MENU TITLE: Technical Assistance Manual PAROLE. Series: OJJDP Published: Draft 1/92 68 pages 159,102 bytes PAROLE Technical Assistance Manual Thomas A. Regulus Loyola University of Chicago 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 Distributed by: Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse Box 6000 Rockville, MD 20850 1-800-638-8736 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people and organizations contributed to the development of the Parole/Aftercare Technical Assistance Manual. They brought a wealth of experience and ideas to their review of our materials. They read, evaluated, and critiqued early drafts of the document, serving as facilitator and participants at several working conferences. Several worked with us over an extended period. We hold special appreciation for their enthusiastic help. They include: Barry Glick, State Division for Youth, New York William Lockwood, Gang Information Services, California We must also thank the following for their assistance: Deirdre Morgan, Health and Social Services, Wisconsin Ellen Pruitt, Adventures in Change, Colorado Tal Owens, Bureau of Children and Youth Services, Pennsylvania Naomi Post, Restitution and Resource Planning, Pennsylvania Gil Rael, Division of Youth Services, Colorado Nate Wells, Community Learning Centers, Colorado ------------------------------ 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 Summary CHAPTER 2: YOUTH GANG MEMBERS AND PAROLE/AFTERCARE SERVICES Overview of the Parole/Aftercare Manual Program Development Summary CHAPTER 3: PREASSESSMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF THE GANG PROBLEM Stage 1 þ Preassessment Issues Stage 2 þ Assessment Summary CHAPTER 4: DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE GANG PROGRAM Stage 3 þ Action Plan Objectives Stage 4 þ Selecting and Operationalizing Strategies Stage 5 þ Program Implementation Summary CHAPTER 5: MONITORING AND EVALUATION Stage 6 þ Monitoring and Evaluation Summary BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A: LIST OF PUBLICATIONS APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY AND DISCUSSION OF TERMS APPENDIX C: FIGURES, TABLES, AND EXHIBITS ------------------------------ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Parole and aftercare agencies have a role to play in the reduction of serious and violent youth gang crime which has spread to many communities across the nation. Special gang suppression and intervention programs are needed to reduce reinvolvement of paroled gang youths in crime after their release to the community from correctional institutions. This manual outlines a six-stage parole antigang planning process: preassessment, assessment, development of program goals and objectives, strategy selection, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. The preassessment, Stage 1, prepares parole staff for the program design stage. Administrators and staff must determine whether a gang problem exists, define what is meant by gang and gang youth behavior, and establish a staff team to conduct the assessment. The assessment, Stage 2, develops objective knowledge about the gang problem and the resources of the particular parole agency and community that are available and needed to deal with it, including: the specific characteristics of the paroled gang youths, the specific problem they create for the agency and community, supervision requirements, social service needs, the chronic or emerging context of the problem, and staff capabilities necessary for an effective gang program. The summary of the assessment findings provides a prioritized set of targets and a framework for the development of the parole/aftercare agency's gang suppression and intervention program. Stage 3 of the planning process involves the establishing of program goals and specific long- and short-range objectives. In Stage 4, strategies and procedures are identified to achieve program objectives. An appropriate balance of strategies -- organizational development, community networking, suppression, social intervention, and opportunities provision -- is required. Parole agencies with serious gang parolee problems, particularly in chronic gang context communities, call for greater emphasis on all categories of strategies than do emerging gang community contexts. Stage 5 comprises detailed planning by the parole gang coordinating unit and parole supervision unit staff. The coordinating unit should provide policy direction and a design for overall integration of program elements. In Stage 6, monitoring and evaluation are used to provide assurance that program strategies and activities are implemented according to design. Monitoring and evaluation are used to determine whether program objectives are being met, and whether the gang problem is being controlled and reduced. Information is provided for modification of the program, as needed. The principles, procedures, and processes outlined in this manual are applicable to parole and aftercare programs dealing with gang youths, whether under the auspices of State, county, or local government, or private and nonprofit community agencies. ------------------------------ CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Program Mission and Background Purpose of the Manuals Problem Statement Discussion of Terms and Issues Approach to the Problem 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, employ- ment, 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 communi- ties. 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 and 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, char- acterized 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 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. 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. 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.) 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. 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. 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 the 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. 5. 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 present 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. 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. ------------------------------ I.S. CHAPTER 2: YOUTH GANG MEMBERS AND PAROLE/AFTERCARE SERVICES Overview of the Parole/Aftercare Manual Program Development Summary Overview of the Parole/Aftercare Manual Parole has a role in youth gang suppression and intervention. Parole agencies have an important role to play in controlling and preventing gang problems in the community. Successful parole supervision of gang youths who have spent a period of time in correctional institutions can reduce gang parolee recidivism and the scope and seriousness of a community's gang problem. The parole agency can also play a role in youth gang suppression and social intervention by providing leadership in broader community planning and mobilization of gang control efforts. Applications of the manual. While the focus of this manual is on youth gang members and the special problems they pose, the approaches, procedures, and policies proposed may also be relevant to other types of youth groups involved in violent and illegal activity. In no way does the special attention indicated for gang youths imply that less attention or services are required for other types of problem youth receiving parole or aftercare supervision service. While the term parole is employed, the guidelines recommended may also be useful for youth gang offenders located in other forms of aftercare programs and community supervision. The focus in this manual is on State parole/aftercare programs, but it is applicable to parole and community aftercare arrangements under the auspices of departments of corrections, youth authorities, social welfare, children and family services, and probation units. The guidelines are also applicable with appropriate modification for aftercare provided by county and city government and by voluntary service agencies. The process and principles for developing gang suppression and intervention programs outlined in this manual are general recommendations. Each parole or aftercare agency should design a program to fit its particular gang problem and circumstances. This manual should be an aid in that process. Youth Gangs and the Parole Mission Parole responsibilities. Parole agencies have two responsibilities. One is to protect the community by monitoring the behavior of paroled youths to ensure that they meet their conditions of parole and avoid renewed criminal activity. The other is to help promote gang youths make a conventional noncriminal adjustment in society by providing them with access to community- based services and resources that meet their educational, occupational, social, and residential needs. These responsibilities are difficult to achieve because gang organization, solidarity, and material incentives increase the resistance of gang members to the supervision and behavioral change efforts of parole agencies. Paroled gang youths are likely to violate parole and become reinvolved in gang crimes as a consequence. Therefore design and implementation of parole programs are necessary to counter factors associated with gang membership that can defeat effective supervision of these youths. Purposes and Assumptions of This Document Purposes of this manual. The purposes of this manual are: o the enhancement of the ability of parole agencies and their staff to reduce gang crimes by gang youths; o the development of parole services that promote positive behavioral change in gang youths; and o the strengthening of linkages between the parole agency, the correctional institution, and other community agencies and groups to achieve more effective suppression and social intervention for youth gang members. General assumptions for using the strategies. Three assumptions guide the selection and use of these strategies of suppression and intervention. o First, no single strategy or program works for all youth gang parolees or agencies, but certain combinations of strategies may be effective in controlling the problem. o Second, promising programs include an appropriate balance of organizational development, community mobilization, social intervention, and opportunities provision strategies along with suppression. o Third, parole gang suppression and intervention strategies should address three areas: o the needs and problems of individual gang youth, o internal agency planning and coordination, and o community networking between the parole agency and other juvenile/criminal justice agencies, community agencies, and grassroot organizations. Program Development Systematic knowledge of the problem is crucial for program development. Designing a gang suppression and intervention program within a parole agency should be based on systematic knowledge of the specific characteristics of paroled gang youths, the parole agency, and the community. A mix of strategies and programs should then be designed that addresses those attributes of gang youths, the agency, and community situations that are most significant for controlling and assisting paroled gang youths to curtail and reduce their offending behavior. There