have been completed. Stage 1 included a comprehensive review of the research and program literature on youth gangs, a survey of programs in 45 cities, selected site visits, conferences, and special studies. During Stage 2, gang suppression and intervention models were produced for police, prosecutors, judges, probation, corrections, parole, schools, employment, community-based youth agencies, and grassroots organizations. Additionally, separate manuals for comprehensive planning and for community mobilization were developed. ------------------------- Twelve manuals have been produced. ------------------------- Stage 3 involved the creation of 12 technical assistance manuals that provide guidelines to implement the policies and procedures presented in the models. The ten agency manuals specify both organizational and community perspectives for dealing with the youth gang problem. The other two manuals outline specific procedures and processes of planning a comprehensive community approach to youth gang suppression and intervention. (See Appendix A for a list of documents.) ------------------------- Certain processes were used to develop the manual. ------------------------- The program models and technical assistance manuals were based on the findings of the initial project assessment stage as well as extensive consultations with policymakers, administrators, and practitioners at local and national levels. Law enforcement, particularly frontline gang specialists, were important from the start of the program in identifying the problem. Two regional conferences were held with policymakers, administrators, and practitioners from 16 cities who contributed to the development of the final version of the manuals. Purpose of the Manuals ------------------------- The purpose is to present a set of guidelines to reduce youth gang crime. ------------------------- The purpose of the technical assistance manuals is to present detailed steps for the control and reduction of youth gang crime, especially gang- motivated violence. The manuals seek to provide governmental authorities, criminal justice organizations, social agencies, and community groups with strategies that encourage gang-prone and gang-involved youth to terminate criminal activity and participate in legitimate social, academic, and employment pursuits. Broad preventive policies that deal with larger social issues such as poverty and racism, housing, education, jobs, and health care are addressed only on a limited basis in the manuals. Key issues of family breakdown, violence in the media, and the proliferation of sophisticated weapons need to be directly addressed as they contribute to the youth gang problem. They are presented here mainly as contextual conditions that special organizational policies and procedures and community mobilization must deal with and change, if not directly then indirectly. ------------------------- Administrators and policymakers are the primary audience. ------------------------- Local administrators and policymakers are the primary audience, but the manuals should also be useful to other officials and personnel concerned with the problem, including agency supervisors, frontline workers, and community volunteers. The manuals are not intended to serve in the place of more general models and manuals dealing with delinquent or troublesome youth in the criminal justice and human service fields; they are intended as a supplement to them. Even so, the manuals should be of value in addressing youth crime more generally. This is because the youth gang problem can be viewed as part of a larger set of crime and delinquency and youth socialization problems. Problem Statement ------------------------- The gang problem has changed and grown more serious in most regions of the country. ------------------------- During the 1980's and early 1990's, more criminally oriented and better organized gangs or cliques have become prevalent in many urban and smaller communities. More young people from diverse backgrounds and settings are joining gangs to meet social and economic needs not satisfied through existing institutions, e.g., family, school, and employment. The youth gang has become an alternative, mainly antisocial, institution for an increasing number of youth. ------------------------- Poverty and social disorganization are key conditions contributing to the problem. ------------------------- Why youth gangs have developed and become more criminal and complex organizations is not clear. The type and severity of youth gang problems may be largely a response to two conditions, poverty or limited access to social opportunities; and social disorganization, i.e., the lack of integration and stability of social institutions including family, school, and employment in a local community. Certain factors exacerbate these two social conditions to produce varying gang subcultures and systems. They include: o large and rapid population movement of low- income minorities into a community; o intergenerational gang traditions; o defects of social policy and coordination of service delivery at local and national levels; o institutional racism; o insecurities of certain working and middle class populations "threatened" by newcomers; o the growth of criminal opportunities; and o possibly, influence of the media. Examples are the following: ------------------------- Under different community conditions, different types of gang problems appear to develop. ------------------------- Violent youth gang subcultures often develop when gang-affiliated African-American and Hispanic youth move from central cities to smaller cities and suburban areas without adequate social, family, economic, and educational supports. Violent gang subcultures may also develop when new waves of poor immigrants from Mexico, Central America, the Pacific Islands, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, and other Asian countries arrive in urban communities. The newcomer groups are often met with hatred and resentment, sometimes manifested in physical attacks. Gangs may form and become rapidly entrenched, first as defensive, and then as offensive groups. Furthermore, in ghetto, inner-city African- American, and Hispanic communities, a limited criminal opportunity system often develops. Gangs in these communities may change from status- oriented, conflict groups to highly predatory, criminal-gain groups. Over time, sophisticated instrumental rather than traditional or status- oriented youth gangs may develop, with special interest in drug trafficking and other economic criminal activity. ------------------------- There are variations in the gang problem by race/ethnicity, class, and newcomer status. ------------------------- In some communities across the country, particularly in the western states but increasingly elsewhere, the influx of low-income and working class Pacific-Islander and Asian groups -- e.g., Tongan, Filipino, Hong Kong, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, or Cambodian -- has resulted in other varieties of youth gang problems. Second-generation youths, those who were born in this country or who arrived as preteens, may seek protection, prestige, and income through gang membership. Some of these gangs adopt African-American or Hispanic gang patterns; others become closely connected to traditional ethnic-based, adult criminal organizations. Criminal activities can include home invasions, business extortion, robbery, rape, intimidation, and a range of racket activities. These newcomer youth gangs, and the Asian communities upon which they prey, are difficult for local law enforcement, schools, and community organizations to penetrate or influence because of cultural, communication, and trust problems. ------------------------- Growing economic, social, and cultural pressures can contribute to the development of youth gangs. ------------------------- Some blue-collar or middle class communities are characterized by growing economic, social, and cultural pressures as well as by increasing family or personal disorganization. Some of these formerly stable, predominately white communities have become centers for youth groups with a "nothing to lose attitude." Youth gangs or their equivalent such as Satanic, Stoner, punk rocker, hate, Neo-Nazi, or racist Skinhead groups may participate in a wide range of loosely organized criminal acts, characterized by perverse and negative behavior, including vandalism, drug use, homosexual assaults, and even homicides. Additionally, in certain stable, lower middle class communities, whether African-American, Latino, Pacific Islander, Asian, white, or Native American, the gang problem may assume a more organized and usually less violent character. Youth may become relatively more involved in extortion, car theft, burglary, robbery, sophisticated drug trafficking, and various lucrative quasi-racket activities that are not necessarily conducted in the "home communities." Legitimate business and criminal interests may be relatively well integrated. Furthermore, specialization of criminal youth gang patterns by race and ethnicity seemingly exists. Economic, social, and cultural factors may, in fact, be the cause. Thus, some African-American youth gang or clique members may be heavily engaged in street-level crack-cocaine trafficking; Mexican- American youth gang members may be relatively more involved in violent turf-based activity, and Asian gang members may be more mobile and closely related to adult crime organizations involved in crimes such as extortion, robbery, and international drug trafficking. However, these youth gang subcultures also exist side-by-side, interact, integrate with, or succeed each other over time. In some communities youth gangs are interracial and interethnic. ------------------------- Violence projected by the media may exacerbate the problem. ------------------------- In spite of the many and changing varieties of gang subcultures that can be found, a common denominator among them is that most of these groups are comprised of youth who share somewhat similar values and a keen sense of personal failure and low self-esteem. For many gang youth, violence has become an acceptable way of life, partially sanctioned by the larger society. Violence is seen on nightly newscasts, in the movies, on evening television and Saturday morning cartoons, and encouraged by certain "rap" stars. Violence is projected as a means of resolving authority, low self-esteem, and racial/ethnic problems. Discussion of Terms and Issues (See also Appendix B Glossary) ------------------------- Key components of the problem are the youth gang, youth gang member, and the gang incident. ------------------------- It is important to accurately identify key components of the youth gang problem in order not to exaggerate, deny, or mythologize them. This is necessary in order to develop appropriate policies and procedures to deal with the different or varying street gang problems and subcultures encountered. These components are: 1) the criminal youth gang, 2) the youth gang member, and 3) the gang incident. ------------------------- Gang-motivated violence is the key but not exclusive concern of the manual. ------------------------- The central focus of the manuals is control and reduction of gang-motivated violence. We are not primarily interested in ephemeral delinquent groups or in highly organized drug trafficking by groups concerned only with profit, although there are often important connections between these associations and the youth or street gang. However, we are concerned with predatory youth cliques or drug-trafficking groups to the extent they participate in, depend on, and influence the development of violent gang activities. Youth gang members engage increasingly in both violent status-related and entrepreneurial or predatory criminal activities. If a youth group engages primarily in criminal entrepreneurial activity and participates periodically in serious violence, it falls within the scope of our concern. Our concern is also with differences between emerging and chronic gang problem communities and the need for prevention and especially early intervention services. 1. Criminal Youth Gang This is a group often comprising both juveniles and young adults in regular interaction with each other who engage in a range of social and antisocial behaviors. Cliques or members engage repetitively or at times spontaneously in violent, predatory, and criminal-gain behaviors. The criminal youth gang may be located within a neighborhood or across neighborhoods and even cities. It may be loosely or well organized with established rules of conduct. The youth gang may have a name, turf, colors, signs, symbols, and distinctive dress. The youth gang often promotes mutual support among members and conflict with competing gangs or established authority. ------------------------- The traditional youth gang is turf-based and status-oriented, but other kinds of gangs have also developed. ------------------------- Many of these groups are traditional turf-based gangs. Traditionally, the primary function of the youth gang has been to establish or protect the group's reputation and status within a framework of shared or communal values. This continues to be true for many youth gangs today. Some youth gangs, however, do not display colors and are not primarily concerned with social status, but are more gain-oriented and more rationally organized. 