MENU TITLE: Teleconference Videotape Participant's. Guide Series: OJJDP Published: Summer 1996 32 pages 73,497 bytes U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Participant's Resource Packet for the Youth-Oriented Community Policing National Satellite Teleconference Teleconference produced by: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention U.S. Department of Justice 633 Indiana Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20531 in association with Juvenile Justice Telecommunications Assistance Project Training Resource Center Eastern Kentucky University 301 Perkins Building Richmond, KY 40475-3127 Michael A. Jones, Project Manager Juvenile Justice Telecommunications Assistance Project 606-622-6270 ------------------------------ Greetings from OJJDP Today's satellite teleconference, will provide an overview of the concepts and tenets concerning youth-oriented community policing. Through youth-oriented community policing, the police and community work together to address juvenile crime and victimization problems that impact on the quality of life in neighborhoods. Communities confronted by the problems of juvenile delinquency, crime, and drugs are looking for new solutions. Traditional methods of law enforcement are limited in their effectiveness to halt deterioration of many urban neighborhoods into havens for drug dealers and drug addicts, while families watch helplessly as their children are recruited by drug traffickers. Meanwhile, human service professionals find themselves frustrated by the poverty, unemployment, disease, and family disruption that coexist with crime and drugs. As a result, police departments and human service agencies are turning to new approaches. A growing number of police departments are implementing community policing. For human service agencies, the new focus is collaboration and service integration. This satellite teleconference examines how three programs are taking these innovations a step further by bringing together community policing and human service initiatives in troubled neighborhoods. In New Haven, Connecticut; Lansing, Michigan; and Norfolk, Virginia, police and human service providers are working in partnership with neighborhood residents, especially the youth, to reclaim communities and improve the quality of life for all individuals. These approaches to service delivery complement OJJDP's commitment to a strategy to prevent juvenile delinquency. A fundamental principle of this comprehensive strategy is the need to address the multiple factors that place children at risk. The programs described in today's broadcast seek to ameliorate multiple risk factors, placing particular emphasis on families and communities as primary points of intervention. We hope that today's teleconference provides you and your agency some critical and informative ideas around which to initiate similar efforts in your community. If your local police department and human service agencies are already collaborating, then we hope this program validates their efforts and encourages them to continue their work in improving the lives of the community's young people. Only through your continued dedication and commitment can long-term, positive changes be made to the juvenile justice system. To this end, OJJDP will continue pursuing initiatives regarding youth-oriented community policing. Furthermore, plans for training and technical assistance to communities are underway and will be available in the near future through OJJDP funded programs. We hope you enjoy today's teleconference! ------------------------------ This satellite teleconference was developed through the collaboration and hard work of numerous individuals and agencies. Special thanks for the commitment and dedication displayed by each agency in their involvement. Key contributors include: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services U.S. Department of Justice 1100 Vermont Avenue NW Washington DC 20530 202-616-6694 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention U.S. Department of Justice 633 Indiana Avenue Washington, DC 20531 202-307-5940 Child-Centered Community-Based Policing Project Yale University P.O. Box 2503A Yale Station New Haven, CT 06520 203-785-3377 Neighborhood Network Center 735 East Michigan Avenue Lansing, MI 48912 514-485-6884 PACE Support Group 302 City Hall Building Norfolk, VA 23501 804-664-4626 ------------------------------ Broadcast Objectives o to provide information concerning the characteristics of youth-oriented community policing and how it differs from general community-oriented policing; o to provide information on three unique and effective youth-oriented community policing programs; and o to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas concerning the replication of some effective elements of the highlighted programs. Thank you for your dedication to the nation's youth! ------------------------------ This document was prepared by the Eastern Kentucky University Training Resource Center under grant #95-JN-MU-0001 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Program, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice and the Office for Victims of Crime. ------------------------------ OJJDP National Satellite Teleconference Youth-Oriented Community Policing Table of Contents Agenda Yale University, Yale Child Development - Community Policing, New Haven, Connecticut The Neighborhood Network Center, Lansing, Michigan Police Assisted Community Enforcement (PACE), Norfolk, Virginia Program Panelists' ------------------------------ OJJDP National Satellite Teleconference Youth-Oriented Community Policing AGENDA December 8, 1995 Broadcast Time 1:30 p.m. (ET) 12:30 p.m. (CT 11:30 a.m. (MT) 10:30 a.m. (PT) Items below are listed in this order: Activity Time Length Approximate Time (all times are EDT) Pre-Teleconference Activities (Conducted by local facilitator) Pre-teleconference activities should include familiarization with site surroundings, introduction of other participants, an introduction and program overview provided by the site facilitator, preliminary discussion of issues surrounding conflict resolution education, and review of Participant Packet materials. 30 minutes 1:00-1:30 Test Signal (Youth-Oriented Community Policing) 15 minutes 1:15-1:30 Broadcast Begins 1:30 Teleconference Introduction (Bonnie Krasik, Moderator) 1 minute 1:30-1:31 OJJDP Welcome (Shay Bilchik, Administrator) 3 minutes 1:31-1:34 New Haven Introduction 1 minute 1:34-1:35 New Haven Roll-In 12 minutes 1:35-1:47 Panel Discussion/Call-in 22 minutes 1:47-2:09 Lansing Introduction 1 minute 2:09-2:10 Lansing Roll-In 12 minutes 2:10-2:22 Panel Discussion/Call-In 21 minutes 2:22-2:43 Break/Activity 10 minutes 2:43-2:53 Norfolk Introduction 1 minute 2:53-2:54 Norfolk Roll-In 12 minutes 2:54-3:06 Panel Discussion/Call-In 22 minutes 3:06-3:28 Upcoming OJJDP Events 1 minute 3:28-3:29 Closing Credits 1 minute 3:29-3:30 Broadcast Ends 3:30 Post-Teleconference Discussion (Conducted by local facilitator) Post-teleconference discussion should focus on key issues discussed in the program. 30 minutes ------------------------------ OJJDP National Satellite Teleconference Youth-Oriented Community Policing Featured Program Overviews Yale University Child Development-Community Policing Program New Haven, Connecticut In 1992, the New Haven Police Department and the Yale Child Study Center implemented the Child Development-Community Policing (CD-CP) program to respond to their shared concerns about urban violence and its devastating effects on children, families and the community. The aim of the CD-CP program is to help children and families cope with stress caused by violence, and to prevent violent crime in the community. The program focuses on youth violence prevention and intervention, and targets one of the most vulnerable population groups: at-risk children. The New Haven Police Department has long recognized the importance of early intervention and crime prevention. Through community-oriented policing, the Department has moved away from a reactive, incident-based response mode to a community-based, proactive approach to problem solving and crime prevention. Problem solving emphasizes prevention, intervention, and deterrence, as well as community involvement, networking and social service referral. Police officers, placed on long-term assignments in specific neighborhoods, work closely with citizens to prevent crime and address local needs. Their visible and continual community presence has helped them develop positive relationships with citizens, provide a sense of security and safety within the community, and become positive role models for youth. Like many other cities, New Haven witnessed the devastating impact of crime and violence in the community. Not