are six stages in program development. To achieve this, a six-stage process is recommended for parole agency staff, planners, and administrators (See Figure 1, Appendix C): 1) attending to preassessment issues; 2) assessing and evaluating characteristics of the gang problem, the parole aftercare agency, and the community; 3) defining program goals and objectives; 4) selecting specific strategies of suppression and intervention and related program activities to achieve objectives; 5) implementing the program; and 6) evaluating the program and modifying it as needed. Summary Parole and aftercare agency gang suppression and intervention programs are necessary to counteract problems gang youth parolees present to the supervision process, to protect the community from parolee reinvolvement in gang crime, and to assist the parole gang youth to make a conventional adjustment. This manual outlines a six-stage process for the design of antigang parole supervision programs. ------------------------------ CHAPTER 3: PREASSESSMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF THE GANG PROBLEM Stage 1 þ Preassessment Issues Stage 2 þ Assessment Summary Development of a successful gang suppression program requires agreement among parole administrators and staff that a gang problem exists. It also requires an objective understanding of the specific characteristics of the problem. These can be accomplished by addressing certain preassessment issues, followed by assessment of the parole gang problems. Stage 1 þ Preassessment Issues Is a Gang Problem Recognized within the Agency? A gang problem must be recognized to initiate assessment and planning. If agencies fail to recognize the existence of a gang problem or if there are differences of view by staff on the parole agency's responsibility, administrators should undertake exploratory assessment and consensus-building as necessary first steps. A variety of techniques can be used for this purpose including: o provision of statistics on the number of gang youths under parole supervision, o anecdotal summaries of staff experiences in the supervision of gang youths, and o administrative and line staff meetings to assess a potential youth gang problem. Establishing an Assessment and Planning Group A problem assessment and planning committee should be established. If there is preliminary evidence that a gang problem exists, a committee should be established within the parole agency to conduct and coordinate assessment, goal and objective setting, and strategy planning. This committee should be a working group with access to policy information, records, and agency staff. It should include: o administrative and staff representation from supervisory units that have responsibility for gang youth parolees; o leadership that is assigned to the person(s) most likely to be in charge of program implementation (see discussion of "Centralized Administration" below); and o representatives of other juvenile and criminal justice and community agencies, consulted or established as a separate group, to provide advisory assistance to this planning committee. This staff assessment and planning group should establish a task agenda and timelines for completing its assessment and making recommendations. Figure 2 in Appendix C provides an example of how this group might be organized. Establishing Definitions of Youth Gangs, Gang Members, and Behavior Definitions are essential to assess the problem. Specific definitions of what a youth gang is, who gang members are, and what comprises gang behavior should be established. This will prevent staff or observers from defining a gang problem when there is none and exaggeration of the gang problem when one is present (e.g., by classifying "law violating" or delinquent youth groups as gangs and their offenses as gang-related). This will help ensure that suppression and intervention strategies are related to the actual scope and seriousness of the gang problem. Establish clarity and consensus on definitions. The definitions of youth gang, gang member, and gang incident outlined in Chapter 1 and elaborated in the glossary can be adopted or modified by the committee. The definitions agreed upon by the parole agency should be put in writing and disseminated. These definitions will then help determine the scope and seriousness of the gang problem. Stage 2 þ Assessment Collect reliable and objective information. Gang suppression and intervention programs should be developed based on the assessed characteristics of the problem as they affect parole supervision in the particular parole or aftercare agency. Information collected should be reliable, objective, and quantifiable. Where subjective information, such as the opinions of parole personnel and others, is used, it should be validated by comparing the opinions and observations of as many informants as possible. Information should be collected from within the agency, other agencies, and groups in the community. Sources of assessment information should include: o a census of known gang and suspected gang youths under parole supervision; o case reports on individual gang parolees; o discussions about the gang problem among staff representing all units of the parole agency; o special interviews with gang and nongang youths on the nature, scope, and causes of the problem; o reports from police, court, probation, correctional institutions, and community agencies on paroled youths who are identified as gang members; and o an agency resource inventory of personnel backgrounds and skills, including demographics, parole caseloads, services, and facilities relevant or potentially relevant for dealing with the problem. What to Assess Information from these sources should be used to assess the paroled gang youths, parole agency, and community gang problem and resource characteristics to deal with it. Parolee data. 1. Paroled Gang Youth. Detailed knowledge on the characteristics of gang youths under parole supervision is essential. Minimally this should include the following: o number of gang youth on parole (current and projected); o scope and seriousness of offense histories of gang and nongang parolees; o personal and social characteristics; and o identification of the personal reasons and bases or causes of the individual youth's original and current gang involvement. Census of the gang parolee population. Number of gang youths on parole. A census of gang youths currently on parole will provide a basis for determining the volume of services, personnel, and other resources required for parole gang programs. The larger the percentage of gang youths among the parolee population, the greater will be the need to design a special gang program. Offense history. Offense characteristics of gang parolees. The offense histories and patterns of the paroled gang youth population provide guidance on differences in parolee risk for renewed gang offending, partic- ularly for serious offending. High-, moderate-, and low-risk subgroups should be identified as they will require different levels and types of super- vision. Elements of offense history. The paroled gang member offense history assessment should determine: o the pattern of offense history (i.e., violent, property crime, drugs, etc.), o the seriousness of past offense history, o history of adjudications and convictions, o history of parole violations, and o specific gang affiliations of paroled gang members and their membership status (e.g., leaders, core, fringe). Social characteristics and needs of gang parolees. Personal and social characteristics. These provide a basis for the development of different patterns of social services and opportunities needed by gang youth. They include: o age, o sex, o race/ethnicity, o educational attainment and specific educational needs, o work background and skills, training, and employment needs, o family structure and support system, and o family income and occupational level. These characteristics should be identified not only for each individual gang parolee, but for the aggregate group of paroled gang youths, and important subgroups. The subgroups should include: the different gangs represented among parolees; younger versus older; parolees with serious versus nonserious offense histories; violent-, drug-, or mixed-offense patterns; and gang youths with special educational, employment, rehabilitation or counseling needs. Reasons why parolees have joined gangs. The subgroups of paroled gang youths can be prioritized and targeted for differential suppression, social intervention, and opportunities provision. Parole agency and community resources should be allocated accordingly. Individual causes of gang involvement. A variety of personal factors contribute to the parolee's original and current involvement with youth gangs. These may be classified under individual motives and personal social developmental conditions. Personal motives or social deficits contribute to gang affiliation. Personal motives and social factors leading to gang membership include: o striving for social status, o need for and reinforcement of self-esteem, o material and monetary incentives, o search for excitement, and o membership resulting from gang coercion. Causes related to deficits in the parolee's personal and social development include: o inadequate educational, employment training, and job placement experiences, and o inadequate socialization and support from families. See Table 1, Appendix C for a summary of individual causes of gang involvement. Individual motives and causes of gang involvement should be targeted for suppression and intervention and guide efforts to channel gang youths into alternative legitimate means of satisfying them. Causes of gang problems arising from distinctive youth population dynamics and the organization of communities should also be assessed. These are reviewed in the Community Assessment section below. 