2. The Youth Gang Member While the criminal youth gang includes some youth who conform primarily to conventional norms, many engage in a range of criminal behaviors. ------------------------- The focus of concern is the youth gang member, 12 to 24 years of age. ------------------------- Most gang participants are in the age range of 12 to 24 years although some preadolescents as well as persons into their 50's have been reportedly engaged in gang activities. The most serious and violent gang activity, however, tends to be committed by older adolescents and young adults. Some gang members may join for a period as short as a day, a week, or a month; others are members for years. Some members move from low to high gang status, from less serious to more serious criminal gang behaviors, and vice versa, sometimes in different gangs. ------------------------- Fewer females than males are gang members. ------------------------- Far fewer females than males join youth gangs, although with the increase in number of gangs throughout the country more female members are probably involved in serious youth gang activities than in an earlier era. Available evidence indicates, however, that females usually join gangs later and leave earlier, and are usually involved in less violent or serious criminal behavior than males. About nine times as many males as females are arrested for gang crimes according to several studies. Less than one percent of gang homicide offenders are female. --------------------- Attention needs to be directed at high-risk female gang members. ------------------------- Typically, female members are in groups affiliated with male gangs. Sometimes females are integrated directly as members into the gang proper, and are less frequently involved in independent all-female criminal youth gangs. In a few cities, there is some recent evidence that females have assumed leadership roles in certain gang or criminal group activities, such as drug trafficking. Special attention needs to be directed at high-risk female gang members who are likely to be physically and sexually victimized, or who induce or facilitate male gang member assaults against other gangs. Traditional gangs may have different type of members: identifiable leaders, core, regular, associate, soldier, peripheral, wannabe, floater, veteran, or old-head. The presence and definition of these categories of gang members, however, may be quite variable or defined differently in communities across the country. Of special interest, for purposes of control and prevention, are two categories of gang youth: 1) the more serious, hardcore, often older gang youths; and 2) the younger, high-risk, often less committed gang youths. ------------------------- Different types of gang members should be carefully identified. ------------------------- Agencies need to carefully identify gangs and gang members. This process should depend on use of multiple criteria such as gang member self- admission, statements by reliable witnesses, verification by a second independent agency source, prior police records and the youth's regular association with a known gang member. Participation by the youth in certain serious gang-motivated criminal incidents such as drive-by shootings must ordinarily precipitate a gang member identification process for gang suppression and intervention purposes. 3. The Gang Incident A gang incident is the unit for classifying and reporting an event as a gang crime, especially for law enforcement purposes. Reported gang incidents become the basis for determining whether a gang problem exists and for assessing its scope, and thereby the nature and extent of the community response to it. ------------------------- Different definitions of the gang incident exist. ------------------------- The gang homicide is usually the key and most reliable measure of the seriousness of gang crime. However, identification of gang incidents, e.g., homicide, assault, or robbery, is neither a simple nor a standard procedure. Two different procedures, or variations of them, are currently employed to determine whether a gang incident has occurred and should be recorded for law enforcement, and, consequently, public policy purposes. o Gang-Motivated ------------------------- The gang-motivated definition focuses on the nature of the criminal act. ------------------------- In this procedure, according to the Chicago Police Department, a criminal act is defined as a gang incident if it grows out of gang motivation, interest, or specific circumstances that enhance the status or function of the gang. These acts include: intergang violence, gang retaliation, turf protection, intimidation, robbery, recruitment, or other criminal activity that affects the gang's reputation or interests as a whole. One or more members of the gang may be involved as a suspect, witness, offender, or victim in these circumstances. In classifying the incident, focus is on the nature of the specific situation in which the illegal act occurs, such as a drive-by shooting or the yelling of a gang slogan in the course of the crime. Crimes such as burglary, car theft, prostitution, and drug trafficking by a gang member are problematic because it is hard to determine whether the act is gang-motivated. Many criminal acts serve individual member needs unrelated to gang interests. On the other hand, seemingly individual or self-serving crimes by gang or aspiring gang youth may be gang-motivated. For example, a youth may be required or feel compelled to commit a particular property or person crime because of pressures by the gang. o Gang-Related ------------------------- The gang-related definition focuses on identification of the criminal suspect as a gang member. This procedure, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, is based on the characterization of a crime or delinquent act as a gang incident when the suspect, offender, or victim is a gang member, regardless of gang motivation or circumstances. Usually any serious criminal act, especially of a violent, predatory, or drug trafficking nature, in which a gang member is involved, can be classified as a gang incident. For example, the crime of a gang member who steals from a store -- even though that act has nothing directly to do with his gang membership -- would be classified as a gang-related incident. (See Appendix B for a discussion of mixed situations and erroneous classification of group delinquency as gang crime.) o Which Definition to Use ------------------------- The narrow gang-motivated definition avoids excessive labelling. ------------------------- The argument in favor of using the gang-motivated definition is that it focuses sharply on the circumstances of the incident rather than the identification of the individual as a gang member. It may be more precise and valid than the gang- related definition. It withstands court challenges better. It also avoids excessive labelling or exaggeration of the gang problem. The counter-argument is that the gang-motivated definition minimizes the actual scope of the gang crime problem. It may encourage organizational or community denial of the problem. A key assumption of the proponents of the gang-related definition is that a gang member is likely to engage in a wide range of serious crimes because gang membership predisposes him or her to do so. Evidence for this argument is not substantial, however. ------------------------- The gang-related definition may be more useful to criminal justice officials. -------------------------- Police and prosecutors generally believe that it is desirable to identify gang members and their activities as completely as possible. Police are particularly concerned that the full range of criminal activities of the gang member be available for efficient tracking and investigation purposes. We recommend a procedure that avoids excessive labelling of youth but ensures protection of the community. A gang-incident procedure should be devised that records and distinguishes between gang-motivated and nongang-motivated crime committed by the gang member. All serious criminal incidents by repeat gang offenders should be clearly "flagged" on criminal justice computer systems. An effective computerized information system permits use of either or both procedures to track gang-motivated incidents and gang member crime. 4. Gang Problem Contexts, Chronic and Emerging ------------------------- Emerging and chronic gang problem contexts may require different suppression and intervention approaches. ------------------------- With the growth and spread of the youth gang problem, a twofold categorization of the problem context has come into use: Chronic and Emerging. Our manuals stress the differences in these contexts as a basis for the development of distinctive strategies, policies, and procedures for gang suppression and intervention. Simply put, a more preventive or early intervention approach may be required in the emerging gang problem context, while a more elaborate and formalized suppression, intervention, and prevention approach may be necessary in the chronic context. o Chronic Gang Problem Context ------------------------- The gang problem has had a longer history and is usually better organized and more severe in the chronic context. ------------------------- This organizational or community context is characterized by persistent or periodic crises of major gang member violence and sometimes related drug trafficking extending over a five- to ten-year or more period, or even decades. Youth gangs are usually better organized in such communities which are often located in larger or older cities. These contexts are likely to be found in impoverished, ghetto, or transitional areas or ports-of-entry of inner cities, although they are increasingly found in smaller cities and suburban communities. o Emerging Gang Problem Context ------------------------- The gang problem is recent, less well-organized, but sometimes very serious in the emerging context. ------------------------- This organizational or community context is characterized by less well-organized and persistent but at times serious forms of gang violence and gang member drug trafficking. The gang problem has usually been present and/or recognized for five years or less. To some extent, the development and spread of the problem may be traced to the influence of new settlers or gang crime entrepreneurs -- for example, drug traffickers -- from chronic problem cities or contexts. Youth gangs in emerging problem areas tend to be fewer in number and most often evolve out of local delinquent, sometimes social groups under deteriorating economic or social situations for minority, newcomer, or socially isolated populations. The distinction between the concepts of chronic and emerging gang problem communities, however, are not sharp. Indicators related to the onset of the problem, its duration, degree of gang organization, severity of gang violence, and related gang member drug trafficking, as well as the appropriate response to the problem(s) are not neatly categorized by the terms "chronic" and "emerging." Emerging gang problem communities may develop into chronic; and chronic gang problem communities may go through periods of sharply diminished gang activity before the problem reemerges. Different parts of a community or jurisdiction may be characterized by different stages or degrees of severity of the problem at a given time. 5. Variability of Violent Gang, Drug Trafficking, and Crime Problems It is important to understand that, despite media and law enforcement claims, youth gangs involved in gang violence are not necessarily involved in drug trafficking. A direct and causal relationship between youth gangs and drug trafficking has not yet been demonstrated. Some communities that have high levels of youth gang violence may have relatively low levels of drug trafficking; other communities with high levels of drug trafficking may have low levels of youth gang activity. We observe that over the last several years, Los Angeles and Chicago, with the highest levels of gang homicide in the country and very high levels of drug trafficking, report that less than five percent (5%) of gang homicides are associated with drug trafficking. Drug trafficking appears to be related to serious violent street gang behavior only in a limited sense. Drug trafficking, nevertheless, may succeed and may under certain conditions serve either to diminish or increase patterns of youth gang violence. ------------------------- High levels of general crime and gang crime are not necessarily closely associated. ------------------------- Finally, high levels of general criminality in a community do not necessarily indicate high levels of gang activity. Some cities with the highest levels of youth homicide and drug trafficking may have relatively limited youth gang activity. 