only did this cycle of violence result in visible changes to their community, but its impact on families and children was often overwhelming, silent and invisible. Many families who worried about becoming the next victims of crime had in fact become victims as they hid behind closed doors. A study of 6th, 8th, and 10th graders in the New Haven schools in 1992 revealed that about 40% of the students said they had witnessed at least one violent crime in the previous year. At the same time, only a small number of children received psychological support to cope with the effects of violence and crime. The Yale University Child Study Center Outpatient Clinic reported that almost one-third of the children seen by staff were exposed to aggression or involved in its consequences. For children, the impact of crime can be both devastating and long lasting. Continued exposure to violence can cause disturbed eating patterns, disorders, depression, fear, and helplessness. Continued exposure to violence also may influence children into becoming the next perpetrators of violence and crime. Police and clinicians in New Haven shared common concerns about these youth and the spiraling cycle of violence and antisocial behavior. To address these concerns, to better serve youth at-risk of victimization and trauma from community violence, and to prevent these youth from becoming the next generation of perpetrators, the New Haven Police Department and Yale University Child Study Center designed and implemented the Child Development-Community Policing program. The foundation of the Community Development-Community Policing Program is based on the philosophy of the New Haven Police Department's community-oriented policing approach. Through the CD-CP program, mental health professionals, psychiatrists, and police officers work together in the community to assist, protect and intervene on behalf of children and families who are most affected by community violence. This approach has led to a greater understanding of the effect of violence on children, families, and the community; has broadened perspectives, knowledge, and respect for agency roles and responsibilities; has enhanced awareness of the multiple issues that relate to crime and violence; and has resulted in a greater opportunity for community crime prevention and intervention through joint ownership of problem solving. CD-CP gives police officers an array of strategies to help them respond to community violence. In turn, this has led to "an increased sense of effectiveness, personal safety and better law enforcement. The collaboration allows mental health professionals to deliver psychological services more directly and immediately to those members of the community who are most vulnerable and for whom traditional mental health services have been least accessible. The partnership between police and mental health provides a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between violence, traumatic stress symptoms and antisocial behavior, as well as to develop more effective ways of delivering better police and mental health services to our communities." CD-CP has enhanced police officer interactions with children, and has increased their level of confidence and competence as they work with children. As a result, officers are able to recognize a child's emotional needs, understand the family dynamics, and effectively intervene. This also has helped to optimize the psychological roles they play as provider of security, authority, and positive role models. CD-CP also has enhanced the role of mental health professionals as they intervene with children and families exposed to violence. Though CD-CP, clinicians can intervene at the time of crisis, and have a better understanding of the community factors and problems that lead to violence and crime. There are four components of the CD-CP program þ Child Development Fellowship, Training Seminars, Consultation Service and Program Conferences. These components are described below: Child Development Fellowship The Child Development Fellowship (CDF) gives clinicians and police officers the opportunity to share information about their own roles, responsibilities, experiences, and knowledge. This exposure and training promotes a more effective, collaborative response to child and family needs. The Child Development Fellowship: o Provides psychological training and expertise to leaders in the police force to enable them to support and advise other officers in crime prevention, early intervention, and relationship building activities with children, adolescents, families, and community agencies; o Develops a group of specially trained, respected, veteran officers to disseminate the CD-CP Program philosophy, approach, and methods within the police department; o Provides knowledge and information about police practices to mental health professionals to enable them to work effectively with their counterparts in law enforcement; and o Develops close, trusting relationships between police supervisor and clinicians in order to facilitate the training and consultative aspects of the program. The law enforcement and mental health professionals who participate in the Child Development Fellowship have a leadership role in their respective agency. Police "Fellows" typically come from supervisory positions in child and family related units, such as Juvenile Services, Family Violence and Sex Bias, or Narcotics. Three or four new officers participate in the CDF every 4-6 months. Mental health professionals work includes clinical assessments and psychotherapy work with persons exposed to violence; home, school and/or other community-based modes of clinical intervention; and familiarity with mental health and social service resources in the community. Approximately 3-4 mental health professionals comprise the core mental health group. Police "Fellows" spend several hours each week in the mental health setting. Mental health professionals introduce and familiarize officers with developmental concepts and patterns of psychological disturbances, methods of clinical intervention, and settings for treatment and care by guiding them through various training activities. Clinical rotations enable officers to observe and discuss mental health services for children and families. Services for children and families include observations of out patient evaluations, home based services, and family preservation program case conferences, students in public school settings and emergency room child psychiatric evaluations. In addition to these rotations, Police Fellows meet regularly with clinicians for post-observation discussions to examine and discuss underlying psychological principles, clinical services aspects of child behavior, or other questions or concerns that arise. Clinical Fellowship activities are designed to increase clinician awareness and familiarity with police operations, local neighborhoods, and the day-to-day experiences in the community. The two main elements of this training are Ride Alongs and Observation and Consultation in Other Police Settings. Clinicians accompany police on ride alongs to observe officer response to calls, engage in casual encounters with neighborhood residents, and collaborate with officers. Ride alongs occur in different neighborhoods to help clinicians become more familiar with police work and more visible to the rank and file officers. Ride alongs also promote positive relationships among clinicians and police officers. Clinicians also observe and consult with officers on different aspects of police work, such as juvenile matters, narcotics, or family violence. This gives the clinicians an opportunity to learn more about police operations and police work, and helps to foster relationships among mental health and law enforcement staff. This opportunity for ongoing observation and communication gives clinicians and officers a chance to informally discuss cases or situations where police activity may have a psychological impact on children. Training Seminars The second major component of the CD-CP program is training and education for law enforcement to prepare officers to handle "mental health" issues that will surface through community-policing. Training is aimed at teaching officers how to deal with the psychological impact of family violence, help children and youth in situations of high risk, divert potential offenders, collaborate in neighborhood improvement, and assist victims of crime. Training also helps police officers understand the basic principles of child development and human functioning and how these principles can be useful in daily police work. Seminars capitalize on officers' skills and knowledge and expand officers field of observation to include child and adolescent behavior as well as