2. Parole Agency Characteristics Assessment of the parole aftercare agency is necessary to identify its capacity for and methods of supervising gang youth and to determine where changes are needed. The assessment includes examination of the: o agency's past experience in supervising gang youths, and Agency experience with gang parolees. o the agency's services and resources. Experience in supervising gang youths. Assessment of the agency's experience should focus on aspects of the supervision of paroled gang youths that may need to be changed, improved, or eliminated. The following questions should be asked. o What is the parole violation and rearrest rate for gang parolees in comparison to those of nongang parolees? o Have these rates changed in recent years? o What special difficulties have been experienced in the parole supervision of gang youths? o Are gang youth parolees supervised on special caseloads or dispersed across regular caseloads? o Does any particular pattern of gang member assignment to caseloads seem to produce better results than others? o Does the agency presently operate special programs and services for gang youths (or parolees in general, e.g., educational, employment, counseling, and/or graduated patterns of supervision based on risk or special needs)? Assess the nature and deployment of agency resources. o Are there certain characteristics of gang parolees (age, gang membership role, education, family, etc.) associated with differences in parole violation and rearrest rates? Questions regarding staff and staff training. Staff resources. This part of the assessment should determine the appropriateness and deployment of agency resources to meet the needs of the gang youth supervised by the agency. Questions to be raised include: Appropriateness of Staff and Services o Are available parole staff, services, and other resources compatible with the offense risks and social needs of the paroled gang youth population? o Do available staff and resources meet the needs for supervision, treatment, and residential care of the different subgroups of the paroled gang youth population? o Do the supervisory, interpersonal, and professional skills of staff complement the management, behavior control, adult role modeling, and counseling needs of the youth population? o Is there an effective gang training program for staff? o Is there an appropriate balance or mix of parole supervisory staff in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender? Resource Allocation and Deployment o Does the State or county parole authority provide sufficient fiscal, material, expert, and policy support? Questions regarding the sufficiency of resources. o Are staff and resources allocated according to the priority needs in the management, control, and programming of youths? o Does the pattern of resource deployment overemphasize suppression relative to other strategies of supervision and treatment? Elements of the community assessment. Assessment of staff and agency resources should identify deficits that may limit the organization's ability to effectively supervise gang youth parolees. The assessment provides a baseline for developing and improving staffing and resource allocation patterns for gang suppression and intervention. Table 2, Appendix C provides a check list of basic agency staff, services, and resources that may be required for parole management of gang youths. 3. Community Assessment Determination of the community's gang problem and community resources available to deal with it should focus on: o the chronic or emerging nature of the community's gang problem, o the specific characteristics of current gang problem in the community, Determining community gang problem and resource characteristics. o the causes of the community's gang problem, o the availability of community resources, and o the parole agency's community relations. Different community gang contexts. While successful parole supervision depends on effective use of agency resources and the skills of the parole counselor in controlling and modifying the youth's behavior, this relationship is influenced by a variety of community conditions. Assessment of these conditions provides direction on: 1) what community problems need to be targeted for change and/or taken into account in parolee supervision by the parole aftercare agency, and 2) what community resources and relationships need to be developed and coordinated. Chronic and emerging gang contexts. As indicated above, a chronic gang context is one in which gangs commit serious gang crimes and are organized and entrenched in the particular community or neighborhood. Gang values or ideologies are well developed and sophisticated delinquent and criminal opportunities exist. Community services and resources are often insufficient or too fragmented to meet the needs of youths, especially gang members. In emerging or newer gang contexts, gangs and gang members are relatively fewer in number and less organized than in chronic problem contexts. Gang values and ideologies are not well developed. Resources and services may be available in emerging gang context communities, but may not be effectively delivered to youths at risk for gang involvement. Differences between chronic and emerging gang contexts impose different limitations on community supervision of gang youths. Answers to the following questions should assist in identifying the nature of the community gang context: o How many youth gangs are present? o How long have they been active in the community? Key questions to determine the type of context. o How many youths are gang members? o How well structured or organized are the gangs? o Are there identifiable leaders, core members, regular, and fringe members? o What is the age composition of gang members? o What is the history of gang violence, gang- related trafficking in drugs and contraband, and gang-related nuisance problems such as gang dress and colors, loitering, and verbal harassment in the community? Table 3, in Appendix C suggests summary differences between chronic and emerging gang contexts based on answers to these questions. Mixed patterns may exist indicating that contexts may be changing from one form to another. Identifying the current patterns of gang activity. Current gang problems. The intensity, scope, types, and patterns of gang problems and offenses in the community can vary over time. The assessment should take into consideration the current nature and seriousness of gang activity and changes that occur because this will determine the level of opportunities and pressures for reinvolvement in gang crime by parolees. Assessment should identify: o what the specific community gang crime problem is, o the organizational characteristics of the gang(s) involved, o the demographics of the gang youths involved, o who or what the victims or targets of the gang problem are, and o what purposes/motives the problem serves for the gang. Table 4 in Appendix C provides examples of some current gang problem characteristics. This table, used in conjunction with Table 3, should enable the parole agency to develop a profile of gang problems confronting the community. Use this profile to guide the design and management of parole gang suppression and intervention programs for the particular gang problems in that community. For example, current drug problems in chronic problem communities require different program strategies than current problems of gang fighting over turf in emerging problem communities. Determining possible community causes of gang activity. Causes of gang problems in the community. Direct and indirect causes of gang problems in the community are listed in Table 1, Appendix C along with the individual causes of youth gang membership. Community sources of gang activity include problems within the community's youth gang population, such as competition over gang status, turf rivalry, membership recruitment, competition between different gangs over control of illegal activities, and intragang leadership conflict. More basic and indirect community causes of gang problems include changes in the community's population, racial and ethnic conflict, weak adult leadership, schools and neighborhoods with insufficient or inapproriate resources, and programs for dealing with gang-prone youths, and an abundance of illegitimate opportunities. Assessment of these direct and indirect causes of gang problems in the community enables identification of youth population and communitywide characteristics that should be considered as targets for intervention and/or taken into consideration in planning suppression and social intervention for individual gang parolees. Assessing the nature and extent of community resources. Community resources. Communities differ in the extent to which basic educational, job training and employment opportunities, recreational, and other social services are available to gang members or youths at risk for gang membership. These are more likely to be lacking or of poor quality in chronic, then emerging problem communities. Where community resources are absent or poor, the agency must network with existing community organizations and government to reallocate or develop appropriate resources. Even when community resources are to some extent available, the parole agency assessment should determine two things: o Is there parolee access to these services and resources? o If services and resources are available and linkage to gang youths exists, are they useful and effective in reintegrating gang parolees into the conventional life of the community? Where access and linkages to resources for paroled youths are absent or weak, developing them should be a priority of the parole agency. Table 2 in Appendix C provides a brief checklist for community resource assessment. Assessing community relations. Parole agency community relations. Success in supervision of gang youths depends on effective parole agency relationships or networking with community agencies. The parole agency must assess its current relationships and resource exchange patterns with other criminal justice agencies, community agencies, and citizen and grassroots organizations. Questions that should be raised include: o How much have resource-sharing and collaboration characterized the relationships? o What more needs to be done to improve interagency networking to facilitate the parole agency's gang suppression and intervention program? Assessment Summary Key elements of the assessment should be summarized with implications for strategy selection. A summary of the dimensions of the parole agency's and the community's gang problem should be made from information gathered in the assessment. The implications of the assessment analysis should be carefully thought through to develop a rationale for development of program goals, objectives, and strategies. The summary statement should be guided by the following questions and issues. 1. Extent and Seriousness of the Gang Problem Determining the nature and extent of the gang parole problem. If gang youths are already under the supervision of the parole agency, special attention (or more attention) should be directed at these youths, particularly if they are presenting gang problems of a serious nature. If gang youths do not appear to present special gang-related difficulties, a policy of routinely identifying gang youths on parole and monitoring their parole adjustment would be appropriate.(1) Furthermore, the larger the number of gang youths on parole supervision, the more serious their offense histories; the more organized their gangs, the more chronic the gang community context; and the more serious the current gang problem in the community, the more extensive is the agency's task in developing special programs to control gang parolees and to prevent their recidivism. Implications for planning. Agencies with parolee gang problems and/or serving emerging or chronic gang communities: o may require specialized gang units and/or gang specialists within their organization to advise regular staff; o must develop or participate in a system of networking with criminal justice and other community-based organizations; and o should make prioritized and comprehensive use of the five general strategies of suppression and intervention. 2. Resource Deficits and Needs Resource requirements. Improvement in the adequacy and appropriateness of resources must be given priority, particularly in institutions with the most serious gang situations. More resources are probably needed to initiate large-scale gang suppression and intervention activities. In resource-poor institutions, better use and deployment of available resources can, within limits, improve staff's ability to contain, if not reduce, gang problems. 