6. Prevention ------------------------- Secondary prevention is included in the manuals' perspective. ------------------------- The focus of this and the other technical assistance manuals in our Research and Development program is on issues of intervention and suppression in contexts where the gang problem is clearly present. Here, prevention refers mainly to secondary forms of prevention, or early intervention, which reduces the likelihood that highly gang-prone or the younger gang member will commit or continue to commit gang crimes. This is to be accomplished through effective controls, direct treatment or services, and provision of legitimate opportunities. In our concept, prevention requires change and development both by the individual youth as well as his or her social environment. Most youth from low-income and social problem- ridden communities are not involved in delinquent gang activities. Finally, we note that a simple prevention model that emphasizes exclusive concern with younger youth may be unsuccessful. Such a model does not take into consideration system effects, including the extensive socialization effects of older youth on "wannabe" or younger youth. All key components of the problem need to be systematically addressed. Approach to the Problem ------------------------- Different strategies of suppression and intervention have been identified. ------------------------- The manuals specify five major lines of action or strategies: community mobilization, opportunities provision, suppression, social intervention, and organizational change and development. These strategies must be combined in different ways depending on the problem context, the specific mission of the organization, and the kind of youth targeted for special attention. 1. Community Mobilization ------------------------- Community mobilization is critically important. ------------------------- Community mobilization is a necessary and primary strategy in socially disorganized communities. Social disorganization, which contributes to the development of criminal youth gangs, may be characterized by the inability of legitimate institutions such as home, school, and employment, to adequately socialize youth. It may also be characterized by limited networking among agencies or the fragmentation of criminal justice or community service delivery systems, within and across communities. Both local and federal interests must be mobilized for the development of collaborative community and interagency activities directed at the control and reduction of the youth gang problem. In times of limited local community resources, agency consortia efforts are essential. These should include the full and productive use of combined local, state, and federal resources; application of moral and political pressures; and participation by the local citizenry. (See also General Community Design and Community Mobilization manuals.) 2. Opportunities Provision ------------------------- The opportunities provision strategy focuses on the importance of education, training, and jobs for high-risk gang-prone and gang member youth. ------------------------- The provision of additional social opportunities, i.e., the development of a variety of targeted educational, training, and employment programs, is the second most important component over the long term for the reduction and prevention of the youth gang problem, particularly in chronic contexts. The schools need to provide remedial and enriched educational programs for gang-prone and hardcore gang youths. Education, training, and jobs are especially critical for older youth still in gangs who are not in school but who are at "positive risk" at a certain point in their social maturation for leaving the gangs, or for decreased participation in criminal gang activity. A key objective of these programs should be developing socially competent youth, whether in or out of school. (See School and Employment manuals.) 3.Social Intervention ------------------------- Social intervention is based on an "outreach" and linkage approach of gang youth to the conventional society. ------------------------- Youth-serving agencies and grassroots community groups must "reach out" and act as a link between gang youth and the conventional world. Staff or adult volunteers of these organizations must develop meaningful relationships with these youth. Community-based youth agencies should facilitate access to pertinent opportunity systems and exercise social controls that contribute to the socialization of gang youth. Special efforts are also required to coordinate services for these youth. (See Community-Based Youth Agency manual.) 4. Suppression ------------------------- The strategy of suppression is defined in broad social control terms and requires more than the involvement of criminal justice agencies. ------------------------- Social control procedures, particularly those of criminal justice, but also of community-based agencies, are essential for community protection and the prevention and reduction of the problem. Youth gang suppression involves not only law enforcement but a variety of other agencies and community groups in the targeting, monitoring, supervision, and if necessary, restraint of gang offenders. It also requires the anticipation, prevention, and limitation of the effects of gang crime in particular situations to protect both youth participants and the community. ------------------------- Criminal justice strategies must also include community mobilization, social intervention, and opportunities provision. ------------------------- Arrest, prosecution, imprisonment, and close supervision of gang youth are insufficient, however, unless joined with other community- oriented strategies to achieve long-term impact on the problem. This means that community-based agencies and local groups must accept and collaborate with criminal justice agencies in patrol, surveillance, and certain information- sharing under conditions that protect both youth and the community. Police, prosecution, and other criminal justice agencies must develop a variety of social intervention, opportunities, prevention, and community involvement programs to supplement their primary goal of suppressing gang crime. (See especially Police, Prosecution, and Probation manuals.) Furthermore, policymakers, administrators, and practitioners in the criminal justice system have a special responsibility to withstand pressures from the public and other units of the justice system to carry out an exclusive strategy of suppression to deal with the youth gang problem. Organizational Change and Development ------------------------- Organizational development and change focuses on better use of internal agency resources to deal with the youth gang problem. ------------------------- Finally, the above strategies need to be appropriately organized based on the nature and scope of the problem in the community and the mission of the particular organization. Organizational development and change require better use and reallocation of available resources within agencies and neighborhoods. Common definitions, improved communication, resident involvement, and coordination within as well as across agencies and communities are also required. Both community mobilization and organizational development strategies, whether in emerging or chronic gang problem contexts, should be closely interrelated to create efficient and cohesive system arrangements for dealing with the gang problem. Targeting ------------------------- Targeting of certain communities, gang, and gang members is necessary to make the best use of limited resources for dealing with the problem. ------------------------- To conserve resources and most effectively deal with the youth gang problem, it is important to target certain communities, organizational contexts, gangs, and gang members or gang-prone youth. Special emphasis on community mobilization is required in both emerging and chronic gang communities. Opportunity provision must also be emphasized for chronic problem communities and contexts. Neighborhoods and organizations, particularly schools, experiencing serious gang problems, should be priority targets for suppression and intervention efforts. The most serious gang problem youths in the most violent gangs in the highest gang crime rate areas should be targeted first. ------------------------- High gang crime neighborhoods, certain types of gangs, and gang members should receive priority attention. ------------------------- Certain youth gangs or gang-like groups clearly committed to violent and serious criminal activity should receive priority attention. This is to avoid unnecessary labelling and widening the net of gang delinquency and crime through inappropriate criminal justice and community-based agency attention. It is important to concentrate resources on the heart of the presenting problem. Also, individual youth should be targeted in the following order of priority purposes: ------------------------- Key targets of community agency and grassroots attention should be leadership and core gang as well as high-risk gang-prone youths. ------------------------- First, leadership and core gang youths -- to disrupt gang networks, protect the community, and facilitate the reintegration of these youths through community-based or institutional programming into legitimate pursuits; Second,high-risk gang-prone youth who are often younger or aspiring gang members who give clear indication of beginning participation in criminal gang activities -- to prevent further criminal gang involvement through early intervention, preferably community-based services; and Third, regular and peripheral gang members -- to generally address their needs for control and intervention services. Finally, a caution! The policies, procedures, and steps recommended in the manuals should be viewed as promising but as yet not systematically researched through field testing. Overview of the Grassroots Organization Manual ------------------------- This manual specifically addresses issues for grassroots organizations. ------------------------- This manual will describe the principles and steps involved in organizing a local neighborhood to confront the youth gang problem. It focuses on the role of the neighborhood organizer, organizer trainer, and local community leader(s) in mobilizing energies, resources, and action by parents, local citizens, neighborhood groups, agencies, and concerned officials at the grassroots level. It specifically complements two other technical assistance manuals in this series: General Community Design, which emphasizes the community design or planning components; and Community Mobilization, which emphasizes the tasks of the more established agencies in the coordination and development of a larger and inclusive network of criminal justice and community-based agencies. Each of the manuals somewhat overlaps the other. ------------------------- It is important to define neighborhood organizing with respect to the gang problem. ------------------------- Grassroots or neighborhood organizing is a process of empowering local citizens, groups, and organizations to address neighborhood problems. Its goals are generally to improve the social living circumstances of local residents, through local efforts and through developing organized capacity to influence decisions and programs by established agencies that affect them. Specifically, the grassroots organization is situated at the point of impact of the youth gang problem and must energize often fearful and ambivalent local citizens to control and reduce the problem. Patterns of neighborhood organizing vary with the scope and seriousness of the gang problem; the extent of local resident and organizational capacities; local organizing traditions; and distinctive cultural, racial/ethnic, economic, ecological, and other factors. ------------------------- There are seven key elements in organizing the local neighborhood. ------------------------- This manual identifies the elements and steps of a neighborhood organizing approach to the youth gang problem. (See also Table 1, Appendix C.) The action areas to be covered are: Problem Recognition Assessment Creating Neighborhood Organization Structures and Processes Neighborhood Mobilization Program Staffing, Staff Selection, and Training Funding Research and Evaluation Summary The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Justice Department, entered into a cooperative agreement with the School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, to conduct the National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program. The scope and seriousness of the problem was analyzed from both an organizational and community perspective. Models or prototypes were developed. Technical Assistance manuals were created that focussed on the implementation of policies and procedures in emerging and chronic gang problem communities and contexts. The manuals address the gang problem in terms of critical characteristics of the youth gang, its members, and the way the problem is defined. Focus is on controlling, reducing, and preventing gang- motivated violent and serious criminal youth gang activity. The mission of suppression and intervention is specified as requiring five key strategies: community mobilization, opportunities provision, social intervention, suppression, and organizational change and development. Key targets of a program should be gang leaders and core members as well as high-risk gang-prone youth. This particular manual focuses on organizing local citizens and groups in a cooperative effort at the point of problem impact. CHAPTER 2: PROBLEM RECOGNITION ------------------------- Program recognition elements. ------------------------- The specific topics to be covered in this chapter are: o Community Leadership o Articulating the Problem o Tapping the Neighborhood Influence Structure o Organizing Local Concerns o Holding Meetings/Hearings o Developing Credibility o Summary Community Leadership Some respected individual or individuals highly identified with the interests of the community must feel sufficiently concerned, indignant, or morally outraged to speak out about the problem or threat of a problem of gangs in the community. Such concern can be expressed by a church leader, a mother of a youth injured in a gang fight, a youth agency director, a local school principal, a local police commander, or a local