child/parent interactions. The seminars also help officers understand how their own reactions to anxiety, stress, and frustration can affect their performance. Seminars are led by a core team of mental health and police "Fellows." The 9 week course covers the various developmental stages of children, from infancy through adolescence. They include such topics as the effects of separation and trauma on children, issues of race and class in child development, and community-policing and community mental health resources. Officers sometimes must make dispositional decisions when there is no clear cut solution or response to the problem, such as when a child witnesses violence, fears gang membership, or faces some other type of trauma. This occurs more frequently when officers work closely with neighborhoods and citizens through community policing. These officers are in prime position to intervene to ameliorate the psychological consequences of children's chronic experience of violence, and offer a sense of security and safety to distressed children and parents. Many parents who suffer from the effects of violence are unable to cope with or recognize the psychological effects and impact of violence on their child. Officers play an important role in helping adults recognize that exposure to violence is upsetting for the parent and the child; that the child's reaction may manifest itself in behavior rather than words; that some children may have a delayed expression of their feelings. Clinicians also play an important role by engaging families with mental health services and providing home visits and follow-up telephone calls. Consultation Service Through the Consultation Service clinicians are available 24 hours a day, providing officers with immediate access to clinical services and consultation. Officers can discuss available options for the child, such as emergency services or referrals, and can access immediate mental health services for the child in his or her home, at the police station, in the hospital, or wherever appropriate. The consultation service provides: o On-Call Availability of at least one officer and one clinician at all times to consult with officers in the field. o Crisis Response in acute crises to children and families at home, in police stations, schools, other community settings, or wherever necessary and appropriate. o Coordination of Community Response and services when there are serious incidents involving large numbers of children. o Clinical Referrals to other services such as emergency rooms, inpatient facilities, and outpatient clinics. o Inter-Agency Collaboration with other service providers (e.g., schools, therapists, pediatricians, and child welfare professionals) that are already involved with the child or family. o Home-Based Follow-Up visits to children and families as needed. o Officer Support on an ongoing basis to support officers who are continually exposed to violence involving children as victims, witnesses and perpetrators. Police officers refer children to the consultation service if the child was present at the scene of a violent incident, and if a member of the child's immediate household died due to unnatural causes. Officers also make referrals for children who are at risk of or have already been victimized or traumatized, such as a child who is considering going or withdrawing from a gang, a child who tells an officer about his or her emotional distress, a child who is habitually truant, or a child who lives in a household where adults abuse drugs or engage in other disturbing behaviors. Emergency referrals are made through telephone, beeper or radio, while non-emergency referrals are made by telephone or in writing. Program Conference The fourth component of CD-CP is the Program Conference, which gives officers and clinicians an opportunity to discuss broad program issues, difficult and/or perplexing cases, reasons for law enforcement interaction, types of services needed or required, and problems. This ongoing coordination and discussion provides a structured and consistent way to integrate diverse program elements into a coherent process and helps to: o coordinate planning on individual case basis as well as the overall program level; o generate a better understanding of how violence affects children and families; o integrate and apply police and mental health principles and strategies to improved methods of collaboration and response; o support collaboration and enhance program effectiveness through continual assessment of program strengths and weaknesses; o identify and address systemic, institutional and policy issues affecting and impacting on the ability of the program to achieve its goals; o address program management, administration, and housekeeping issues (such as training session agendas, personnel and budgetary issues and policy and procedural issues); and, o build personal, trusting relationships between police officers and clinicians which is essential to program success. Case reviews are led by senior clinicians, with major input from the clinician and officer who had direct contact with the child. Police provide information about the initial report (what happened, who was affected), family history (what is known about the children and family through past involvement with the police), the immediate effect of incident on the child and family, the police response (what was done, who was involved, was referral made, why or why not), and recommendations for case planning. Clinicians provide a review of known information, including the nature and timing of the clinical contact; the child's presentation at the time; information about the child's earlier functioning in school, community, home, and with peers; information known about medical, behavioral, and psychological functioning; nature of family relationships; the impact of the incident on family unit; family strengths and needs; and recommendations for case planning. The case review process integrates the work of the officer and clinician, delineates agency roles regarding intervention and follow-up, and enhances understanding of the case. The review process also helps agencies coordinate services and resources; identify additional resources that are needed by the child and family based on psychological, development, medical, and educational needs; and identifies who will take primary responsibility for the case. This ongoing review also helps to ensure that services are flexible and responsive to the changing needs of the family, and that they are sustained for as long as needed by the child and family. In the first two years of the program, officers placed 150 calls to the Consultation Service relating to 350 children between the ages of 2 and 17. Children and families who might not have received support and treatment are now being referred for mental health services as a result of CD-CP. Mental health professionals have followed community-oriented policing practice by moving their work into the community. CD-CP has helped to generate a greater awareness of the specific needs and concerns of children and families who have been victimized by community violence. Strong relationships between police and mental health professionals have been established, and joint strategies have been developed for interrupting and minimizing effects of violence. Clinicians and police now share important knowledge, experiences, and information about children, family, and inner-city life and violence. This has enabled both police officers and clinicians to understand more fully the circumstances surrounding the child's behavior, reactions, and patterns of adaptation. It also has resulted in a greater understanding about needs of inner-city youth, and how the system can best respond to these needs. Officers state that as a result of CD-CP, they are more effective in their work in the community, particularly when confronting the tragedy of violence. Officers believe they have a new way to take control because they are supported in their efforts to confront the tragedy, deal with the emotional needs of the child and family, and offer direct services. CD-CP not only serves children and families who are the victims of community violence, but it also aids the professionals who work on these cases. Through ongoing communication and consultation, officers and mental health professionals have received the necessary support and assistance to cope with the day-to-day trauma associated with crime and violence on the streets. ---------- During the coming year, the CD-CP Program with OJJDP funding assistance, will provide consultation and training and technical assistance to police/mental health partnerships in four communities which are interested in replicating the CD-CP Program. The primary activities planned