3. Targets for Gang Youth Parole Supervision Targets and rationales for program development. Special supervision programs for gang parolees should address specific behaviors and conditions that make supervision of these youth difficult. Using information obtained in the assessment, targets should be prioritized and selected from the following: o violent and criminal behaviors of gang members; o those organizational characteristics of the gang that contribute to its cohesion; and o the specific causes of the gang problem. A rationale for a special gang parolee supervision program should be developed based on the relationships observed among the targeted gang problems, their underlying individual and community causes, and agency potential for affecting these relationships. This rationale and list of prioritized targets provide the basis for defining goals and objectives for the program. Summary The development of a parole gang suppression and intervention program requires staff agreement that a gang problem exist. Creation of a staff assessment team and preliminary consensus on definitions of gangs, gang members, and gang behavior are necessary. The assessment should determine the characteristics of the current problem, whether it is chronic or emerging, the specific characteristics of the parolee youth gang members and their gangs, and available resources and staff requirements. The interrelation of the assessment elements determines the basis for design and implementation of the parole gang suppression and intervention program. ------------------------------ CHAPTER 4: DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE GANG PROGRAM Stage 3 þ Action Plan Objectives Stage 4 þ Selecting and Operationalizing Strategies Stage 5 þ Program Implementation Summary Goals and objectives for the gang program must be established based on assessment conclusions. A balanced and appropriate set of strategies of suppression and intervention should be selected to achieve goals and objectives. Detailed planning and implementation should be carried out by a gang coordination group. Stage 3 þ Action Plan Objectives Establish specific goals and objectives to guide the program. The responsibilities of parole/aftercare agencies are to protect the community from crime and to assist paroled youth make conventional adjustments. Long- and short-range objectives to achieve these goals must be established and should be defined in accordance with the program rationale and prioritized list of suppression and intervention targets. This set of specific long- and short-range objectives will guide the gang suppression and intervention program's activities. Construction of long-range objectives. Long-range objectives to be established should include the following elements: o the specific prioritized behaviors or problems that require control; o the specific individual gang member, agency, and/or community causes that will be targeted; o the relevant agency programs, strategies, and activities that will be used to address the targeted behaviors and problem causes; o the specific manageable results or percentage reduction of the problem to be achieved; and o the parole aftercare goal that will be met by the objective. Short-range objectives must be made explicit. Long-range objectives should be time-limited and defined for achievement within one to three years. An example of a long-range objective is provided in Table 5, Appendix C. Next, the short-range objectives implied by each long-range objective should be developed. Short- range objectives are the activities that lead to the achievement of longer range objectives. Sample short-range objectives implied by the long-range objective example in Table 5, Appendix C are also listed in that table. The sequence of steps involved in developing long- and short-range objectives is illustrated in Figure 3, Appendix C. The relation of program objectives to strategies. Stage 4 þ Selecting and Operationalizing Strategies Strategies of gang suppression and intervention must be selected and integrally related to program objectives. The five categories of strategies from which selections can be made are: organizational development and change, community organization (mobilization and networking(2)), suppression, opportunities provision, and social intervention. We believe organizational development and change and community organization are the most important classes of strategies for parole programming. They require well-coordinated parole agency planning, resource advocacy, and networking with other criminal justice and community agencies with regard to the youth gang problem. They make possible successful use of the suppression, opportunities provision, and social intervention strategies. Organizational development. 1. Organizational Development and Change Organizational development and change involves: 1) the creation of mechanisms, policies, and procedures for administrative control and coordination; 2) the recruitment, training, and allocation of staff and space to carry out the program; and 3) the systematic use of information or intelligence about youths to guide gang suppression and social intervention processes. Components of an organizational development and change strategy include the following: Establish a centralized coordinating unit. o Centralized administration and coordination must ensure that a consistent approach is implemented. As indicated above, a high-level administrative committee of the parole agency must be assigned initial responsibility for assessment and the general design of the program. However, implementation and day-to-day coordination of the program can be assigned to a gang operations coordination unit. The various parole supervision units can implement their respective gang suppression and intervention responsibilities, but overall integration and oversight should be the responsibility of the coordinating unit. See Figure 4 in Appendix C for examples of how the coordinating unit might be structured. Developing a caseload management strategy. o Special or regular caseloads can be used to supervise paroled gang youths. Assigning gang youths to specialized caseloads or to a few specialized parole counselors has certain advantages. Specialized gang caseload personnel are able to develop information, coordinate strategies of suppression and intervention and implement programs most efficiently. They enable parole counselors to develop maximum expertise in the use of community resources and services for gang youth parolees. On the other hand, the dispersal of gang youths across general caseloads of gang and nongang youths reduces frustration and tedium that difficult gang cases can present. An intermediate caseload supervision pattern could utilize smaller specialized caseloads for the most difficult gang youths and general caseload assignment for less serious gang youths. In the final analysis, selection of caseload pattern depends on the scope of the agency's gang parolee problem and available resources. Intelligence and monitoring gang problems as well as program evaluation are essential. o Intelligence and evaluation are critical organizational functions to be developed. Staff knowledge of potential and existing gang problems among parolees and in the community is necessary to proactively respond and minimize disruptive effects on the parolee or the community. A parole agency gang intelligence system should be developed that requires staff reporting of gang events and rumors, formal and informal input from youths and staff, and reliable information from other agencies to a central parole agency source for analysis and planning purposes. In less serious or emerging gang problem contexts, coordination of intelligence can be assigned to the parole/aftercare gang intelligence officer who should establish liaison with representatives of correctional institutions and community agencies. In serious and chronic gang problem contexts, agency intelligence will be enhanced by participation in a formal multiagency intelligence network. An interagency committee should coordinate the intelligence network. Only selected reliable information of community impact should ordinarily be exchanged. Policies and procedures must be established: to determine what information can be shared; to ensure that gang intelligence is shared in a timely fashion; to safeguard due process rights of youth; and to prevent compromise of legal and treatment obliga- tions of agencies (see Rapp, et al. 1989 for helpful suggestions). In addition, information must be systematically collected on the program processes as a basis for evaluation of suppression and intervention strategies. Evaluation provides feedback on the nature and impact of the program and on the extent to which objectives are being met (See Stage 6 þ Evaluation below). Explicit policies on gang behavior are necessary. o Gang activity policies. The parole agency's stance on problem behaviors by paroled gang youths and how they will be managed should be described in a set of gang-specific policies and communicated to staff and gang parolees. Policies should prohibit criminal gang behaviors and define specific disciplinary and parole revocation responses for such acts. The more serious the gang problem, the more explicit and detailed gang policies should be. Qualified staff should be recruited and developed. o Staff recruitment and training. Sufficient numbers of qualified staff must be recruited and trained for a variety of staff functions including parole supervision, administration, program evaluation, job development, and community organization. Recruitment of racial and ethnic minority staff should be a priority. Care should be taken that in all positions and levels of operations, a multiracial/multiethnic staff is present. Parole counselors should respect and establish rapport with gang youth, possess high standards of professionalism, and not be easily intimidated. They should have a working knowledge of gangs, minority cultures and behavioral patterns, street culture, and issues that affect youths' adaptation to parole. A staff training program should be developed that enhances and develops these staff attributes. Community volunteers are valuable resources. o Community volunteers. Community volunteers should be recruited and trained to provide mentoring, tutorial, recreational, and other services to augment professional and full-time staff. These volunteers should be selected to serve as role models and facilitate the community reintegration of gang youths. Involve other juvenile and criminal justice agencies in planning. o Planning with parent parole agency and other criminal justice agencies. The parole agency should be involved from the start with its State or county department of corrections or parole in planning to deal with the particular agency's gang problem. The agency must mobilize policy support and extract a promise of additional appropriate resources before the program design is fully developed and implemented. Early and ongoing coordination and consultation with other juvenile justice agencies, especially juvenile release and parole authorities, are also essential to prevent later policy conflicts. Establish formal and informal linkages in the community. 