political leader. He or she must externalize his or her deep feelings and impress upon others the reality that a problem exists or is about to exist and that something needs to be done about it. ------------------------- Efforts of the concerned grassroots leader(s) are very important. ------------------------- This person has to address local neighborhood citizen ignorance, fear, and apathy; antagonisms between gangs and/or with local residents and businesses; and a sense of hopelessness that very little needs to be done or can be done about the problem. The efforts of the concerned leader(s) create the impetus for recognizing the problem and initiating the neighborhood response process. Articulating the Problem ------------------------- Concern about the gang problem must be forcefully expressed. ------------------------- The concerned leader or coalition of aroused individuals of a local group or organization must give expression to the problem in such a way that it is heard and influences others to be aware and to act. o Some specific gang act occurs that must be articulated as a threat of a problem or the "last straw" of a problem, and that it should not be tolerated in the neighborhood. o The threat and danger of gang activity to the local community's well-being as a whole, as well as to that of specific families and their gang and nongang youths, must be stressed in clear and forthright terms. o The need for a total neighborhood rather than a particular individual neighborhood group or agency response must be emphasized. o The necessity for a constructive and complex attack on the criminal and delinquent activities of the gang must be stressed by the grassroots leader. o Only a rudimentary outline of an approach to the problem by concerned leadership is appropriate at this early stage of the mobilization process. Tapping the Neighborhood Influence Structure ------------------------- Neighborhood response to the problem must be developed. ------------------------- The concerned leader(s) is aware that he or she must tap into the local influence structure for support of antigang efforts. He/she should propose that key neighbors, residents, or local influentials as well as heads of local agencies or other community groups join in sharing information about the gang problem and calling it to the attention of local residents as well as to the "power" structure, whether police, agency bureaucrats, professionals, local business persons, or politicians. o The concerned leader(s) must begin to communicate with a range of persons who are directly affected by the problem, including housewives, residents in public housing projects, parents of school children, pastors of local churches, etc. o The concerned leader(s) attempts to energize other citizens to respond by emphasizing that the cost of not acting is greater than doing something to protect their families, other young people and local citizens, and their property. o The concerned leader(s) needs to identify those other citizens who are also capable of acting in a forceful and responsible way about the problem. o Various local information distribution mechanisms, e.g., local media,school or agency newspapers, and a special meeting can be used to encourage citizens to step forward to participate in the antigang program. Organizing Local Concerns ------------------------- Persuading others in the community to deal with the problem. ------------------------- Once the concerned leader(s) has taken initial steps to voice the problem and influence significant others to do likewise, he must consider the best way to bring people together and organize neighborhood concerns. o A place to meet for the community group must be selected. This can be the local school, a local church, a community center, or a local citizen's or a parent's home or apartment. o Organizing tasks must be assigned, such as letter writing, telephoning, putting up notices or posters about the meeting or formal organization of the neighborhood's efforts. o A preliminary sharing of information and feelings about the problem should occur. o A temporary committee or organization and arrangements for calling a neighborhoodwide meeting should be developed. o Of special importance should also be personal visits to other specific persons or representatives of agencies or organizations not present who are or should be concerned about the problem and the urgency of doing something to combat it. Holding Meetings/Hearings ------------------------- Open neighborhood meetings must be held to involve local citizens and agencies in a network to address the problem. ------------------------- One or more large neighborhood meetings or hearings must then be planned and implemented either directly by the initially concerned group, or in collaboration with an established agency or community organization. Key law enforcement and other public officials should be involved. A network of local groups, individuals, and organizations must begin to be constructed for the "long haul." Local jealousies, competition, and conflicts may arise and will need to be overcome. o It is extremely important that parents of youth directly affected by the problem, local groups, block clubs, tenant groups, ministerial associations, business person's organizations, and youth agencies be encouraged to join together in a common effort. o Special efforts should be made to obtain the views not only of concerned citizens but of agencies and organizations including the police, with special resources to deal with the problem. o An appropriate balance of views that emphasizes suppression, provision of social opportunities, and social intervention with youth should be sought. o Those who present formal testimony at the hearings should be urged to avoid propaganda, global approaches, and self-serving interests. Issues of turf should be muted and controlled. o The meeting(s) should be carefully arranged so that preliminary ideas about what to do about the problem are forthcoming: o everyone who wants to should have a chance to express his or her views; o key decisions about future planning should be made or approved; o minutes should be kept; and o the results of the meeting widely disseminated, via local flyers or media reports. o Followup meetings or hearings may be required, particularly if insufficient persons were present, insufficient communication or support for doing something specific about the problem was generated, or some other necessary followup action is required. o Some funding to support the organizing and later action phases must also be sought before, during, or after the hearing(s) through contributions from local citizens, organizations, churches, a city agency, or foundation. Fund-raising efforts must be specifically planned. Developing Credibility ------------------------- The neighborhood leader must establish credibility. ------------------------- Because of the high level of suspicion and often fragmentation of organizing and service delivery efforts in most gang problem communities, the leader or organizer must establish and then sustain credibility that he or she is a dedicated, honest, and competent person. It should be clear that he/she is not primarily furthering his or her own interests, personally, politically, or economically. o He/she must be open and direct in speech and actions. o He/she should patiently explain and demonstrate that his actions are rationally, racially/ethnically, and culturally responsive to the gang problem. ------------------------- Educating the neighborhood about the nature, scope, and alternatives in dealing with the problem. ------------------------- o He/she should engage in a process of education and persuasion of local citizens, other agency, and neighborhood leaders that the gang problem, as complex as it is, is solvable, and that it can be controlled. However, he/she must state that a single type of neighborhood group or organizational approach will not be sufficient. The structure and program that evolves to combat the problem must be collective. o A promise should be generated of joint sharing in efforts and additional resources that will hopefully be forthcoming. ------------------------- A collective approach, carefully thought through, is essential. ------------------------- o The rush to a quick solution, a march, or a protest, should not be entirely avoided. Some tangible and limited action that promises or ensures success must be carried out. o An ad hoc committee or planning group of trusted and competent individuals should be appointed to conduct the assessment and develop specific analysis and understanding of the problem, resulting in a more formal and specific plan. Summary The problem recognition process begins usually with a concerned individual(s) with courage enough to speak out about the gang problem. The message must be heard as the neighborhood leader takes on the local influence structure for support of antigang efforts. The best way to organize neighborhood concerns usually takes the form of a series of meetings or hearings that involve representatives of other local groups, and community-based and criminal justice agencies. Because of the high level of suspicion and disorganization, particularly in gang-ridden areas the neighborhood, the organizer must demonstrate a great deal of credibility. CHAPTER 3: ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING The specific topics covered in the development of the assessment are: o Purpose of the Assessment o Elements of the Assessment o Who Should Participate in Planning o Inducing Parents, Local Citizens, Groups, and Organizations to Participate o Planning Further Hearings and Formal Meetings o Countering Local Group or Agency Manipulation and Gang Intimidation o Summary Purpose of the Assessment The purpose of the assessment from the perspective of the grassroots organization is to develop an awareness of the specifics of the gang problem, local resources -- funding, individuals, agencies - - available, and the will and capacity to do something about it in a shared and well-planned manner. Most important is the development of an understanding that the problem is manageable through a combined use of local parents, citizen, and organizational efforts, together with outside assistance. ------------------------- Building an organization, planning, and assessment are interconnected. ------------------------- The purpose of assessment and planning is to begin to build an organization and develop its legitimacy and acceptance locally and from citywide governmental and funding agencies. The local plan and pattern of action that evolves needs to be creditable, sanctioned, and financially supported. Elements of the Assessment (See Table 2, Appendix C) ------------------------- An ad hoc committee should be formed. ------------------------- An ad hoc committee should be established and become responsible for the assessment. The committee must secure reliable and valid data to understand the problem and to develop a plan and a program. The following types of questions should be raised: 1.What is the nature and scope of the youth gang problem, e.g., o What are the gang behaviors being committed? o Where and when does the problem occur? o Who are the youth involved? o Whose children are involved as offenders or victims? ------------------------- Relevant information about the nature of the problem and its causes should be obtained. ------------------------- o Who are the gang leaders? What is the nature of criminal or threatening gang organization? o Is this an emerging, reemerging, or chronic gang problem? (Has the problem occurred before on the street or in the neighborhood?) 2. What are the causes of the problem, e.g., o What are the immediate or precipitating reasons for the gang events or crises: rivalry between specific gangs; bad relations between street youth and certain neighbors; release of leaders from prison; increased use of sophisticated weaponry; poorly supervised agency or school activities; certain families in greater crises and having a harder time taking care of their children? o What are the longer term causes, e.g., lack of jobs; abandoned or poor housing; inadequate schools or training programs; closing down of recreational or social service agencies; growth of a low-income and/or newcomer population in the neighborhood; relative increase in the youth population; intergroup, interagency, racial/ethnic, political conflicts; departure of middle class leadership from the neighborhood? Resources and programs available to deal with the problem. 