for the program replication project are (1) selection of the sites that will receive training and technical assistance; (2) completion of training for New Haven police supervisors and clinical faculty to act as providers of training and technical assistance; (3) implementation of a 5-phase replication protocol in four sites around the country; (4) beginning data collection and analysis for the replication sites based on a standardized program evaluation protocol; and (5) beginning work on a casebook that describes in detail various aspects of the New Haven program's collaborative work and serves as a companion to the CD-CP Program Manual, developed with previous OJJDP support. ------------------------------ The Neighborhood Network Center Lansing, Michigan In January 1990, Lansing, Michigan, launched its first community policing effort in one of the city's most troubled neighborhoods. Within a few months, Sparrow Estates, the pilot neighborhood produced positive results. The community police officer had already contributed to some noticeable improvements, including the closing of several crack houses and a neighborhood cleanup. In spite of his successes, the officer's inability to handle many of the neighborhood's underlying problems frustrated him. Health care, social services, substance abuse treatment, good housing, and jobs were inadequate. Struggling to find solutions, the officer contacted other organizations in the community. One of them was nearby Bingham Elementary School, where the principal used a multiagency team to target her most troubled students and their families. The idea for the multiagency team originated with an Inter-Agency Group, composed of top administrators from the school district, public health, social services, mental health, and the probate (juvenile) court. Attracted by the team approach, the community police officer and two of his superiors began meeting with the Inter-Agency Group to determine whether the concept could be applied on a neighborhood level. Robert Trojanowicz, Director of the National Center for Community Policing at nearby Michigan State University, soon joined the discussion. Mr. Trojanowicz wanted to expand the concept of community policing in Sparrow Estates into Neighborhood Network Centers in which community police officers and social service providers worked together. Although the Inter-Agency Group, neighborhood residents, and police were enthusiastic about the idea of a Neighborhood Network Center, they needed to find a site and convince agencies to assign personnel to the Center. Fortunately, the community police officer persuaded a local landlord to donate the use of a floor in one of his buildings. Neighborhood residents helped clear up and renovate the space and in January 1991, the officer moved in. At the same time, he expanded his territory to a second neighborhood, Green Oaks. The Neighborhood Network Center was located right on the main street dividing Sparrow Estates from Green Oaks. However, bringing other agency representatives into the new Neighborhood Network Center (NNC) proved difficult. Michigan was experiencing a budget crisis and public agencies were reluctant to assign personnel to new ventures. Rather than wait indefinitely for government agency officials to commit staff, NNC offered rent-free space to any agency that would provide services to the neighborhood. Still, it was not until August 1991 that a second partner, the Lansing School District, moved in and brought a contract provider, Gateway Social Services. Gradually, over the next 2 years other public and private agencies claimed most of the remaining space. Although the city of Lansing expanded community policing to 15 neighborhoods during that time, Sparrow Estates/Green Oaks remains the only community policing area in Lansing served by a Neighborhood Network Center. Mission and target area. Essentially, the NNC is a group of public and private service agencies that share office space and have overlapping target areas and interests. The structure is informal, with agencies falling into two groups -- core agencies and supporting agencies -- according to their roles in the Center. The NNC's goals are the following: o Use an interagency approach to intervene with individuals and families in the neighborhood. o Access all available resources, public and private, on behalf of the community. o Improve the social, health, education, and physical environment of neighborhood residents, and make the area a better and safer place to live. o Involve neighborhood residents and families in the problem-solving process. In the target areas for the core team are the two neighborhoods covered by the community police officer. Sparrow Estates and Green Oaks consist of about 20 blocks, with about 1300 residents. The neighborhoods are composed of caucasians, Hispanics, African Americans, and Southeast Asian residents. Sparrow Estates, the smaller of the two neighborhoods, was chosen as one of the city's first community policing areas because of its crime and housing profiles. Of particular significance were several known drug houses and the presence of prostitutes on the street. The area's many zoning and housing code violations and its high percentage of rental properties were important considerations. When the community police officer arrived, no neighborhood association existed in Sparrow Estates. Green Oaks had experienced many of the same problems as Sparrow Estates, but to a lesser extent. Unlike Sparrow Estates, Green Oaks already had a neighborhood association and a block watch organization. Although the core team works primarily in Sparrow Estates and Green Oaks, imposing a strict boundary limitation on the agencies in the Center proved to be impractical. The population of Sparrow Estates/Green Oaks is too small to generate a sufficient caseload for some of the providers, and each agency defines service territories differently. Willingness to work in the neighborhoods surrounding the Center is a requirement for operating in the NNC, however, and most supporting agencies have come there at least in part because they have a concentration of clients in the vicinity. Core agencies and core staff team. The core agencies assume the primary responsibility for administering the facility and carrying out the Center's mission. The core agencies include the Lansing Police Department, the School District, and Gateway Social Services, a private agency that provides social services to the School District under a contract. Together, these three agencies supply the NNC's informal core staff team, consisting of the community police officer, a school program administrator, a social worker, and a secretary. The community police officer and the school program administrator are the unofficial management team for the NNC. They decide which agencies can have space in the building, supervise the secretary, and handle the limited finances-consisting mainly of petty cash and rental income from a few of the tenants. Besides providing the core staff, core agencies have placed other personnel at the NNC who can assist in handling neighborhood problems but who are responsible for a wider geographic area. Lansing Police support a police detective at the NNC whose territory includes Sparrow Estates, Green Oaks, and an adjoining neighborhood. The school system supports several additional social workers, a nurse supervisor, a learning specialist, and several child health advocates who work with children throughout Lansing. Supporting agencies. The Center provides a base for several other agencies that pursue their own district agenda. These supporting agencies accept referrals from core agency staff and others in the Center and help with community events as their time and resources permit. The supporting agencies include: o Lao Family Community, Inc., which works with Lao families in the Lansing area, including an estimated 200 people near the Center. The organization often provides translator and interpreter support for others in the NNC. o Legal Aid, which assigns a staff attorney to spend two days a month at the NNC helping neighborhood residents on housing, domestic problems, social security benefits, and other civil legal matters. o Michigan State University (MSU), which uses the NNC as a site for bachelor's degree nursing students serving their community health practicum. Each semester, 18-20 students work out of the NNC, serving clients referred by NNC partners. o Community Mental Health and Child Abuse Prevention Services, which use the NNC as an administrative base for a parent training/mentoring program and a preschool program. o The Neighborhood Youth & Parent Prevention Partnership, a federally funded initiative that organizes neighborhood coalitions of youth and adults to work on