2. Community Mobilization This strategy involves reaching out to governmental agencies and local community organizations to support and reinforce the parole gang suppression and intervention program. Communication and relationships should be established with specific police, probation, parole, court, community service agencies, and grassroots groups in the targeted gang problem communities. It is important to recognize that other agencies may have expectations of the parole agency role that differ from those of parole staff. Also parole staff may have expectations of other agencies that their staff do not share. These may result from political differences, competition over resources, and resistance to infringement on agency domains of authority. Successful mobilization of community gang programs require that these differences are openly confronted and resolved in a climate of good will. The following types of networking activities should be developed. Continuity of supervision and service. o Case management continuum. Agency networking should involve collaborative case planning for the security and protection of the community and the security and social service needs of individual gang youth. It is particularly important to obtain information and collaborate with correctional institutions as well as probation and aftercare staffs of other community agencies, since paroled gang youths are often known to them. Coordinated agency efforts are required to ensure continuity of case supervision, the provision of comprehensive services and opportunities (to the extent resources permit), and the minimization of overlap or duplication. Standardized case planning. Collaborative case planning between parole/ aftercare and institutional staffs should be a standard and systematic procedure. o It should be guided by a set of explicit guidelines identifying the tasks and requirements of both sets of staff, e.g., responsibilities for prerelease preparation for youths, the nature and timing of parole/ aftercare staff planning visits with the youths approaching release, and development of a written release plan. Assessment instrument needed. o Prerelease planning should be guided by a standard but realistic risk and treatment/ service assessment to determine the extent of each youth's gang problem, risk for reinvolvement in gang and other criminal activity, and social service needs (See Exhibits 1 and 2, Appendix C). These standards should be used to plan a level of aftercare supervision, opportunities provision, and social service intervention required to assist the youth in making a conventional adjustment in the community. Each correctional institution, parole/ aftercare agency and their parent agency should devise or adopt assessment instruments for use in collaborative case planning. (See Needs and Risk Assessment discussion under the Social Intervention strategy section; see also Altschuler and Armstrong (1990), listed in the Bibliography, for a discussion of the importance of a strong continuum of institutional and aftercare collaboration.) Networking with community agencies and resource providers on behalf of individual gang youth. o Educational, employment, and social services networking. Education, employment, and social services are key to any promising program of youth gang suppression and intervention. These are discussed in greater detail below in the Opportunities Provision and Social Intervention sections, but are also commented on here since the effective development of these strategies depends on community organization and networking. To develop these services: Interagency agreements for provision of education, employment, and social services. o Public school authorities, public and private employment training and placement organizations, private sector businesses and associations, youth service agencies (i.e., Boys and Girls Club, YMCA's, and so on), and other remedial service agencies should be consulted. o They should be engaged through formal agreements, if possible, to provide the range of services needed by paroled gang youths to promote their adjustment in the community. o Incentives for interagency collaboration should include appeals to "public spiritedness", fulfillment of moral obligations or legal responsibilities, and financial incentives, e.g., tax breaks. o Since many community-based agencies and organizations will be ambivalent or fearful, special efforts will be required by the parole counselor and parole agency administrator to orient and support community agencies in their work with gang offenders. Case conferences and collaborative staff training would be useful. 3. Suppression Suppression approaches for gang youth. Sanctions, penalties, and other control tactics should be used to prevent and deal with negative gang behavior by parolees. Suppression involves the exercise of the legally authorized coercive powers of the parole agency in conjunction with those of police, courts, county prosecutors, juvenile release, and parole authorities. Because the coercive powers of parole agencies are more limited than those of other juvenile and criminal justice agencies, effective parole suppression requires extensive collaboration with those agencies. A requirement for suppression is the identification of parolees who are gang members or parolees at risk for gang membership. o A procedure should be established to identify gang members among paroled youths. This procedure should minimumly rely on at least three of the following: o parolee admission of gang membership; o documented membership in probations, court, or corrections case records; o reliable documented membership in police gang files; o reliable supervisory information that the parolee wears gang colors; and o reliable supervisory information that the parolee associates with gang members. Examples of suppression strategies and tactics that can be employed for various supervisory situations are summarized below. o Conditions of parole Special conditions of parole. Develop and recommend to the parole or release authority specific restraints on activities for each gang parolee as conditions of parole, e.g., nonassociation with active gang members, wearing gang attire, avoidance of situations where gang activity is likely to occur. Violation of those constraints could result in parole revocation. Also recommend parolee participation in appropriate social intervention and opportunities provision activities as conditions of parole based on prerelease planning with the youth. o Control of situational crises Arrangements for crisis control. Make standing arrangements with county juvenile detention and municipal holding facilities for temporary detention of gang youth with cause for particular acts of gang criminality and activity. Warnings should be issued to gang parolees to avoid specific gang crisis situations in the community. Mediation techniques should be used in collaboration with police and community gang programs, to intervene between gangs in conflict, particularly those in which significant numbers of parolees are members. o General gang problem behavior and rule violations Clearly communicate, both in writing and orally, conditions of parole to parolees, especially undesired gang behaviors with specific penalties for their occurrence. Special procedures on holding parolees accountable. Use a graduated system of structured parole supervision for high-risk gang youths, in which parole contacts and conditions are adjusted or reduced depending on behavior. Firmly administer parole revocation policies. Make unscheduled visits as appropriate to parolees' home, school, employment, and recreational sites to monitor adjustment. Consult frequently with parolee's family, teachers, employer, and friends by phone. Seek prosecution of gang youths if serious criminal acts are committed by them. Pay special attention to leadership and core gang members. Develop a pattern of special monitoring and information-sharing with the police and county prosecutor regarding serious gang offender parolees. o Due process The constitutional rights of the parolee should be respected. Develop explicit grievance procedures for parolees. Identify other areas and issues in which due process protections are important and assist in their development. Implement policy and procedures for formal parole revocation hearings. 4. Social Intervention Social intervention should promote the positive social development of gang youth. Parole officers should promote the personal and social growth of gang youth toward conventional behavior through the following strategies. Each youth's needs and risks should be assessed. o Needs and risk assessment. Each youth should be assessed not only for his risk of continued gang involvement and serious criminal behavior, but for his social, economic, educational, vocational, residential, health, mental, and dental needs. A standardized assessment and classification protocol should be adopted or developed for this purpose. Examples of risk and needs assessment instruments can be found as Exhibits 1 and 2 in Appendix C. These instruments should contribute to collaborative case planning on behalf of parolees with correctional institutions and other community service agencies (see discussion of Case Management Continuum under Community Mobilization.) The assessment should be used to develop an individualized suppression and a social intervention plan involving the participation of each gang youth to the extent possible. Frequent review of progress and accountability in implementation of the plan and updating the plan with the parolee must be a part of the process. Services for individual gang parolees. o Individual services. The parolee should have access to the following individual services as needed: o Personal counseling for: 1) value and behavioral change, and developing rational and responsible thinking; 2) educational and vocational planning and monitoring; and 3) collaborative planning between the parole and institutional counselors for effective reintegration into the community upon the youth's release from corrections. o Family counseling that focuses on the gang youth's relationships with family members which may affect the youth's parole adjustment. o Medical and dental referral for physical and mental problems. o Crisis intervention around personal and gang- related problems. o Advocacy and linkage on behalf of the parolee with other community agencies. Group social interventions for gang parolees. o Group services. Depending on the needs of the youth, the following types of group-oriented services should be provided: o Counter-gang culture classes that stress the negatives of gang membership and ways of dealing with gang pressures. o Social group counseling around such topics as alcohol and illicit drug use, responsible dating and marriage, education, job, and career development. o Referral to recreational programs that are structured, supervised, and provide opportunities for positive teamwork among youths. o Residential placement. The needs of parolees for adequate living accommodations should be met through: Provision of adequate living arrangements is important. o Placement of paroled gang youths in their parent or family homes is preferrable. Realistic preparation of parents for the youths return should be provided. The home situation and parent and gang member relationships should be specifically monitored. Parents or family should be referred to support services as needed. o Permanent residential or group home placements are required for those who cannot be placed in or returned to their families' homes. o Temporary emergency residential placement options for gang parolees experiencing difficult living arrangements at home or in the community. o Placements in other communities for gang parolees who do not wish to or cannot be placed in their home community is an important option. o Placements for youth who require independent living arrangements. 