| Background on the Gang Response Intervention Team Comprehensive Gang Model The federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has developed a comprehensive gang intervention and prevention program model in conjunction with the National Youth Gang Center. This model has been implemented in urban settings such as: Chicago, Illinois; San Antonio, Texas; Riverside, California; and Mesa and Tucson Arizona. It has also been successfully implemented in suburban and rural communities, including Cowlitz County, Washington; Elk City, Oklahoma; Glenn County, California; and Mt. Vernon, Illinois.
The model contends that the lack of social opportunities available to at-risk youth less than 22 years of age and the degree of social disorganization present in a community largely accounts for a community’s gang problem. The model also suggests other contributing factors, including poverty, institutional racism, social problems, and a lack of social controls. Drawing principally on social disorganization theory to frame the development of the model, a team from the University of Chicago designed the core strategies of the model to address gang youth, their families and the community.
The model program has five strategies to address the key concerns noted above and are listed below: -
Community Mobilization: Involvement of local citizens, including former gang youth, community groups and agencies, and the coordination of programs and staff functions within and across agencies; -
Opportunities Provision: The development of a variety of specific education, training and employment programs targeted at gang involved and youth at-risk for becoming involved in gangs; -
Social Interaction: Youth-serving agencies, schools, grass-roots groups, faith-based organizations, police, and other criminal justice organizations “reaching out” and acting as links among youth, their families, and the conventional world and needed services; -
Suppression: Formal and informal social control procedures, including close supervision or monitoring of gang youth and at-risk youth by agencies in the criminal justice system and also by community based agencies, schools, and grass-roots groups; and -
Organizational Change and Development: Development and implementation of policies and procedures that result in the most effective use of available and potential resources, within and across agencies to address the gang problem. These strategies were found to have a positive impact on gangs in localities with identified gang problems.
In summary, the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model is a multi-faceted, multi-layer approach that includes eight important elements: - Initial and continuous assessment using qualitative and quantitative data
- Targeting of the area and those populations of individuals most closely associated with the problem, as described in the assessment
- A mixture of the five key strategies: community mobilization, social intervention, opportunities provision, suppression, and organizational change/development
- A Steering Committee to oversee and guide the project
- A direct contact intervention team that includes police, probation, outreach staff and others
- A plan for coordinating efforts of, and sharing appropriate information among, those who work with the youth on a daily basis, the Steering Committee, and the persons within the partner organizations
- Community capacity building to sustain the project and address issues that are long term in nature
- Ongoing data collection and analysis to improve the process and evaluate the impact of the project
The Loudoun Model Background In December 2002, six employees of Loudoun County and the Town of Leesburg (representing Juvenile Court Services (Juvenile Probation), Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Parks, Recreation and Community Services, Loudoun County Public Schools, Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney and Leesburg Police Department) attended a three-day training titled “Youth Gang Training” sponsored by OJJDP and the International Association of Police Chiefs. In attendance were teams from nine localities including, Loudoun County, Prince William County, the City of Manassas and the City of Alexandria. The purpose of the training was to provide a comprehensive gang training program for cross-sector teams composed of law enforcement and its partners. By the conclusion of the training, Loudoun County had an action plan to implement a community-based strategy for reducing and preventing gang activity in Loudoun County.
As a result of the training the Gang Response and Intervention Team (GRIT) was created. GRIT acts as the county’s Steering Committee, as mentioned in the model information above. The GRIT is comprised of representatives from Adult Probation and Parole, Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Community Corrections Program, County Administration, Juvenile Court Service Unit, Leesburg Police, Leesburg Parks and Recreation, Loudoun County Mental Health/Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services, Loudoun County Public Schools, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Family Services.
The mission of the GRIT is to be a proactive, multi-agency, multi-discipline team charged with coordinating the suppression, intervention, prevention and overall reduction of street gang activity within Loudoun County. By utilizing the expertise of the associated agencies, the team will identify gang members, recognize gang activity, and provide services to at risk youth, their families and communities. Accomplishments In the first 18 months of its existence GRIT: -
established its mission and goals, and elected a chair and vice chairperson. -
conducted six community educational forums as well as four training sessions to school staff during their in-service training program. -
coordinated and facilitated educational seminars to various PTAs in Loudoun County as well as community coalitions. -
received two grants which allowed for the design and printing of a GRIT brochure as well as the purchase of twelve digital cameras that were loaned to the Leesburg Police Department, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office as well as other governmental agencies. These cameras are used to document graffiti and to expedite its removal. -
facilitated the implementation of the “GREAT Program” in every middle school in Loudoun County beginning in the Fall of 2004. -
helped create a series of maps of areas of the county projected to be most susceptible to gang activity. These maps will be used for service coordination and grant applications. -
reduced duplication of services and resources by providing the venue for agencies to share information and increase collaboration. For example, Adult Probation has established a relationship with the Sheriff’s Office to conduct home contacts together. Juvenile Probation and Leesburg Police are in the process of establishing a curfew enforcement program for juvenile offenders who are known gang members. These examples are direct results of the GRIT process. In FY2005, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors funded a full time position to coordinate the GRIT process that is consistent with the OJJDP Model. The GRIT Coordinator began work with GRIT on August 26, 2004. An important function of the coordinator is to assist GRIT in the coordination of the intervention and prevention programs within Loudoun County, as well as identifying new funding possibilities.
GRIT has taken great strides in the implementation of the OJJDP Model with invaluable results. GRIT has provided the arena for all stakeholders to collaborate to solve the gang problem by combining resources and breaking down barriers.
|