3. What resources and programs are presently available within and outside the neighborhood to deal with those problems, e.g., o Which parents and how many can be organized to participate in the antigang crime program? o What neighborhood groups, tenant organizations, block clubs, if any, are currently addressing the problem on their own, and with what means? o What are the police doing about the problem? How responsive are they to citizen or business calls for assistance? Are they targeting the wrong youth? Are they being too rough or abusive? o What are the schools doing about troublemaker gang youth? What can they do to better protect the "good" children? o What are the local churches doing about the problem? Do the preachers talk about the problem or speak with the parents of the gang members? o What is it that youth really want and need? o Are the youth agencies reaching out to those youth? o Are there any organizations or groups outside the community that have experience and can be called on to help with the problem? o Can local politicians be helpful with new laws or better enforcement of existing laws and regulations? In the process of obtaining answers to these questions from various sources -- parents, neighbors, police, agency representatives, business owners, ministers, local government officials, and local residents, including gang and nongang youth -- certain other local citizens, community group, and agency representatives will begin to emerge as influential or potentially influential. ------------------------- Identification of local neighborhood leaders, a structure, and an organizing process. ------------------------- The ad hoc planning committee or the organizer should begin to identify: o those persons or organizations that will be most influential and committed to dealing with the problem; o the programs or activities that should be developed; and o the resources of other citizens, local groups, and organizations that can be used in a collaborative effort. Who Should Participate in Planning ------------------------- The assessment process is the basis for later stages of organizing the neighborhood to deal with the problem. ------------------------- Those who can provide data about the problem should be contacted. They and other citizens should be educated on how they can contribute to carry out the antigang or related social development program. An existing neighborhood, interagency council, or task force should also be adapted or expanded to deal with the gang problem. A special gang committee can be created in an established local agency. The gang problem can also become part of the agenda of existing neighborhood groups concerned with more general issues of delinquency, crime, education, employment, economic development, neighborhood beautification, etc., but now in a more coordinated fashion. (See also Chapter 4 below). The following persons and organizations should be contacted to participate in the assessment and planning process: o parents and local citizens; o the local police precinct or district commander and an officer of the youth division or the gang crime unit; o representatives of other criminal justice agencies including prosecutors, probation, judges, parole, and correctional officers who have shown an interest in the problems of the neighborhood; o school representatives, including the principal or special security personnel, of key schools with gang problems in the district. The district superintendent should be invited as well; o personnel from community-based youth and human service, especially mental health agencies, and nearby hospitals with trauma units; o representatives of local business, industrial organizations, and unions; o local political officials who are or should be responsive to the needs and concerns of local residents; and o selected individual former gang and current gang influentials who are knowledgeable about the gang situation and who can make a constructive contribution toward its control and reduction. Inducing Parents, Local Citizens, Groups, and Organizations to Participate In high gang crime and threatened neighborhoods there is often a special need to develop positive and negative inducements to obtain data and prepare for a meaningful organizing process. ------------------------- Ways to get residents and agency leaders to participate in the problem assessment tasks. ------------------------- The organizer should be especially sensitive to factors that make parents and local citizens, political leaders, decisionmakers or other influentials willing to participate in a mutual learning and understanding process, to recognize that a problem exists, and to take the collaborative action that may be needed. These inducements include: o pressure by parents and neighbors on each other; o pressure on local government officials, higher echelon agency or community group leaders, and local neighborhood or district representatives to assist the neighborhood to deal with the problem; and ------------------------- Making formal neighborhood leaders accountable for doing something about the problem. ------------------------- o use of the media to broadcast the problem or assist in attacking a particular agency or official for failing to address the problem or provide necessary data. ------------------------- Positive inducement or reinforcements to persuade others in the neighborhood to participate in the assessment. ------------------------- The following kinds of positive arguments can be used by the ad hoc planning committee or organizer to persuade parents, local citizens, and agencies to participate in the assessment and planning process: o expression of moral concern that the lives of individual youth and others in the community could be saved if concerted efforts are made to discover the full dimensions of the problem and establish a well-organized antigang approach; o protection of young students going to and from school will be achieved if the problem is better understood and addressed; o educational and social development of gang and nongang youth will be improved if the problem is adequately identified; o the whole neighborhood will profit if everyone pitches in to understand and attempt to deal with the problem; and o action with regard to the problem and funding for programs can occur only if a clear case is made that a problem exists. ------------------------- Negative inducement or reinforcement may also be required to achieve an adequate level of neighborhood involvement and participation. ------------------------- The following kinds of negative arguments can also be used by the organizer to induce cooperation: o opportunities to develop a comprehensive view and analysis of the problem will be lost; o effective relationships with other specific agencies and community groups will deteriorate or be terminated if the reluctant organization does not cooperate; o key funding agencies, will be urged to sever links with organizations and community groups that do not fully supply data and participate in the organizing process; and o certain organizations may have developed data on the gang problem but are reluctant to share it. Therefore, specific actions including petitions, marches, and even legal action may be taken against these particular organizations -- for example, the police or other public organizations -- if they do not cooperate, plan effective action, and develop appropriate programs to protect the community. ------------------------- Staff expertise and positive relationships with community are important in the organizing process. ------------------------- In the data provision and early planning stages, the use of volunteers or staff who are from the community, have positive relations with various local agencies and neighborhood groups, and can secure outside expertise and resources are essential. Planning Further Hearings and Formal Meetings While participation in the process, should be mainly by local community groups, parents, and individual citizens, assessment and planning should be linked to some larger consortium of organizations with scope and influence beyond the local neighborhood such as a coalition of neighborhood organizations or a United Way. A neighborhoodwide or even a citywide meeting should be sponsored by the local group. The meeting should be planned in such a way that: ------------------------- Various individuals and groups from the neighborhood and the larger community should be involved. ------------------------- o all interested and concerned parties have an opportunity to present their views about solving the problem; o special effort should be made to involve all of the citizens and local groups closest to the problem, to the extent even that special assistance is provided in the development of written presentations; o the oral presentations should be brief and relevant to the gang problem; o outside governmental and funding groups with the ability to address the problem must be invited to attend, at least to hear the presentations; and o the planning conference or hearing should be held at a time and location that can draw a wide array of both concerned local citizens and representatives of organizations. ------------------------- The hearing or conference proceedings should be summarized and the report widely distributed. ------------------------- The hearing or conference report that results should be a brief summary of the proceedings and distributed widely with conclusions by the planning committee as to: o key policies and activities that will guide the development of the antigang program; o the nature and extent of local citizen and parent participation in the various activities planned; o the nature of the neighborhood coalition that will underwrite the programs; and o suggestions for the sequence of activities and programs that the local organization will develop and coordinate. Countering Local Group or Agency Manipulation and Gang Intimidation Local communities affected by gang problems, particularly chronic problem neighborhoods, are often disorganized, fearful, and in a state of trauma. It may be difficult to obtain citizen participation in the assessment and planning process as well as in later significant efforts to control and attack the problem. Local citizens may fear injury or retaliation from gang members. Certain local individuals, community groups, and agencies may attempt to manipulate decisions or exploit the gang situation for their own benefit. These manipulative actions can worsen the problem, directly and indirectly. The community leader(s) or organizer should be aware that: o some citizens will be reluctant to participate in antigang program planning because they are victims or relatives of victims of gang members and have been warned not to be present at these hearings; o some owners of businesses or homeowners will express fear of retaliation against themselves or property, if they appear ready to take action to control the gang problem; and o some gang members may be prepared to provide information about gang activities and assist the community to counter gang influence but fear retaliation from certain of their peers or from the police. ------------------------- Efforts at manipulation or intimidation during the assessment and later planning phases should be anticipated. ------------------------- The organizer should be aware further that gang members themselves may: o appear outside of the meeting hall to intimidate or scare off citizens groups who try to attend; o attempt directly to participate at such meetings, claiming that local agencies deny them services or that the police unnecessarily harass them; and o insist that they are a positive force in the neighborhood, since they protect citizens and businesses from other gangs attempting to invade. In anticipation of these situations the organizer should: Police protection at the hearing should be obtained, if necessary. o solicit police protection for a sufficient period of time before, during, and after the hearing(s); o take testimony and advice from certain citizens in camera or in such a way that these individuals are not identified; and o request commentary by reliable informants who know what is happening, but may not be directly involved as victims. Specific manipulative tactics may be attempted and should be countered. The organizer should also be aware that certain groups, informants, or even local political officials: o may misrepresent their agency efforts and/or exaggerate the negative conduct of gangs; o claim a unique capacity to effectively cope with the gang problem without proof; and o attack the assessment and planning effort as insufficiently sensitive to special ethnic or racial issues. These and other efforts to manipulate or subvert the assessment and planning process should be prevented and countered as effectively as possible. The organizer, community leader, or chairperson of the planning committee should: o anticipate the organizational interests, concerns, and strategies of the various groups and individuals at the hearing or after it; o pursue an open neighborhood discussion and problem-solving approach, characterized by sensitivity and good will; o develop a set of timelines for achieving various program objectives; and o establish a basis or procedure for a permanent or longer term structure to implement plans. Summary An assessment must be conducted to develop understanding of the scope and seriousness of the youth gang problem and to determine what to do about it in a shared and well-planned way. Reliable and valid data should be collected. Different kinds of individuals and organizations who are concerned with the problem, have expertise about the problem or those related to it, and access to resources should be involved, including parents, local residents, and former gang members. Special inducements may be needed to obtain data and stimulate the interest of individuals and organizations to participate in the planning process. A series of further meetings should be planned. The organizer should be aware of attempts to manipulate these meetings for personal and group-interest purposes. He/she needs to prepare for a possible attempt at gang intimidation of participants at the hearings in the planning process. Various means may be required to ensure open neighborhood discussion to facilitate a genuine problem-solving approach. The police should be present to protect local citizens providing information about specific gang problems. CHAPTER 4: CREATING NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES The specific topics to be