5. Opportunities Provision Access to social opportunities is essential for conventional parole adjustment. Gang parolees should be helped to acquire the academic, job, and social skills necessary for conventional adaptation and success. While some of these essential opportunities can be provided directly by the parole or aftercare agency, most will have to be accessed through arrangements with education and training organizations, community agencies, and businesses. Community development and networking efforts by parole supervisors, as discussed earlier, are critical in this regard. Programs that provide basic opportunities include the following: o Education. Parole agency staff should collaborate with public, private, and not-for-profit educational or vocational agencies; local colleges and universities; and State, county, and municipal authorities so that: Remedial education is usually necessary. o Academic programs target specific learning deficits of parolees, particularly in reading and math. o Programs are developed that address both the terminal academic needs (return to high school or complete a GED) and the more specialized educational and vocational needs of older youths. o Volunteer mentors and tutors are used to augment these educational opportunities as well as provide enrichment experiences and role modeling. Work attitude/skills training and jobs are essential. o Job training and placement. The private sector, including business and industry, as well as the public sector, should be lobbied or involved through tax and other incentives to provide job training and placement. Job training and placement services should emphasize: o job and career orientation, job application skills, and apprenticeship programs; o job aptitude assessment and counseling as well as training in specific occupational settings; and o creation of a job bank, referral, and placement system in collaboration with correctional institutions and community agencies specifically directed at the needs and problems of gang youths. The parole agency should be prepared to subsidize or contract with community agencies for particular educational and employment services for gang parolees. Selecting and Balancing Strategies Strategies should be balanced according to the cycle of gang youth adjustment. These strategies and related program activities should be selected and combined to maximize benefits and to minimize negative side effects for each parolee and the community in which he resides. Several issues should be considered. Adjust strategies according to parole progress. 1. Balancing Strategies The relative emphasis placed on suppression, social intervention, and opportunities provision should be varied by stage of parole adjustment of each youth. In the initial parole period, when problems in social adjustment are most likely to occur, suppression strategies should usually be emphasized. During periods of crisis or serious problems, gang youths should be closely monitored as to how services and opportunities are used. Negative side effects of strategies should be calculated. 2. Minimizing Side Effects of Strategies Many of the strategies suggested may have negative side effects for particular youth and situations. Anticipation of and controlling such consequences are important. One example, is the placement of a gang member in an academic or job training program where other youths of an opposing gang are present. The potential for disruption will be minimized if clear rules of conduct are established and if all concerned, i.e., teachers, staff, and employment personnel, are prepared and understand what to do in case problems arise. Appropriate monitoring, support, and intervention by the parole officer are important. A second example is when the parole supervisor's objective is to weaken youth gang organization in order to control gang problems in the community. One strategy might be to remove a gang leader parolee from the community, however the following questions should be raised: o Will new gang leadership emerge? o Will the resulting gang organization become even more problematic? o Would other strategies and tactics weaken gang organization with less problematic side effects? Placement of the gang leader parolee in a well- monitored job that keeps him away from the gang, while encouraging a community youth agency to neutralize potential leaders from taking over, could be an option. Stage 5 þ Program Implementation Gang Coordinating Unit Staffing the gang coordination unit. After the administrative assessment committee has developed the general plan or parolee program outline, a permanent gang coordinating unit should be established. The coordinating unit will be responsible for ongoing, overall development and implementation of the parole antigang policy and program, coordination of internal units, and for overall parole agency efforts with other major jurisdictionwide agencies concerned with the problem. Key leadership of the assessment committee should comprise the coordinating unit. In a larger parole organization, the coordinating unit should be comprised of an administrator, gang intelligence specialist, program evaluator, juvenile/criminal justice liaisons specialist, and gang training specialist. In a smaller organization, the functions of these staff can be combined. Position descriptions are as follows: o Unit Administrator. Responsible for overall function of the unit. o Gang Intelligence Specialist. Responsible for development, management, dissemination, and coordination of intelligence among all agency staff, other criminal justice, and community agencies. o Program Evaluator. Responsible for data collection and analysis of program process and results. o Criminal Justice Liaison Specialist. Responsible for developing and monitoring gang suppression and intervention policy and programs with other juvenile and criminal justice agencies, i.e., police, county prosecutor, parole and release authorities, detention centers, etc. o Gang Training Specialist. Responsible for devel- opment of a gang curriculum and implementing staff knowledge development activities with respect to gang suppression and intervention. Funding Program funding and resource allocation. All parole aftercare agencies can implement some or most components of gang suppression and intervention programs without additional funding through reallocation of their existing resources. However, those parole and aftercare agency with serious gang parolee problem and/or in chronic gang communities may require additional funding to implement their programs. o Reallocation of existing resources. Many aspects of the designed gang suppression and intervention program can be implemented without additional funds and resources. They can be implemented with limited modification of agency policy, reallocation of staff, and additional collaboration with other agencies. For example: 1) community areas in which paroled gang youths are most likely to become involved in gang problems can be addressed through realignment of parole staff monitoring in those areas; 2) gang- related behaviors that are violations of parole can be discouraged by adding them to established parole revocation policies; 3) parole counselors should systematically address gang membership and behavior in prerelease planning and community counseling as part of their established patterns of work with youths; 4) increased emphasis can be placed on developing appropriate academic and job services for gang parolees with educational and business interests; and 5) networking can be used to tap into services and information routinely managed by other agencies at the State and local level, i.e., intelligence-sharing, training and employment opportunities, special education, medical, and dental services. Special efforts can be devoted to working with existing local educational and vocational programs to assist in structuring services to identify and remediate deficits of youths that contribute to their gang involvement. Parole agencies should objectively determine to the extent possible whether their and services and resources and those of community agencies are being put to their best use. Reallocation of services and resources to better match the needs and problems of gang youths can reduce the need for additional funding. o New funding. Additional funding is sometimes required to implement parole gang suppression and intervention programs. These include agencies whose resources are already limited and where the gang problem is chronic and serious. Sources of such funding include: 1) parent authority of the parole agency, i.e., State or local department of corrections/parole, youth services, and children and family services; 2) State departments of vocational rehabilitation, education, and substance abuse; 3) Federal agencies, i.e., Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, and Labor; 4) nonprofit foundations and charitable organizations; as well as 5) private for profit businesses and commercial associations. New gang and drug initiatives of Federal and State governments may be suitable funding frameworks for addressing some kinds of gang problems and needs in particular parole agencies and communities. A key issue is the need to shape the proposal in terms that are relevant to the interests of the potential funder. For example, support for educational and vocational components of gang programs may be receptive to governmental agencies with educational and labor interests. Develop the Specifics of the Program Detailed planning and implementation. Detailed planning for implementation of the program should be undertaken. Gang parolee supervision standards, caseload management systems, i.e., special gang or dispersed caseloads, and systems for resource development and risk classification. This involves the development of a special gang member risk/needs assessment instrument as suggested above and a set of criteria for the development of education, employment, and other social services particularly relevant for parole counselors dealing with gang youth. These should be elaborated on in the basic program design. The plans and instruments developed should be reviewed and modified through the parole agency's gang coordinating unit with final approval by the chief administrator. Ongoing decisions will be required for parole program modification of procedures, elimination