substance abuse prevention. o The Lansing Neighborhood Council, which provides a community/landlord organizer to work on identifying and upgrading problem rental properties in community policing neighborhoods. o The Lansing Reinvestment Corporation, which rehabilitates rundown properties in Green Oaks and helps low-income residents obtain subsidized mortgages. NNC tenants meet monthly to share information, to brainstorm about community problems, and to assign people to clean the facility. Interventions. Identifying families or properties in trouble is one intervention approach NNC uses to help residents. The following components comprise the intervention process: o The Problem-Solving Team. This group, composed of the community police officer, the detective, the school administrator, the social worker, a city code enforcement officer, a representative of the police drug unit, and several local patrol officers, meets weekly. Team members discuss families or properties that concern them and consider how best to intervene. Those diverse problems may involve drug dealing, vandalizing vacant houses, skipping school, drinking on the street corner, feuding among families, or leaving a child unattended. In response, police may increase patrols, code enforcement officials may offer critical repairs, while the social worker may decide to investigate a family's situations. In the case of a suspected crack house for example, several agencies may need to coordinate efforts to close it down. o Case management and follow-up. The school program administrator keeps track of problem families and properties, which are reviewed at subsequent meetings. To help troubled families, the administrator and the social worker may for example, ask the NNC nurse supervisor to schedule a visit or consult with a child's school principal. Although it is often convenient and appropriate to call upon their colleagues at the NNC, the team also works routinely with service agencies outside the organization. o Exchange of referrals. Besides the formal process of problem solving, case management, and follow-up, agencies in the NNC often trade informal referrals. For instance, the community police officer and his colleagues routinely refer families with health-related problems to the MSU nursing team. Providers who need to contact a Lao family can call upon the Lao service agency to help overcome language and cultural barriers. The police officer can accompany service providers on home visits, when staff safety is a concern or when the officer can assist in getting the family to open their door. Typically, providers see families who need services in their homes, or they visit a child's school, or sometimes families visit the NNC office to receive services. Community wide interventions. Another important facet of the NNC effort is working with the community-at-large to address community problems. o Initial community organization. The community police officer began the process of community organization during the first year discussing with residents their needs and concerns. Gradually, the officer identified a nucleus of residents who formed Sparrow Estates' first neighborhood association. Eventually, the officer used information from neighbors and help from other police units to close several crack houses in the neighborhood. The officer also began organizing a series of community projects, beginning with a community trash cleanup in which residents filled more than 24 huge city dumpsters. This effort was followed up by neighbors planting flowers purchased with federal beautification funds. Each new project was celebrated with a community party or picnic. Other early efforts included a voter registration drive and a contest that produced the neighborhood name. In January 1991, when the community police officer added Green Oaks to his beat, he began working closely with that neighborhood's resident associations. o Working with neighborhood associations and neighborhood watchers. Continuing the pattern set by the community police officer, NNC team members regularly attend meetings of the neighborhood associations and block watch groups in Sparrow Estates/Green Oaks, and have begun to work with a third association organizing in nearby Oak Park. The team works with Caring Area Residents (CARS), an umbrella organization formed in 1993 to coordinate social activities across the three individual neighborhoods. These community organizations function as vehicles for communicating with the NNC team and for community problem-solving. For example, CARS recently met with the principal of the nearby high school to express concern about students loitering and littering in the neighborhood during lunch hour. Residents also successfully lobbied the city to purchase and close down a convenience store that had become an eyesore and a persistent trouble spot. o Community social events. The team works with neighborhood groups to organize holiday parties, cookouts, neighborhood beautification, school-community fairs, and other activities that bring area residents together, including fundraising events to pay for future projects. In addition, every month at the NNC they provide either neighborhood potlucks or free dinners and have childcare available. The dinners are followed by CARS meetings, which may include such educational programs as seminars on mortgages, presented by a local bank officer. Originally, the community police officers were responsible for most of these activities. As the NNC developed, other team members and residents have shared the responsibility. o Other special projects. NNC team members also get involved in special projects, often developed in cooperation with residents and targeted to special needs. Last year, for example, the social worker worked with a parent/child summer program funded by another NNC tenant, the Neighborhood Youth & Parent Prevention Partnership. Team members also organized a community garden project that was particularly important to Southeast Asian residents. Other projects have included a food and community services cooperative and a breast cancer detection clinic. Youth activities. Youth programs, which include community socials, are a special concern of the NNC. Two youth programs are noteworthy: o The High Adventure Group. In 1990 the police officer organized a club for up to 10 boys in grade 5. A girls' program has since been added. The clubs target children from single-parent families, who are identified through the local elementary school. The groups meet every other week and have an adventure outing once a month. Originally, the program operated without liability insurance, but this problem disappeared when the Boy Scouts, and the Girl Scouts welcomed the clubs under their organizational umbrellas. The latest partner in the High Adventure effort is Big Brothers/Big Sisters, which is recruiting adult volunteers to work with children in the newest groups. The Boys Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters have been flexible about their standard proceduresþfor example, no uniforms are necessary. For them, the High Adventure Groups are an innovative way to reach inner-city children. o Community service placements. The NNC now ranks as one of the probate court's most used community service placements for juvenile delinquents. The NNC accepts individual youth and teenage work crews relying on college interns to help with supervision. Individual youth generally perform janitorial and secretarial duties at the Center, while work crews do cleanup, repairs, and yard work in the neighborhood. The NNC team believes that besides the direct labor the youth provide, the neighborhood benefits indirectly because youth placed at the NNC will develop a sense of community ownership and be less inclined to vandalize or commit other crimes there. Results The Neighborhood Network Center has not been formally evaluated, but city officials and neighborhood residents are enthusiastic about the positive changes in the Sparrow Estates/Green Oaks area. First, the physical appearance of the neighborhood is much improved. Second, residents are better organized and are actively solving their own problems. One city official noted that residents now seem to better understand how to make government work for them. For example. voter registration and voter turnout are up. Third, crime rates, particularly in Sparrow Estates, have dropped precipitously. In 1989, 121 reported crimes occurred in the area. This number climbed to 156 in the first year of community policing, a common pattern in neighborhood where police become more accessible and trusted. However, reported crimes dropped to 110 in 1991 and 67 in 1992. Police expect reported crimes to fall below 50 in 1993. Conclusion NNC has no official budget for its operations. All