covered in this chapter are: o Contributing to Organizational Capacity o Developing a Relevant Community/Coalitional Structure o Establishing Appropriate Community Group and Agency Interactions and Programs o Creating Meaningful Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Procedures o Summary ------------------------- A special structure should be established to carry the grassroots mobilization process forward. ------------------------- Neighborhood mobilization moves ahead when a consortium of parents, local citizens, groups, and community agencies agree that the results of the assessment and planning process require the establishment of a special structure to deal with the problem. Two key interrelated neighborhood mobilization objectives, however, have to be met. All key actors -- whether individuals, groups, or organizations -- who can make a significant contribution to resolving the problem must get a "piece of the action," but only on condition that they cooperate or collaborate in interrelated, if not interdependent, ways consistent with goals and strategies of the approach that evolves. It may be appropriate and desirable for the neighborhood antigang mobilization effort to be independent or sponsored by a broad-scale community organization with a range of social control, social service, and community development objectives. A local community-based youth service or human services agency, or a criminal justice agency can also sponsor, stimulate, or facilitate the development of the local grassroots neighborhood antigang effort. In any case, a special antigang organization structure should develop appropriate committees or subcommittees and rules of procedure. A policy and various task committees should be set up (at a minimum). Contributing to Organizational Capacity The organizer, agency, or community leader should take action with the expectation that organizational and economic resources will be invested in the anticipated neighborhood antigang program. He/she must help build the capacity and value of the organization to act. The organizer or neighborhood leader must: o see the problem as sufficiently serious to warrant ongoing attention, policy, and/or program development; o develop specifications that demonstrate that the problem is at least partially solvable; ------------------------- The organizer should persuade local influential and outside agencies to invest in the planning and implementation of programs to deal with the problem. o persuade local influential, including parents or residents, that the approaches and actions taken will benefit them in a variety of ways, not only alleviating or resolving specific aspects of the gang problem, but enhancing their own long-term family, group, or organizational interests; and o emphasize the importance of local citizen "sweat equity" in dealing with the problem of "taking back the streets." Developing a Relevant Community/Coalitional Structure ------------------------- A variety of means are required to ensure the antigang structure will be viable. ------------------------- Consideration should be given to the different approaches to be employed in different kinds of gang problem neighborhoods. Of special interest are the different structures and processes required in emerging and chronic problem cities under different racial, ethnic, generational, social, and economic conditions. For example, the gang problem will differ in some African-American, Latino, Asian, and white ethnic neighborhoods. Further differences will be found in distinctive organizational histories and responses to gang problems. ------------------------- The schools, community-based youth agencies, and the police are an important base for organizing efforts in the emerging gang problem neighborhood. ------------------------- The organizer in the emerging gang problem neighborhood should: o focus primarily on parent groups, block clubs, local schools, youth-serving organizations, and the police; and secondarily, on other criminal justice agencies, and local business and industry in the development of an appropriate coalitional structure. Key activities and programs should emphasize prevention and early intervention since older gang leaders and gang patterns are not yet well established. More specifically, the organizer should: o encourage the development of local citizen's groups or committees that will work closely with police, school, and youth agencies around the gang problem; o emphasize the importance of local parent and neighborhood resident involvement in school-based efforts to deal with the problem; o attempt to form a parent or mother's group directed at parent education about gangs and learning how to control their own children who may be gang members; o encourage neighborhood youth agencies to reach out to the schools to collaborate on and support remedial academic programs directed at youth engaged in gang activities or who are at high risk of gang membership; and o form parent groups, committees of representatives of agencies, and churches to reach out to help newcomer and minority families where the gang problem is most likely to evolve. The organizer, particularly in the chronic gang problem neighborhood should, in addition: o assist in the development of a special independent advisory committee comprising organizations representative of individuals with expertise in dealing with the problem, which can serve a monitoring function; o focus also on outreach to older gang youth who may be ready to leave the gang; o assist in the integration of corrections and parole agencies with local groups dealing with gang youth; and ------------------------- Additional resources for opportunities provision for gang youth are required. ------------------------- o pressure public agencies, and take militant social action, if necessary, to obtain resources for gang youth, especially in the development of remedial education, training, and job programs. Establishing Appropriate Community Group and Agency Interactions and Programs ------------------------- Key organizations should be persuaded to participate in the anti-gang program. ------------------------- The organizer must be especially alert to those conditions that contribute to apathy and subvert local citizen and coalitional agency efforts at the neighborhood level. He should develop the means through persuasion and pressure to both activate community involvement and facilitate a coordinated approach. The organizer needs to: o use influence, support, or pressure from citizen groups and/or local organizations to persuade parents, community groups, and agencies to participate in gang suppression and intervention programs; o mediate interpersonal and local conflicts that impede collaboration among agencies and community groups; o diagnose local situations and develop appropriate techniques to overcome resistance or at least mitigate the effect of the particular group's or organization's absence in the communitywide effort; ------------------------- The neighborhoodwide program to deal with gangs should not become a ceremonial arrangement. ------------------------- o understand that a neighborhoodwide antigang structure can often become a token or ceremonial arrangement where no real interagency, significant community group cooperation, or substantial citizen involvement takes place; o understand that the gang problem must be addressed through a sustained effort over a substantial period of time, usually several years; and o seek additional resources for various programs, preferably on a coalitional basis. Creating Meaningful Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Procedures ----------------------- Neighborhood organization requires the use of appropriate strategies and targeting of specific categories of youth. ------------------------- Specific goals and objectives for the reduction and prevention of gang-related crime should be based on the primary strategy of neighborhood mobilization as well as complementary strategies of suppression, social intervention, and opportunities provision. Priority short- and long-range objectives to deal with different aspects of the problem must be explicitly detailed. For example, a local block club or improvement association, organized with the aid of a local human service agency, should set certain objectives: o neighbors patrol the streets near school at dismissal time, in collaboration with the school and police; ------------------------- How the different agencies and local groups should collaborate in specific programs and activities needs to be developed in some detail. ------------------------- o collaborate with the police to prevent gang youths from congregating on certain corners and selling drugs at night; o assist teachers with tutoring and supervision of children in class, after class, as well as on field trips; and o parents will visit each other to learn from, and instruct each other, on how to protect and supervise their children with respect to gang involvement. The neighborhood organizer should also specifically: o develop reciprocal roles and activities involving the various criminal justice, community- based agency, and other grassroots groups to target certain gangs and locations; o encourage the use of explicit agency and community group agreements as well as regular and crisis meetings, especially in chronic gang problem jurisdictions, to discuss, for example: o how local citizens will cooperate with the police and probation; how local citizens will receive and operate certain communication and other equipment borrowed from the police in their patrol activities; o how both police and citizen groups will work closely with school security and teachers in school patrols to protect students; o how and when parent groups will assist teachers with certain afterschool activities, including tutorials targeted to younger gang youth; o how staff of agencies and neighborhood volunteers, sometimes with sharply different views about how to handle gang problems, will regularly meet to work on specific techniques of collaboration; and ------------------------- Accountability mechanisms to ensure collaborative programming should be developed. ------------------------- o how to develop accountability mechanisms so that each activity will be closely monitored and evaluated on a regular basis. Summary A special structure to deal with the youth gang problem should be established. It may be appropriate for the neighborhood antigang mobilization structure to be a new independent organization or a unit sponsored by some larger, well-established, broad-scale community organization. The structure that develops should have some permanency, committees, subcommittees, and rules of procedures. The organizer contributes to the capacity of the organization and supports the efforts of individual citizens to act. Different organizational and coalitional approaches are required in different kinds of gang problem neighborhoods. A more formal structure and closer involvement with varied elements of the justice system may be necessary in chronic problem areas. The organizer should be alert to these conditions which might interfere with collaboration between and among local citizens and agencies in dealing with the gang problem. Specific goals, objectives, and strategies have to be created for the different neighborhood contexts. CHAPTER 5: NEIGHBORHOOD MOBILIZATION o The Police o Schools o Community-Based Youth Agency o Established Local Organizations and Agencies o Selected Principles of Good Neighborhood Organizing o Summary ------------------------- Summarizing the neighborhood mobilization process. ------------------------- The following chapter amplifies procedures and principles described above and applies them to specific agency and community group activities. Emphasis is on interagency and local citizen interaction and collaboration. For further information on these and other program elements consult particular agency and organizational technical assistance manuals as well as the General Community Design and Community Mobilization Manuals. The Police ------------------------- The role of the grassroots organization vis-a-vis the police. ------------------------- o The police should be invited to local neighborhood organization meetings on a regular basis to explain their progress in dealing with the gang problem. o The police should be requested to provide specific information on gang problems and their actions to control these problems. o Specific arrangements with the police should be established for rapid response to community gang crises that arise. o Special training and equipment should be provided by the police to local citizens patrol groups in monitoring gang activities, particularly drug-related trafficking. o Witness protection procedures for local citizens involved in gang matters should be carefully worked out, and consistently and vigorously implemented. o The police should be encouraged to provide gang awareness training to various community groups, including students, parents, residents, church members, teachers, and storekeepers. o The police should be requested to provide protection for citizens during paint-out or clean- up graffiti efforts. o Police patrol officers should also be encouraged to make social service referrals, and perform community policing activities, particularly through foot patrol activities in the most gang-ridden parts of the neighborhood. o The local community group should invite police to participate as role models in camping trips, neighborhood festivals, ballgames, etc. that