of certain activities and replacement with others, based on changes in strategies and objectives. Summary Program goals and objectives provide direction for the development of the parole gang suppression and intervention program. They specify what characteristics and conditions of the problem will be addressed, how, and over what period of time. Strategies of suppression and intervention appropriate for each objective are selected and used to provide the framework of the program. This design should then be implemented by the gang coordination unit and the various parole supervision units. ------------------------------ CHAPTER 5: MONITORING AND EVALUATION Stage 6 þ Monitoring and Evaluation Summary Continual monitoring and periodic evaluation of the program are important administrative functions. They enable appropriate oversight and timely modification of program elements based on objective knowledge of what is and is not working. Stage 6 þ Monitoring and Evaluation Program monitoring and evaluation are vital components of the approach. The gang supervision program must be monitored to ensure that it is implemented and operating as designed. Appropriate changes and modifications in goals, objectives, and strategies should be made as needed. In addition, evaluation must be conducted to determine the extent to which program goals and long- and short-range objectives are being met. Evaluation requires assessment of both process outcomes and end results of the program. Process outcomes. Process outcomes are indicators of program operations, activities, strategies, and resources used to address and change the problems of gang parolees. Examples include: o Types of caseloads, i.e., regular or special, used to supervise different kinds of parolees, as well as caseload sizes; o the match of parolee risk for renewed gang involvement to appropriate levels of supervision; o the number of counseling contacts with parolees; and o the appropriateness of academic and employment services provided and used to assess academic and employment needs of parolees. End results. End results are what the process outcomes achieve. For example, end results for parolees may include: o number of problem interventions by the parole counselor during parole; o number of arrests during parole; o parole status terminations: revocation/ conviction on new offense/discharge from parole; o time between beginning and ending parole; o changes in academic achievement scores while on parole; o completion of job training program; o success in job placement; and o extent and patterns of continued gang involvement among gang parolees. Data on process outcomes and end results should be collected in standardized format on a regular basis. During the initial stage of program operations, monitoring and evaluation should be directed at progress in program implementation and achievement of short-range goals. Over the longer term, evaluation of both process outcomes and end results provides a basis for making major policy and program changes and determining which strategies of suppression and intervention are effective. Summary Gang suppression and intervention programs require constant monitoring to ensure that operations are going according to design and to identify aspects of the program that should be modified. Evaluation is required to verify that desired effects and longer range objectives of the program are being achieved. Evaluation also provides a basis for modifying the basic approach or strategy to improve result in gang parolee control. ------------------------------ BIBLIOGRAPHY Alschuler, David M. and Troy L. Armstrong (1990). Intensive Community-Based Aftercare Programs: Assessment Report, Institute for Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins University for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice (November). Rapp, James A., Ronald D. Stephens, and Donna Clontz. 1989. The Need to Know: Juvenile Record Sharing. National School Safety Center (Pepperdine University and the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education). 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. Gang Intervention Models Available: Document #Title D0001 Executive Summary: Prototype Models, 33 pages. D0002 Community Based Youth Agency, 24 pages. D0003 Community Mobilization, 20 pages. D0004 Corrections, 19 pages. D0005 General Community Design, 56 pages. D0006 Grassroots Organization, 19 pages. D0007 Judges, 15 pages. D0008 Parole, 14 pages. D0009 Police, 21 pages. D0010 Probation, 16 pages. D0011 Prosecution, 12 pages. D0012 Schools, 19 pages. D0013 Youth Employment, 17 pages. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MANUALS: STAGE 3 Technical Assistance Manuals provide detailed step- by-step guidelines for implementing the models. Strategies are designed to encourage gang-prone and gang-involved youth to terminate criminal activity and participate in legitimate social, academic, and employment pursuits. It cannot be sure the policies and practices proposed to reduce the youth gang crime problem are effective until they are tested. Gang Manuals Available: Document #Title D0014 Community Based Youth Agency, 92 pages. D0015 Community Mobilization, 102 pages. D0016 Corrections, 84 pages. D0017 General Community Design, 110 pages. D0018 Grassroots Organization, 92 pages. D0019 Judges, 102 pages. D0020 Parole, 98 pages. D0021 Police, 98 pages. D0022 Probation, 116 pages. D0023 Prosecution, 74 pages. D0024 Schools, 150 pages. D0025 Youth Employment, 120 pages. ------------------------------ Appendix B: GLOSSARY AND DISCUSSION OF TERMS There is much variation in the definition of youth gang or its equivalent terms depending on particular agency, city, or region of the country, race/ethnicity, gang generation, and cultural factors. The terms delinquent group, gang, and criminal organization need to be distinguished for policy and program purposes to the fullest extent possible. 1. Gang. This term generally refers to a group or collective of persons with a common identity whose members interact on a fairly regular basis in cliques or sometimes as a whole group. The activities of the gang may be regarded as legitimate, illegitimate, or criminal in varying combinations. o Street Gang. This term preferred by law enforcement, emphasizes the organized character of a group of persons on the street, often engaged in significant illegitimate or criminal activity. The ages of members of these street gangs vary; some street gangs are more street-based than others. Some authorities report arrests of street gang members in their 30's, 40's, and 50's. o Youth Gang. This term may refer to a youth segment of a street gang, usually between the ages of 12 and 24. Some youth gang members are younger or older. The term youth gang is often used as equivalent to street gang, and is somewhat preferred by community-based agencies. o Traditional Youth Gang. This term refers to a youth gang comprising mainly adolescents, juveniles, and some young adults primarily concerned with issues of status, prestige, and turf protection. The youth gang may have a name, a hangout, codes of conduct, colors, special dress, signs, symbols, etc. Traditional youth gangs often have a leadership structure (implicit or explicit), differ in degree of a gang activities, and may persist over several generations. Traditional youth gangs vary by community as to characteristics of age, gender, race/ethnicity, scope, and nature of delinquent or criminal activities. The traditional youth gang contains many types of subgroups engaged in various delinquent, criminal, and social group activities. o Posse/Crew. The terms posse and crew are sometimes equivalent to street or youth gang. The posse or crew, more often than the traditional youth gang, is characterized by a commitment to criminal gain activity, particularly drug trafficking, rather than to status-based conflict. It may be loosely organized and/or connected to an adult criminal organization. It emphasizes employer-employee relationships and has fewer social status-related or symbolic interests or characteristics than the traditional youth gang. o Other Types of Youth "Gangs". Other types of groups or "quasi" gangs may include Stoners, Punk Rockers, Neo-Nazi Skinheads, Hate Groups, Satanic Groups, Motorcycle Gangs, Prison Gangs. They may be similar to traditional or street youth gangs in various ways, but have distinctive organizational, cultural, political, religious and institutional lifestyles, perspectives, and biases. They can be loosely organized or ephemeral and engage in group- oriented violent or criminal behavior to sustain or defend these beliefs. They may also be characterized by distinctive dress, leadership structure, and concerns with status and turf. o Other Youth Group Considerations. It is important to distinguish these gangs and gang-like groups from youth or street groups of an earlier era, which are still present today. These groups have been called street clubs, youth organizations, or social and athletic clubs are usually less violent or delinquent, generally contain fewer regular mem- bers, and are not as often regarded as delinquent youth gangs by local residents. They serve to socialize low-income, working-class, sometimes first-generation youths in transition from childhood to adulthood. Their activities may constitute acceptable behaviors that are considered normal rites of passage in the particular community. "Copycat" gangs may be increasingly present in some low-income and middle-class communities, often located in smaller cities, suburban, and rural areas. Youth in these groups may identify and attempt to imitate the mannerisms and behaviors of youth gangs in urban centers. Identification with gang culture, in significant measure through media influence, may be a source of novel experience and excitement for youth. The behavior of such groups constitute a challenge to authority in communities undergoing change and where family disruption is increasing. The activities of copycat gangs may sometimes have serious violent or criminal consequences. Most of these youth gangs, however, are ephemeral, engage in relatively minor delinquent acts and have little if any actual or ongoing contact with other criminal juvenile or adult groups. The threat these groups pose to the community and to the social development of their members should be carefully assessed so that a problem is not created or exaggerated where no, or very little, evidence of a sustainable or serious gang problem exists. 2. Delinquent Group. This refers to a group or collectivity, mainly of juveniles and/or adolescents, engaged usually in less serious law- violating behavior. This law-violating behavior is sometimes of a wider range, particularly with respect to property crimes, than those of youth gangs, posses, crews, and other "quasi" gangs. The delinquent group is usually less organized and more ephemeral than a youth gang. It is characterized by none of the special characteristics of gangs such as turf, distinctive dress, colors, signs or symbols. The delinquent group is the most prevalent of all deviant youth groups in most communities. 