personnel, including the core team, are funded through regular agency budgets, outside grants, or a combination of the two. The NNC uses about 5,000 square feet of space, which includes offices, a reception area, and a large meeting room. The space is donated, but a few agencies contribute rent and the neighborhood holds fund-raisers to help defray utility costs. The School District contributes a copying machine and office supplies for common use. The NNC relies heavily on volunteers: neighborhood residents, area churches, businesses, and student interns to carry out its many activities. It uses space in the community. Particularly churches, for parties, meetings, and youth recreational programs. One of the churches rents a house to the community, which serves as a clubhouse where residents can hold meetings or family parties. Program Costs NNC has no official budget for its operations. All personnel, including the core team, are funded through regular agency budgets, outside grants, or a combination of the two. The NNC uses about 5,000 square feet of space, which includes offices, a reception area and a large meeting room. The space is donated, but a few agencies contribute rent and the neighborhood holds fundraisers to help defray utility costs. The School District contributes a copying machine and office supplies for common use. The NNC relies heavily on volunteers: neighborhood residents, area churches, businesses, and student interns to carry out its many activities. It uses space in the community, particularly churches, for parties, meetings, and youth recreational programs. One of the churches rents a house to the community, which serves as a clubhouse where residents can hold meetings or family parties. Police Assisted Community Enforcement (PACE) Norfolk, Virginia During the late 1980's, Norfolk, Virginia, began to see disturbing signs of increased drug use and trafficking. Responding to growing public concern, Norfolk's mayor appointed a Task Force on Drugs, co-chaired by city council members, to make recommendations. Consistent with Norfolk tradition, this task force comprised a broad cross-section of public officials and private citizens. Consequently, a Community Forum of more than 300 of these local leaders produced a report emphasizing that solutions to drug problems had to involve the entire community -- families, neighbors, volunteers, religious groups, and civic leagues, as well as city agencies. Meanwhile, city officials considered how a shift to community-oriented policing might create a closer partnership between police and citizens in the drug war. However, it was apparent that Norfolk would need new funding to dramatically change its approach to policing. When attempts to find outside funding for the program failed, the Mayor urged the City Council to increase the local real estate tax. The Council agreed and with $1.8 million in new revenues from the tax hike, the city enacted its plan in July of 1990. The new program effort was called Police Assisted Community Enforcement, or PACE, a name deliberately chosen to convey the initiative's underlying philosophyþthat communities must play the lead role in solving problems and that police (and other public agencies) were their helpers. PACE devoted its first six months to planning, training police officers for their new roles, hiring personnel, and educating city employees and citizens about the new effort. The city manager had recently placed public safety (police and fire services) and human services under the supervision of an assistant city manger, who soon organized an interagency PACE Support Services Committee to oversee the program. By January of 1991, Norfolk Police had targeted their first two PACE neighborhoods. Within a couple of months, community police officers were assigned to each targeted neighborhood, and teams of city employees and citizens were established to work with them. By the end of 1991, bolstered by additional funding from the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, PACE had moved into seven more neighborhoods. The final target neighborhood was included in July of 1992. By early 1993, after 2 years in operation, PACE was viewed as the embodiment of Norfolk's commitment to "community-oriented government." A new Mayor's Task Force on Violence and Crime Reduction praised PACE not only as an effective program for the target neighborhoods, but as an exemplary model of government. Consequently, the group recommended that PACE be extended citywide. Although PACE participants agreed in principle, it took time to develop a structure for citywide expansion. By mid-1993, the group decided to use the city's six police sectors as a framework and to establish sector-level PACE teams in each area. Up to this point, PACE has been primarily a targeted initiative, focusing on ten specific neighborhoods. The next sections describe how that targeted program has operated, reserving discussion of the new citywide organization for later. PACE mission and target areas. PACE's mission is to resolve community problems and to improve the quality of life through partnerships between city government and city residents. Although PACE's tactics evolved through trial and error, from the beginning city officials were clear on one principleþTo engage citizens in effective partnerships, they would have to demonstrate that city employees were accessible and responsive to citizen concerns. PACE target neighborhoodsþplagued by drug trafficking and high crimesþwere selected by police officials. One of the first target areas was Grandy Village, a predominantly African-American public housing community with about 1,500 residents. The other initial target area was East Ocean View, a community that had also suffered the ravages of drugs and crime. This community, which is near Norfolk Naval Base, is an extremely transient area with much absentee-owned rental property. It has more than 9,000 residents and is 68 percent white. Of the eight neighborhoods that were subsequently selected as PACE targets, five were public housing communities, ranging in size from about 800 to 1,900 residents. The other three neighborhoods, with populations ranging from 3,200 to 7,500, were mixed residential and commercial areas, exhibiting the familiar symptoms of urban decayþpredominance of rental housing, deterioration of the physical environment, open-air drug selling, and crime. Organizational structure. Norfolk has a Council-City Manager form of government. Within that structure, PACE is assigned to the Assistant City Manager for Public Safety and Services, who provides administrative support and acts as an interpreter and flagbearer for the initiative among city employees and in the community. PACE consists of several different committees and staff working at multiple organizational levels. The organization has three main types of committees: o The PACE Support Services Committee (PSSC) is the key policymaking body. It began with members drawn from a dozen city agencies but has since expanded to represent additional agencies and include neighborhood groups and the business and religious communities. Police, the Health Department, Social Services, Juvenile Court, Youth Services, the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Planning and Codes Administration, Code Enforcement, Parks and Recreation, the Community Services Board (responsible for mental health, mental retardation, and substance abuse services), the Office of Drug Awareness, and the School District are all represented, typically by middle managers, although some department heads attend. The committee meets monthly, providing a forum for information sharing, policy decisions, and problem solving around specific community issues identified through PACE. Ad hoc subcommittees are appointed to look at particular problemsþfor example, the proliferation of used needles and other drug paraphernalia on the streets in one neighborhood. o The Neighborhood Environmental Assessment Team (NEAT) has the task of responding to environmental concerns in the targeted neighborhoods, such as vacant or dilapidated housing, abandoned vehicles, trash, and overgrown lots. This team, chaired by the PSSC representative from City Planning and Codes Enforcement, includes representatives from Environmental Health, Public Works, Parks and Forestry, Police, the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Existing Structures, and civic leagues. The team calls upon line staff from the various agencies and community representatives to carry out many neighborhood-based activities. o Family Assessment Services Teams (FAST's) address the needs of multi-problem families in the targeted neighborhoods and serve as a vehicle for information sharing and problem solving at the neighborhood