involve neighborhood youth, including gang members. Schools ------------------------- The role of the grassroots organization vis-a-vis the schools. ------------------------- o Grassroots groups, particularly mother's groups, should encourage the development of school prevention and intervention unit in gang-ridden schools, involving representation from human service agencies. o PTAs, school councils, and other community school groups should include parents and neighborhood residents in efforts to raise academic standards and achievement, paying special attention to the needs and problems of youth gang members. o The grassroots organization should be particularly involved in assisting the schools to develop culturally sensitive programs since many gang youth will be from minority groups. Community-Based Youth Agency ------------------------- The role of the grassroots organization vis-a-vis the youth agency. ------------------------- o The grassroots organization should bring pressure to bear on community-based youth agencies to coordinate their programs with the schools, providing services targeted to gang members and high-risk youth. o Grassroots organizations should arrange contacts between youth agency staff and grassroots citizen influential who have knowledge of gang youth activities to facilitate exchange of information and agency outreach efforts. o Grassroots organizations should monitor efforts of community-based youth and criminal justice agencies to ensure that gang youth and their families are receiving appropriate and sufficient services. Established Local Organizations and Agencies ------------------------- A special responsibility of the grassroots agency is to get local citizens more closely connected with efforts of local community groups. ------------------------- The established local community organization or community-based agency should assist parents, residents, block clubs, churches, and other affiliated or constituent community groups to develop a variety of activities and project that address the youth gang problem. o A wide range of educational and informational material should be used to alert and educate groups and local citizens about the gang problem and how to deal with it. o Special efforts should be made to develop relationships of trust and confidence between individual citizens or small neighborhood groups and the police, prosecution, probation, and other justice agency personnel, and vice versa. o On the other hand, local citizens, especially those who have been victimized by gangs, should be organized into special "watch" groups appearing at court or police hearings to ensure that justice is done. o Parents and local citizens should take special mentor roles in a variety of gang prevention and early intervention social, cultural, recreational, and remedial educational programs. o Parent groups should be encouraged through special media campaigns and conferences to become active in encouraging youth gang members, especially their children or those of their neighbors, to settle their disputes amicably and preferably to leave the gang. o Local organizations, churches, and their constituent groups, should be proactive in assisting local residents to hold public and nonprofit agencies accountable for the funds they receive to protect and serve the community as regards the youth gang problem. Selected Principles of Good Neighborhood Organizing ------------------------- Principles of organizing, if followed, should make a positive impact. ------------------------- Despite the distinctive character of the gang problem and variable resources available to deal with it in different communities, certain basic organizing principles are required to make a positive neighborhood impact: o There should be continuous contact and communication between parents, local residents, and grassroots organization leadership. Participation of citizens for social growth as well as community problem-solving. o The local community organization should assist parents and neighborhood residents to participate in antigang activities to contribute not only to community problem-solving but also to citizen personal growth and self-confidence. o Issues, objectives, and procedures should be relatively simple at the start of the organizing process; but more complex after earlier objectives have been achieved. o The notion of organizing and community improvement requires a commitment to power-sharing among organizations, not just direction and control by a single organization. o The tendency to protect turf and avoid cooperative or collaborative efforts should be countered by a variety of positive and negative inducements as described earlier. o The tendency of organizations such as community- based agencies and grassroots organizations, to goal displacement (i.e., developing and accepting funds for one program purpose but using it for another) should be countered through use of strict accountability mechanisms. ------------------------- Focus on advocacy. -------------------------- o The tendency for grassroots organizations to move away from advocacy toward provision of specific human services should be tempered by primary emphasis on pressuring other organizations to provide the services mandated and required. o Grassroots organizations should not completely alienate the organizations, especially public agencies, that they attack. Differences at some point must be negotiated. ------------------------- Protest on moral grounds. ------------------------- o Protest or militant actions should be justified on moral grounds and as steps towards long-term objectives not simply to meet ego needs or for expedient reasons. o Fund-raising capacity depends on the development of diverse sources of income, a stable network of constituent organizations, as well as strong staff management skills. Summary Grassroots mobilization requires specific programs of action involving local citizens and agency interaction and collaboration with each other. With regard to specific organizations that the local citizens group or task force must work with, the police are of special significance. The police should be invited to local neighborhood organization meetings on regular basis. The police should be requested to provide specific information on gang control problems. Citizen antigang patrols should be established in collaboration with the police. The citizens group may need to stimulate the school to develop gang prevention and intervention curricula and programs; participate in school patrols and monitoring of gang problems; as well as assist school personnel both in school and out of school, e.g., on field trips, with monitoring, tutorial, and other teaching and supervision tasks related to the gang problem. The grassroots organization needs to work closely with community- based youth agencies and other local community organizations in the development of a variety of antigang-related activities, e.g., distribution of antigang material, building trust and communication with criminal justice agencies, monitoring the efforts of all organizations receiving funds for antigang activities, court watches, and the development of support groups for parents with youths who have been victimized by gangs. Certain basic organizing principles are required in the development of antigang programs:organizing must contribute to citizen personal growth and self-confidence; procedures need to be simple at the start of program efforts, but more complex as time goes on; grassroots organizations should be more concerned with issues and advocacy than with direct provision of services that should be primarily the responsibility of human service agencies; militant actions should not serves as ends in themselves, but as preparations for negotiations and bargaining; and neighborhood organizations require diverse sources of funding. CHAPTER 6: STAFFING, STAFF SELECTION AND TRAINING o Staff Selection o Staff Education and Training o Summary ------------------------- The grassroots organizer plays a variety of roles. ------------------------- Mobilizing local groups and citizens to develop a gang suppression and intervention structure and process requires not only a thorough understanding of gang activity but a high level of organizing skill and experience. Neighborhood organizing calls for commitment, creativity, courage, and persistence to overcome gang crises, interorganizational conflicts, and political obstacles. The grassroots organizer must be a catalyst, problem-solver, educator, and developer of local citizen leadership with respect to the gang problem. He or she must be especially adept at energizing apathetic or "burned-out" local citizen groups and agency workers, and even gang youth to deal with the gang problem in a rational, nonviolent, legal, and community-beneficial way. ------------------------- The grassroots organizer must be concerned with issues of neighborhood development in terms especially related to the gang problem. ------------------------- The organizer, as suggested above, must have knowledge of the policies and procedures of a range of criminal justice and community-based agencies and grassroots groups. He must have a philosophy of approach that enables him to develop ideas of social change and neighborhood development specifically related to resolution of the gang problem. Organizers should be "up-front" about their conventional values, i.e., gangs should not be considered legitimate organizations. However, gang youth, individually, should be considered capable of participation in a variety of neighborhood development and antigang efforts, under appropriate supervision. Staff Selection ------------------------- Local and neighborhood leaders and trained professionals, if necessary from outside the neighborhood, should be selected for and involved in organizing efforts. ------------------------- Senior or key staff should be selected, preferably with experience in criminal justice and social service agencies and neighborhood organizing. They should be professionals, neighborhood leaders, or highly competent citizens, either from the neighborhood or outside, identified with the interests and needs of the community. A variety of staff assistants and other community volunteers should also be selected for antigang mobilization efforts. o Ideally, staff should be representative of the class /racial/ethnic mix of local residents and possess relevant interests and competencies for productively dealing with the problem. o Local citizens should be provided with an opportunity to develop leadership skills and to qualify for advancement within the organization and be prepared for jobs in related community action or service organizations and programs, after further training. o Local citizens or even parents should not be selected as staff or volunteer workers if they are identified with criminal gang interests or seek primarily to meet personal or political status needs, which would interfere with community gang problem-solving. Staff Education and Training Community education and staff training need to be developed that is useful in getting neighborhood citizens to deal more effectively with the youth gang problem. ------------------------- Both neighborhood citizens and local agency staff should be involved in training programs. ------------------------- o High-quality short-term training courses should be developed both for citizen leaders and personnel of local agencies. Curricula should cover such topics as: o Gang Issues: o characteristics of gang behavior; o gang structure and dynamics; o basic causes of gangs: cultural, community, and policy factors; and o goals, strategies, and procedures for dealing with gang problems. o Agency Programs: ------------------------- Certain gang agency program and neighborhood mobilization issues should be raised and procedures for dealing with them discussed in the training sessions. ------------------------- o differing agency missions and available programs o key historical and community factors influencing the development of gang problem- oriented programs; and o current agency and community interrelationship factors to be taken into consideration in developing cooperation and resolving interagency and community conflicts that affect gang programming. o Neighborhood Mobilization: o Techniques required for organizing activities: o preparing for and conducting meetings; o communicating with and persuading local citizens to become involved in antigang efforts; o procedures for organizing marches, petition campaigns, etc.; o whom to communicate with and how to deal with different agencies and community groups community groups to implement gang prevention intervention, and suppression activities; o contacting and influencing local politicians and the media to support neighborhood efforts with respect to the gang problem; ------------------------- Training should involve use of former gang influentials in preparation for neighborhood development programs. ------------------------- o involving selected former gang influentials in well-supervised antigang efforts, e.g., security patrols, expunging graffiti, and reducing drug trafficking; o developing tactics for special crisis or mediation meetings; and o techniques of referring individual youth and family members to social agencies for treatment and welfare services. Summary The grassroots organizer must be a catalyst, problem-solver, educator, and developer of local citizen leadership with respect to the gang problem. Staff and neighborhood leaders should have a background of experience with the