3. Criminal organization. This is usually a relatively well-organized, stable, and sophisticated clique, group, or organization of youths and/or adults committed primarily to systematic, income-producing activity of a criminal nature. Its members are essentially employees of a criminal business organization. The criminal organization may at times use intimidation and violence to achieve or protect its economic interests. The organization often provides employment for current or former gang members. Such organizations may provide illegal services or goods to the community and acquire rewards from local residents in mutually acceptable and reinforcing ways. The Loose Crew Triad and Mafia are subtypes of criminal organizations. 4. Gang clique, set, klika. The gang clique and set are terms sometimes used as equivalent to youth gang. On the other hand, a klika on the west coast may represent an entire cohort or age sector of youth (e.g., 13- and 14-year-old males) who join or are "jumped into" a street gang. The clique in its smaller-size connotation may signify a "tight" grouping of two or three youths who have similar characteristics or criminal interests. 5. Youth Gang Member. This term can indicate various types of members who engage in a range of legitimate, illegitimate, criminal, and/or violent behaviors. Leaders and core members of youth or street gangs are often (but not always) more serious and frequent offenders than are other kinds of gang members. Arrested gang members are more likely to become career criminals than arrested nongang delinquents. The following represent membership categories of the more traditional turf-based gang. In the course of a gang member's career, he or she may assume several roles: o Gang leader. This individual makes central or important decisions that affect the gang's behavior. The leader may be formally recognized as President, King, Queen, Prince, Ambassador, Old Gangster, or have no title. Leadership may also be a function shared by different members of the group, depending on particular situations, such as initiating a social or athletic affair; starting or sanctioning a gang fight; conducting a drug transaction; or negotiating criminal deals. o Core or Hardcore gang member. This is an attribution assigned, often by law enforcement, to gang members who engage consistently in gang violence and other serious gang-motivated crime, e.g., a shooter. It refers to the few gang members who are most influential in the development or implementation of the gang's violent patterns of criminal behavior. o Regular member. This gang member participates in the gang's criminal activities on a consistent and frequent basis. He or she is recognized as a member in good standing or status. o Associate. This term refers to a youth who occasionally associates with gang members on the street or elsewhere but who neither recognizes himself nor is usually, or fully, recognized by others as a gang member, except sometimes by law enforcement officials when a gang crime is committed and the particular youth is located nearby. o Soldier or peon. This is a reliable but low- status gang member. o Peripheral or Fringe member. This gang member participates periodically and selectively in gang events. He or she usually does not have high status and is not regarded as a reliable or committed gang member. The gang member may readily leave the gang and be excused from participation in many of the gang's activities. o Wannabe. This refers ordinarily to a younger (less frequently to an older) youth who wants to join the gang. He or she may be a friend or relative of a gang member or former gang member, or already be a member of a "tot" or a juvenile gang- related group. The wannabe may be sought after to join the gang and participate in its activities. o Recruit. A recruit may at times be an older youth recruited for certain skills or talents useful during crises, e.g., gang fighting. He or she may be requested to join for a limited period of time. o Youth at risk of gang membership or gang-prone youth. This is a youth who is not yet a gang member. He or she may not explicitly aspire to gang membership, nor be a target for gang recruitment. However, certain social characteristics and conditions within his or her immediate environment make the youth likely to become a gang member, such as: - he or she lives in a gang neighborhood; - a member of his or her family is a gang member; - he or she experiments with drugs; - he or she commits delinquent acts; - he or she is failing at school; - he or she has certain physical or social attributes which are attractive to the gang; - he or she is knowledgeable about gang lore; - he or she occasionally flashes gang signs or wears gang colors; - he or she is suspected by school or police of being a gang member. These characteristics or conditions, singly, may be insufficient to predispose the youth to gang membership or actually identify him or her as a gang member. The National Youth Gang Suppression and Intervention Program is primarily concerned with the high-risk, gang-prone youth or incipient gang member who gives clear evidence of likely or actual criminal gang involvement. o Floater, go-between, operator, broker. Such a youth or adult is ordinarily not a member of a specific gang, but is well-known and has high status or respect among several gangs in the community. He or she has certain knowledge, talents, or resources useful to gangs, e.g., access to other gangs, capacity to mediate a gang fight, ability to provide legal advice, access to weapons or drugs. o Veterano, Old Head, O.G. (Old Gangster), Senior, Advisor, Counselor. This is usually an honorific status assigned to or taken by a young adult who was (or was reported to be) a gang member when he or she was younger. These adults are often no longer active gang members. They may be junkies, drug dealers, informers, racketeers, legitimate business operators, human service workers, a parent, or other respected members of the community. They sometimes attempt to influence the group or its membership to maintain gang tradition, increase or reduce gang violence, or leave the gang and pursue a legitimate (or illegitimate) adult career. A few may participate selectively on occasion in gang-motivated criminal activity. 6. Group delinquency and gang crime incidents. Not all group delinquency or crime should be classified automatically as a gang incident, e.g., purse snatching, disturbing the peace, mob action, or group assault by nongang members. Group delinquent acts are often incorrectly classified as gang motivated incidents, particularly in emerging gang problem contexts where the problem is just starting and officials do not clearly recognize or understand the distinctive character of the problem. Authorities may initially over-react and classify co-offending youth as members of a gang when their delinquent activity is neither gang- motivated nor gang-related. o Labelling gang-motivated and gang-related incidents. The police in practice often employ a combination of gang-motivated and gang-related procedures to define gang crime incidents. We believe that a system should be developed to gather and record information on gang crime which neither exaggerates nor denies, but accurately and meaningfully describes a gang event. A definition should be devised which emphasizes the gang- oriented nature of the incident, i.e., preferably using gang motivation criteria, and not simply the fact that the participant is a gang member. The argument that the gang member is influenced by his experience in the gang even when he commits a nongang crime must be balanced by two counter arguments. Often the gang member was a serious delinquent before he joined the gang. Subsequent gang-related activity should not thereby be regarded as simply those of a gang delinquent. More importantly, excessive reference to the individual as a gang member simply enhances his prestige and exaggerates the threat of the gang or gang member to the community. However, since the gang member, especially the leadership or core member is likely to be a serious offender, an information system should be developed that records both gang-motivated and gang-related crime of certain types of offenders. Special justice system attention should be paid to the gang member who is a repeat serious offender whether he commits gang-motivated or non-gang-motivated crime. Due regard must be given to the fact that not all gang members are delinquent or criminal, and not all delinquent or criminal gang members will be hard-core offenders. The complexity of the gang problem as well as due process and civil rights require that the individual gang youth should be correctly identified as a criminally-oriented gang member. He or she should not be subjected to excessive labelling and punishment, which will probably contribute neither to the protection of the community nor to the social development of the gang member in the long run. 7. Social Disorganization. As used in this manual, social disorganization refers to a lack of integration across the individual, family, organizations and community. It indicates, for example, an inability to mesh motivations, norms, values, and activities by the individual youth with those of his or her family; by family units with organizations such as the school; by units within a particular agency or organization; and across organizations in a community. At the societal and community levels, social disorganization is often associated with large and rapid population movements and social changes or disruptions, e.g., the influx of a new minority population, the outflow of middle-class families, and the failure of key institutions such as schools, law enforcement, and employers to understand and meet the needs of a new or changing population. Gangs, or even certain communities, may be regarded as coherently organized for their particular purposes. However, the predominant norms and values of these gangs and communities are usually in conflict with the legitimized norms of the larger society. Gangs meet the social and often economic needs of people in ways not approved by the dominant culture. Variables of social disorganization may not be related to variables of poverty, racism, cultural conflict,(3) and social isolation.(4) We believe the interaction of at least two variables, particularly social disorganization and poverty, creates high risks of gang involvement. Social disorganization may also refer to changes that bring about excessive stress or crises in patterns of transition from one state or social situation to another. These transitional patterns may be normal, expected, and desirable under circumstances of stable relationships at home and in the community. They include the transition from: childhood to adolescence; adolescence to young adulthood; one level of schooling to another; and a segregated to an integrated school system, which may require bussing. Early gang involvements are likely to occur during the transition of youth from elementary to junior high, and from junior high to high school in certain neighborhoods. Social disorganization may also be inherent in the changing of seasons. For example, gang activity seems often to rise in the fall as youth begin school, just before and after holiday breaks, and during the late spring before summer vacation.