level. Members generally include line staff from Social Services, the Police, the Community Service Board, Parks and Recreation, Public Health, and the Public Schools. Other members include the Redevelopment and Housing Authority, non-profit service agencies, leaders from civic leagues, tenant management organizations, and the business and religious communities. Each neighborhood has its own team, although in one case, two adjoining neighborhoods share a team. FAST's meet monthly and choose co-chairs who rotate responsibilities every 6 months. Besides committee and team units, the following key individuals keep PACE operating day-to-day: o A full-time FAST Coordinator, provided by Social Services, who works with FAST's in all 10 target areas. o Fifteen community police officers assigned to the ten target areas. Three neighborhoods have two-officer teams and one neighborhood has three officers. The remaining six neighborhoods are divided into two groups, each group sharing three officers. o A PACE Coordinator, police captain, who oversees all PACE activities for the Norfolk Police. Intervention Sequence. In each targeted neighborhood, PACE adopted a three-phased approach to intervention. o In Phase I, Norfolk Police made a sweep of the neighborhood to arrest suspects identified through previous undercover operations and searches. o During Phase II, police increased motorized patrols and assigned one or more PACE officers to work in the area. Moreover, city officials reached out to citizens through community meetings to identify their concerns and assembled the neighborhood's FAST team. Usually a month passed between the initial sweep and the first FAST meeting. o In Phase III, the community partnership phase, PACE officers worked daily in the targeted area and FAST teams met monthly. Recognizing that partnership-building is a long-term process, participants see the final community partnership phase as open-ended. They point out that partnerships are much stronger in some neighborhoods than in others. Specific intervention approaches. As the previous discussion suggests, PACE incorporates a variety of tactics. Law enforcement tactics include the following: o Traditional law enforcement tactics such as undercover narcotics operations, increased patrol, and sweeps are employed. Although a sweep initiates activity in targeted neighborhoods, police can still do "minisweeps" later. Police also work with citizens on establishing block watchers. o Targeted area officers. Although Norfolk's entire police force has been trained in community policing, specific officers are assigned to PACE neighborhoods and relieved of routine patrol duties. Although they answer some service calls in their area, they spend considerable time walking through the neighborhood, talking with citizens informally, and attending community meetings. Police officers participate in NEAT and FAST, where they can refer specific problems for intervention. Officers also seek solutions to some problems on their own. For example, they notify owners about illegal drug activity on their property and ask them to post "no trespassing" signs, which allow the police to order nonresidents to leave. o Bicycle patrols. Another aspect of community policing in Norfolk is bicycle patrol. Although bike patrols are not assigned exclusively to PACE, several of the bike officers spend a substantial amount of their time in targeted areas. o Collaboration with landlords and property managers. Before PACE began, police had been meeting with property managers in one neighborhood to discuss solutions to problems such as neighborhood deterioration and drug trafficking, which threatened the value of rental property. Now similar groups in several neighborhoods hold monthly meetings on ways to effectively screen out drug-dealing tenants, to control on-street dealing and disorder, and to assist landlords in effective property management. NEAT is the primary tool for intervening in the physical environment, where several tactics have been used: o Neighborhood tours. As each new PACE neighborhood was targeted, NEAT members and civic leaders toured the area with the beat officers. The team compiled a list of problems and addresses and assigned them to team members who could seek solutions. In general, NEAT found that these initial neighborhood tours were particularly useful in nonpublic housing neighborhoods as public housing areas were fairly well maintained. o Follow-up tour. The tours often resulted in towing abandoned cars, clearing trash-filled lots, taking action on code violations or, in extreme cases, tearing down buildings. Teams tried to speed up the normal procedures, although there were obstacles. Because of the high backlog of abandoned cars, for example, the city found that it needed to contract with more private towing firms. o Continuing partnership. NEAT continues to respond to environmental issues in PACE neighborhoods as they are identified through FAST, residents, or other sources. NEAT agencies either collaborate on solutions or work with FAST. For example, in one case, PACE officers videotaped the activities around a vacant house, helping code enforcement staff to quickly make the case for razing the property as a public nuisance. In another instance, a church leader recruited volunteers to help a family clean up its dwelling. Another activity spearheaded by NEAT was a needle-awareness program designed to alert children and parents to the dangers associated with discarded drug paraphernalia. FAST takes the lead in addressing the social and human service needs of targeted neighborhoods through the following: o Initial community forums. As PACE entered each new area, community meetings were scheduled as a way to build rapport with citizens of the targeted neighborhoods and to get them involved in the PACE partnership. PACE soon discovered that in some areas the meetings were the only vehicle for residents and agency representatives to get together and trade views. These meetings served to identify the community's most pressing concerns. o Regular town meetings. Community meetings became a regular part of PACE, with a town meeting held in place of the regular FAST meeting each quarter. FAST generates the best turnouts when town meetings combine refreshments and fun, such as door prizes or contests, with discussion of serious neighborhood issues. City officials attend to hear community concerns firsthand. However, in some neighborhoods it has been a challenge to keep residents involved. One FAST eventually joined forces with the area civic league, which decreased the number of meetings competing for residents' time and gave every FAST meeting a town meeting component. On the other hand, separate town meetings proved so popular in one area that they are now held every other month rather than quarterly. o Case staffings. From the outset, FAST expected to receive referrals of troubled families from member agencies and neighborhood residents. The plan was that FAST representatives from all the relevant city agencies would then hold a "case staffing" and work out a coordinated response. In fact, most FAST were preoccupied with organizing residents and did not do staffings in the first year. By the second year, several FAST were staffing cases, but referrals were sparse although the service had been well publicized. At the end of 1992, seven of the nine FAST were monitoring a total of 14 cases. Staffings usually are held after FAST meetings and are confidential; police and community residents do not attend. Typically, the referring agency retains responsibility for case management, even though several agencies may be involved in working with the family. Referrals require a special referral form and a signed release from the family involved, authorizing the FAST agencies to share information about the case among themselves. o Crisis intervention. East Ocean View's FAST recently began testing another method of working with individual families. Under this program, PACE officers trained patrol officers to refer troubled families to FAST, focusing on cases where they had been called to a home but no arrest or summons had resulted. FAST members from city agencies take turns working in pairs to handle referrals of civilians. However, Navy families are referred to the Navy's Family Advocacy Center, which also participates in FAST. A public health nurse and a juvenile probation officer took the first month's rotation, handling eight referrals. Four other referrals were handled by the Navy. Most referrals were initiated by domestic disturbance calls, suicide threats, or children left unattended. In all cases, the goal is to link families with services quickly. Feedback is provided to the referring officer. o Other special projects. Individual FAST have worked on