problem, preferably with experience in criminal justice and social service agencies and neighborhood organizing. An appropriate mix of professionals and nonprofessionals, local and nonlocal neighborhood people should be selected for staff persons. Staff evaluation and leadership training require the development of high-quality short-term training courses. Curricula should deal with such topics as knowledge of gangs and community issues in the development of approaches to control and reduce the problem; the nature and problems of local agency programming for gang youth; and techniques of neighborhood mobilization, including interagency coalition formation. CHAPTER 7: FUNDING o Funding Priorities o Funding Services o Summary Funding Priorities ------------------------- Funding of programs should give preference to collaborative interagency or intergroup efforts. ------------------------- Key grassroots organizers need to obtain funding for local community group antigang projects and activities. The highest priority should be given to multiple- rather than single-purpose programs. o Explicit agreement on program funding priorities should be subscribed to by all participating local groups and agencies. o An extensive neighborhood campaign should be developed among local citizens and local groups to obtain consensus on program funding principles. Public agency and foundation founders should be involved in guiding the development of this consensus. o The United Way and the Human Services Department of the city or region should develop a set of administration and fiscal standards for legitimating and registering local neighborhood organizations that can and should be funded for a variety of community development and human service programs, including antigang activities. ------------------------- Emphasis should be on interagency and intergroup programs and targeting particular gang youth for supervision and services. ------------------------- Funding priorities should be guided by the following principles: o Primary support for neighborhood mobilization activities and interrelated community group and agency programs focused on the youth gang problem; o Core gang and high-risk gang-prone youth should be targeted for appropriate community group and agency attention, activities, and services. o Needs assessment and relevant resource development must be part of a three- to five- year plan for dealing with the problem. o A special committee or advisory board should be appointed to hold local groups and agencies accountable for the funds received to implement programs. o An evaluation should be required of large- scale programs to determine which activities, strategies, and linking neighborhood group and agency mechanisms are working satisfactorily and effectively. Funding Services A successful neighborhood mobilization effort is not possible without resources. Resources include the will power, energies, and skills of many people, including parents, local residents, politicians, agency bureaucrats, professionals, former gang members, and even gang members ready to leave the gang. Nevertheless, additional funding usually must be acquired for staff, facilities, and efforts to develop new programs and organizational arrangements. These funds can also sometimes be developed or based on a reordering of existing agency program priorities and community group commitments. ------------------------- Multiple funding sources are required. ------------------------- More than a single source of funds must be developed to ensure the stability and continuity of program operations. A variety of local and nonlocal funding sources should be contacted: Local sources. 1. Local Neighborhood, City, or Region o Businesses, banks, real estate interests o Civic organizations o Hospitals and health care, including drug- treatment facilities and programs o City planning and human service agencies o Public housing, parks and recreation departments o United Way o Religious federations 2. Foundations Foundations are present in certain large cities and provide funds for a great variety of projects and programs in local communities and agencies. Each foundation has a set of interests, concerns, and procedures that govern final allocations. Grants can be large or small, for short or long periods of time. ------------------------- The Foundation Center as a contact. ------------------------- It is important to seek guidance about which foundations to contact. The Foundation Center has main offices in several cities and libraries in all 50 states. To locate the nearest library, call 1- 800-424-9836. When a particular foundation is identified, it should be contacted by phone or a letter of inquiry in order to obtain information about how to submit a grant proposal. Personal contacts may be of value in some cases. ------------------------- State agency block grant funds ------------------------- 3. State Funding Various state agencies may provide grant and contract funds to local organizations to support services to gang youth. Federal funds in the form of block grants may be available through certain state agencies that could be used for antigang programs. These include: o State Criminal Justice Planning Agency o Departments of Youth or Children Services o Health Departments, especially alcohol, drug abuse, and Mental Health units o Labor departments o Education departments The Governor's office and state legislative representatives should also be contacted for assistance in obtaining contacts for special state supported funding programs. Federal funding. Federal funding is also available through recent program initiatives of The Department of Justice, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development, but probably can be obtained only through large city or areawide consortium proposals. Summary High priority must be given to funding interagency or collaborative agency projects. Furthermore, even within an organization, special attention should be given to funding multiple- rather than single- purpose programs directed at the gang problem. While a successful neighborhood mobilization effort is not possible without additional resources, it should be recognized that resources include the determination or will power, the skills, and the energies of a great many local community persons, including parents, residents, bureaucrats, and professionals. Nevertheless, external resources must be obtained. Access to several funding sources is essential. Sources of funding include local agencies, city organizations, citizen groups, businesses, and state and federal agencies as well as foundations. CHAPTER 8: RESEARCH AND EVALUATION Summary Evaluation should focus on those aspects of the neighborhood mobilization process that contributes to the reduction and control of the youth gang problem. Ideally, the evaluation should be conducted with the assistance of a local college or university and sometimes a larger established agency to determine whether the program of activities achieves the organization's objectives. (See also General Community Design Manual section on Research and Evaluation.) ------------------------- Issues of participation of local citizens and agencies in dealing with the gang problem should be of primary concern for research and evaluation. ------------------------- Special interest should be on issues or questions of local participation: o Which local community groups, agencies, and organizations participate in the neighborhood mobilization process? o Which members of the various organizations participate in which neighborhood-related antigang activities? o Why do agency staff and neighborhood residents participate in these activities? o What do staff and residents see as positive or negative results of the organization's efforts? o What specific issues and organizing procedures facilitate maximum participation? o What is the relation between successful neighborhood organizing and reduction of the gang problem? o How does participation in antigang activities impact longer term neighborhood development and resolution of other social problems? Summary Local neighborhood groups require the assistance of a larger community organization, agency, or local university in the conduct of an evaluation of program efforts. Focus should be on the extent to which local residents and organizations are involved in and collaborate with each other to fight the gang problem and with what effect. ------------------------------ BIBLIOGRAPHY Bobo, Kim, Jackie Kendall, and Steve Max, 1991 Organizing For Social Change: A Manual for Activists in the 1990's. Washington, D.C.: Seven Locks Press. Brown, Cherie R., 1990. The Art of Coalition Building: A Guide for Community Leaders. New York: The American Jewish Committee. Flanagan, Joan. 1984. The Successful Volunteer Organization: Getting Started and Getting Results in Nonprofit, Charities, Grassroots and Community Groups. Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books, Inc. Office of Criminal Justice Planning. 1990. Community Mobilization: How to Survive in the '90's. Conference Proceedings. Office of Criminal Justice Planning, State of California. Salazar, Natalie D. 1990. Rising Above Gangs and Drugs. Community Reclamation Project, Los Angeles County Probation Department. Spergel, Irving A. 1992. General Community Design. Technical Assistance Manual. Chicago: School of Social Service Administration. ------------------------------ APPENDIX A List of Program Reports from the National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program The following is a list of draft reports developed by the National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program, University of Chicago, in cooperation with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice. Stage One Assessment of this research and development program identifies promising community and organizational responses to the youth gang problem. Stage Two Prototype/Model Development focuses on developing twelve promising prototype models to address the problem. These models specify policies and practices for the design and mobilization of efforts at the community and criminal justice levels. Stage Three Technical Assistance manuals provide guidelines for implementing the models. All reports are available in draft form from the National Youth Gang Information Center (NYGIC), 4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 730, Arlington, VA 22203. NYGIC is OJJDP's central dissemination point for all gang-related information. NYGIC provides the above reports in hardcopy and on high-density computer disks in WordPerfect 5.1. Call NYGIC toll- free at 800-446-GANG or 703-522-4007 locally for assistance. ASSESSMENT: STAGE 1 Full Reports Available: 1. Literature Review: Youth Gangs: Problem and Response, 1991, 357 pages. This comprehensive literature review covers what has been written on the youth gang issue from a research and program standpoint. 2. Survey of Youth Gang Problems and Programs in 45 Cities and 6 Sites, 1990, 297 pages. This survey reports aggregate gang or community level data on youth gang problems and programs in 45 cities and 6 institutional sites for the year 1987. 3. Community and Institutional Responses to the Youth Gang Problem, 1990, 184 pages. This report consists of case studies of how five communities and one correctional institution addressed youth gang problems in promising ways. 4. Report of the Law Enforcement Youth Gang Symposium, 1988, 152 pages. This report describes the gang intervention activities of fourteen police departments located across the United States, particularly with respect to their attempts to reduce the gang problem. 5. Law Enforcement Youth Gang Definitional Conference - Transcript, 1990, 138 pages. This is a proceeding of a conference at which gang experts from law enforcement and academia from Los Angeles city and county, Chicago and New York City were brought together in an effort to develop a uniform set of definitions (i.e., gang, gang member, gang incident) applicable to street gang phenomena across the country. 6. The Youth Gang Problem: Perceptions of Former Youth Gang Influentials. Transcripts of Two Symposia, 1990, 139 pages. These are the proceedings of two symposia at which former gang influentials -- Black and Hispanic -- describe why they joined the gang, what activities they were involved in while gang members, what factors caused them to depart from the gang, and what recommendations they had for community, policy and agency changes. 7. Client Evaluation of Youth Gang Services, 1990, 53 pages. This document reports on the perceptions of current and former youth gang members concerning the nature and efficacy of services provided by some of the programs located at our field visit sites. 8. Preventing Involvement in Youth Gang Crime, 1990, 173 pages. This report identifies indicators of Black and Hispanic youth at risk of becoming gang members in inner-city Chicago communities with high gang crime rates. 9. Stage 1: Assessment Executive Summary, 1990, 25 pages. This report summarizes the findings of the Assessment Stage of the National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program. MODEL DEVELOPMENT: STAGE 2 Gang Intervention Models recommend policies and procedures for addressing youth gang members 12 to 24 years of age. Strategies of suppression and intervention are described. Issues of prevention, although essential, are not highlighted in these documents. The models emphasize mobilizing community interest and developing distinctive institutional missions within the local juvenile justice system.