| The purpose of this the Virginia Gang Prevention
Partnerships (VGPP) is to continue to gather and further build a
local Virginia coalition with the goal of effectively
intervening and preventing gang involvement on a regional level.
This would is being accomplished by the use of referrals within
the partnership, communication with and between agencies,
targeting neighborhoods with focused community action programs,
and offering alternatives to youth at risk to Grant recruitment.
VGPP is a community coalition of committed agencies. The
agencies affiliated with VGPP presently provide a broad range of
services to at risk children and families in a variety of gang
reduction services.
The agencies affiliated with VGPP provide these services at
various sites throughout the Hampton Roads area and currently
serve over 6,500 individuals annually. This infrastructure
builds on the strength of the multiple agencies committed to the
coalition as well as the base capacity of God’s X Gangsters and
NSU SSW through Dr. Marvin Feit’s work. God’s X Gangsters has
been the motivating factor leading to this collaborative
juncture. NSU, SSW (through Dr. Marvin Feit) will continue to
act as a facilitating organization assisting VGPP with critical
areas of capacity building, Evaluation for cliental and program
outcomes, as well as a liaison to various cities public service
agencies.
Background:
The agencies affiliated with the Virginia Gang Prevention
Partnership (VGPP) for years have separately provided a broad
range of services to at-risk youths and families in an effort to
curb community violence and reduce the chance that these
children will become a part of the problem versus a solution to
it. Many of these organizations have received national, state,
city, and civic awards for the work they have provided to high
needs youth and families in the Hampton Roads area.
Although these separate agencies have strived to make a
difference in their own communities, they understand in order to
influence society on a larger scale they must come together and
stand as a united front. When God’s X Gangsters approached each
of these agencies with the ideal of forming a coalition;
allowing each agency to maintain their own identity yet agreeing
to work as a team to reach at-risk youths and their families
they became excited at the prospect of reaching more families
and thus having a greater impact in improving Hampton Roads
communities.
The agencies understand that the transient nature of at-risk
families and the inability of each agency to provide or offer
all services needed to these disadvantaged individuals cause
many to fall through the cracks. The result is many of these
children and young adults do not feel connected to the community
as whole, gangs who want to further their own agenda by
terrorizing the community target them and many of these children
will likely join a gang without positive and effective
intervention. Gangs, like at-risk families do not stay within
city and locality boundaries which hampers the ability of law
enforcement and community agencies bound by city limits to
combat the problem effectively. The VGPP has already taken the
first steps necessary for organizing this coalition of agencies.
Through quarterly meetings over the last year and a half, the
agencies involved have aligned themselves in program areas
that allow for a cohesive team presentation and expands their
service ability and sites. This regional level community effort
is necessary to stop community violence.
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The community agencies that are apart of the VGPP contacted
Dr. Marvin Feit, Dean of The Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social
Work, Norfolk State University in 2005 requesting assistance in
developing a plan to come together as regional providers to at
risk youths and their families. Over the last year and a half,
the agencies have reached a consensus regarding their commitment
to the project, the mission and goals of the coalition, and have
separated themselves into the following program areas: gang
prevention / Intervention, day / weekend, and summer camps,
empowerment stage shows, drug awareness and prevention,
counseling services, job preparation, enhanced educational
opportunities, and transitional housing. Although these
organizations have proven themselves individually and do work
together in the various program areas, we are endeavoring to
work even closure as we join with various cities public service
teams, to assist them in their collaborative effort for positive
change the area of gang education, identification, intervention,
and prevention.
Since its establishment in 1935, Norfolk State University (NSU)
has always maintained a positive relationship with African
American Churches and other faith based organizations in the
local area. NSU has a long history of offering assistance and
encouragement to community agencies that work and provide
services to disadvantaged individuals; it has agreed to do so
again for the VGPP.
Clients Serviced:
Families in our target communities are well below poverty
level, experience the highest standards of learning failure and
dropout rate, and as well live in gang active communities. The
major service sites are located in Newport News, Hampton,
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Suffolk, and Chesapeake.
According tothe 2000, US census 13.8% of Newport News residents,
11.3% of Hampton residents, 19.4% of Norfolk residents, 16.2% of
Portsmouth residents, 6.5% of Virginia Beach residents, and 7.3%
of Chesapeake residents live below poverty. All Hampton Roads
cities suppress the state’s poverty rate of 9.6% except for
Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. We also serve the greater Hampton
Roads area in general, by helping teams start programs.
Leadership Development
As funding emerges through this regional work, NSU will
work with coalition agencies to enhance leadership skills among
their members by providing or permitting the following:
• NSU will assist the coalition agencies in coming to a
consensus on the various leadership positions necessary to
maintain them as an effective regional provider to at risk
families. During quarterly meetings, NSU and the coalition
members will elect a committee to oversee the collaborative
relationship between coalition agencies. VGPP members will
attempt to attend and participate in all city, neighborhood, and
community meetings held to address gang violence in the Hampton
Roads area.
• NSU staff will offer mentoring to coalition members in regards
to developing community relationships and needed grassroots
efforts to combat issues effecting at-risk populations
• Empowerment strategies- NSU will provide consultation to the
VGPP’s leadership, helping them to build on their strengths
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• NSU will schedule a minimum of 2 community development
seminars per year over the next 2 years, which will be open to
the coalition leadership.
• NSU will authorize travel and seminar costs to at least 3
national leadership conferences during the year and at least 2
coalition members will be allowed at each conference, NSU will
also offer additional and continuing community leadership
seminars over the next two years.
Community Engagement
In an effort to enhance our relationship with the
community, we would like to hire a part time community
consultant who is experienced in developing relationships with
communities having high rates of poverty and seek to engage the
following entities:
• Outreach to at risk communities
• Local Churches
• Community Centers
• Independent cities and localities
• Public school systems
Evaluation
As regional funding emerges, NSU may utilize two PhD
candidates to work with coalition agencies to develop fuller and
more coordinated evaluation measures. This will assist in
determining what services offered by the coalition members are
most effective in combating gang membership in the population
served. The evaluator will track milestones and review activity
with project staff. Assessment will be accomplished through
questionnaires, direct observations, attendance records, and the
behaviors and attitudes of participants enrolled in the services
provided. In 2006, Gods X Gangsters provided pre and post tests
on various community programs to NSU asking if they were of use
in proving the effectiveness of their intervention. Although the
materials provided were from various programs, with a variety of
outcomes, it was significant in its focus on working with gang
involved youth, and it does show that this core agency is very
effective in linking with youth.
• We noted that approximately 70- 80% of the children in the
Dept of Housing summer program reported a change in the youths
self-esteem, perception about gangs, and 60% shared a change of
perception about conflict.
• It is interesting to see that equal numbers were reported by
the parents of improved behaviors, improved attitudes, and
children who came back and talked to their families about the
intervention. (70-80%)
• Some of the best data, was that 85% of the Community Leaders
who attended a one day
workshop, responded with a request for more information, and
reported a written willingness to become part of gang awareness
in their communities after training by Gods X Gangsters and
associates. |