several special efforts, either on their own or in collaboration with other community groups. For example, one FAST obtained some small grants to support children's recreational activities and arranged for a GED class to be offered at the local recreation center. Another set up a tutoring program that serves more than 409 children a day. A third successfully lobbied the city to open a miniservices center in the neighborhood and a fourth is planning to train FAST members and resident volunteers to counsel families traumatized by violence. Youth partnerships. Youth partnerships are a particular priority for PACE because they offer a way to involve neighborhood youth in positive activities with positive role models and to intervene early with children and youth at risk. For example, PACE collaborates with the following: o The Norfolk Interagency Consortium, which sets policy on placements for high-risk youth and uses interagency assessment teams to make placements. o The Truancy Action Program, another multiagency initiative which refers cases to FAST in one target neighborhood. o The PACE Athletic League and the PACE/NCAA Program, a collaboration of Norfolk Police, the Boys and Girls Clubs, Norfolk State University, and other groups to provide opportunities for young people to participate in team sports. o The Norfolk Youth Forum, an event involving more than 250 high school students who spoke out and proposed solutions to youth and community problems. o The Berkley/Campostella Early Childhood Development Center, an innovative preschool and multiservice center, which has programs for students and their parents. Other linkages. PACE partnerships are not limited to youth activities. PACE and its partners serve on each other's committees, volunteer for each other's activities, and sometimes share the same PACE logo. Over time, PACE has developed partnerships with a long list of initiatives spearheaded by community residents or city agencies. For example, PACE works with the following: o Police mini-stations, established and staffed by citizens and local businesses in several parts of the city. o The Diggs Economic Empowerment Demonstration, which focuses on increasing tenant self-sufficiency in one of the PACE public housing areas. o PACE-ALERT, a training program to develop community leadership in two areas. o PACE-SAFE, a coalition of religious organizations that works to build partnerships with the city and the entire community and also sponsors block parties, music and other activities. The PACE program has not been systematically evaluated. However, statistics show that crime has dropped markedly in the targeted neighborhoods. Crime decreased by an estimated 29 percent in these areas, according to one 1993 report, and violent crime has declined citywide. Police report fewer service calls in certain target areas and a significant drop in on-street drug trafficking and gunfire. PACE participants believe the program has reduced fear of crime in their neighborhoods. City officials and private citizens are enthusiastic about other aspects of PACE. They contend that it has cut red tape, greatly improved communication among city agencies at all levels, and made city officials more accessible to citizens. Several citizens commented that their initial skepticism about the program was overcome when they saw how rapidly the program responded to pressing community concerns. Others commented approvingly that they were now on a first-name basis with police officers in their neighborhood. Police mention that they get a warmer reception in these areas. City officials link the community meetings and committees initiated by PACE to the implementation of other multiagency service initiatives, including the establishment of two public health clinics in the community and the development of a multiservice center at an alternative school. PACE costs are difficult to estimate because it is virtually impossible to disentangle them from other city activities. The police portion of the program depends on support from the city real estate tax increase, which generates $1.8 million dollars annually. In addition, State and Federal grants have contributed to the community policing effort. As a result, the department has trained the entire force in community policing, hired 38 more officers and 11 civilians, and assigned 15 targeted-area officers to PACE. Personnel from other city agencies are involved in PACE at all levels, serving on committees, following up with troubled families, and attending community meetings and events on the city's behalf. Two key roles in PACE, the police department's PACE Coordinator and Social Services' FAST Coordinator, have become full-time efforts, although many other agency staff contribute substantial time. In addition, residents and private organizations volunteer significant support. Other than equipment for the targeted-area officers, PACE has not required any special facilities or equipment. Meetings are held at churches, multiservice centers, housing complexes, or schools, and city employees work out of their city offices. Program Costs PACE costs are difficult to estimate because it is virtually impossible to disentangle them from other city activities. The police portion of the program depends on support from the city real estate tax increase, which generates $1.8 million dollars annually. In addition, State and Federal grants have contributed to the community policing effort. As a result, the department has trained the entire force in community policing, hired 38 more officers and 11 civilians, and assigned 15 targeted-area officers to PACE. Other than equipment for the targeted-area officers, PACE has not required any special facilities or equipment. Meetings are held it churches, multiservice centers, housing complexes, or schools, and city employees work out of their city offices. ------------------------------ OJJDP National Satellite Teleconference Youth-Oriented Community Policing Program Panelists Shay Bilchik, Administrator Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice Washington, DC Mr. Bilchik was confirmed by the United States Senate as Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in 1994. Prior to that time, he served as Associate Deputy Attorney General. Mr. Bilchik's career began in the State of Florida where he worked nineteen years as a prosecutor. As a prosecutor, he served as the coordinator of many special programs including the Police-Juvenile Prosecutor Liaison and the School-Juvenile Prosecutor Liaison Projects. Benjamin Tucker, Deputy Director Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice Washington, DC Mr. Tucker is the newly appointed Deputy Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. He has an extensive background in law enforcement, local government, and working with community-based organizations. He began his seventeen year career in law enforcement with the New York City Police Department. Steven Marans, Ph.D., Project Director Child Development-Community Policing Program, Yale University New Haven, CT Dr. Marans is the Director of the Yale Child Study Center and Coordinator of the Child Development-Community Policing Program which works in close collaboration with the New Haven Police Department. Dr. Marans' program has received funding support from OJJDP. In addition, Dr. Marans has written numerous articles on youth-focused community policing. Ruth S. Price, Major Juvenile Division, Atlanta Police Department Atlanta, GA Major Price works in the Juvenile Section of the Atlanta Police Department where she has been employed since 1973. She is a member of the Fulton County (GA) Stop the Violence Campaign and the Mayor's Youth Council. Her professional opportunities have allowed her to see firsthand the importance of a youth-focused approach to law enforcement and human service integration. Don Christy, Police Officer Neighborhood Network Center Lansing, MI Officer Christy is the coordinator and liaison between the Neighborhood Network Center and the Lansing Police Department. Mr. Christy's hard work and dedication have enabled the Neighborhood Network Center to be a national model of success in the collaboration and service integration of policing and human service agencies. George Crawley, Assistant City Manager Norfolk, VA Mr. Crawley has been the Assistant City Manager of Norfolk since 1983. His current responsibility is public safety which includes police, fire and paramedical services, public health, human services, 911 dispatching, emergency preparedness, and the coordination of the City's Police Assisted Community Enforcement (PACE) initiatives. Bonnie Krasik, Moderator Ms. Krasik is the Managing Editor of the NBC-affiliate WLEX-TV in Lexington, Kentucky. She has hosted all four OJJDP satellite teleconferences.