Key themes are in ORANGE.  

INTRODUCTION

The criminal justice system has an important role to play in maintaining society's values and safety, but it deals with crimes only after they are committed. In fact, only a small portion of offenders are actually punished through the courts. While it may seem obvious that preventing crime before it happens is crucial to keeping the streets free of violence, doing so requires the involvement of the whole community.

Children need to be offered guidance and resources if we want them to become productive, contributing adults. More importantly, young people can't be expected to worry about the future unless they believe they have a stake in that future. The justice system is unlikely to give them that stake.

Stopping crime before it starts is a community affair. Community agencies play an essential role in crime prevention by addressing social needs like housing, school, substance abuse, and mental and physical health that lie outside the scope of the justice system. Funding for prevention is by no means stable and many community organizations are forced to compete with each other for local, state or federal grants. Many service organizations are realizing that by building coalitions they can pool resources in order to tackle the vast array of issues that face today's youth at-risk. In Richmond, California, dedicated adults are making bold efforts to prepare their children for healthy and safe futures.

FAMILIAS UNIDAS

While most medical professionals do not see themselves as a part of the crime prevention business, Familias Unidas is a community health organization that works with high-risk middle school and high school age youth to provide them with the resources to stay out of trouble. These efforts include, among others: a drop-in center, mentoring, gang mediation, gang tattoo removal, pregnancy prevention, school based counseling, parenting skills for young mothers, and job skills training. The staff is comprised primarily of young-adult outreach workers who come from the community and have lived through similar experiences.

By hiring ex-gang members who understand the values and needs of their clients, Familias Unidas makes a special effort to help youth leave the false security of the gang lifestyle. Gangs offer a sense of family, belonging, and approval for youth who live in emotional and personal turmoil. Peer pressure and fear make it especially difficult to break gang ties once they've been established. The efforts of Familias Unidas prove that gang youth can be persuaded to exchange their criminal activities for more positive and rewarding ones if they are given support and encouragement by positive role models--dedicated mentors who they feel they can trust.

Teen girls' involvement in crime and violence is increasing at a faster rate than boys. As the Girls Group run by Familias Unidas makes clear, many girls now feel that their disputes - over boyfriends, insults, etc. - are expected to be settled with violence, in some cases with guns. Research also shows that children born to teen mothers are more likely to become future offenders. Familias Unidas recognizes the special needs of young girls and makes a rare effort to help them learn how to handle their anger and prevent pregnancy. The mentors also pay special attention to young mothers and fathers who need help developing good parenting skills.

Contact:
Rosina Keren, Director of Youth Program
Familias Unidas
205 39th Street
Richmond, CA 94805
(510) 412-5930
(510) 412-0567 Fax

CHILD HAVEN

Focusing on the importance of healthy early childhood development, Child Haven offers comprehensive services to at-risk infants, birth to three years old, and their parents. The organization targets families most in need by creating early intervention programs and individual treatment plans to help aid in building nurturing relationships between parents and children.

Research shows that early developmental factors such as a traumatic birth, abuse or a failure to bond with the mother in a child's first years, can lead to future criminal behavior. In fact, some findings show that abuse or exposure to violence can affect the brain development of infants. Addressing the needs of young mothers - especially those who have been the victims of abuse or have given birth to low weight babies who have high needs - is therefore an important form of crime prevention. Child Haven makes a groundbreaking effort to stop multi-generational patterns of abuse.

Contact:
Dr. Gaile Shea-Everidge, Executive Director
Child Haven
801 Empire Street
Fairfield, CA 94533
(707) 425-5744
(707) 425-5162 Fax

LINCOLN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Located in a low-income, high violence neighborhood where it is often difficult to keep kids in school, Lincoln Elementary has taken special measures to address social needs while giving its students a good education. In collaboration with community based organizations, Lincoln hires outreach workers who go beyond the school walls and into the community to work closely with families and children. If a child misses school, the outreach worker will pay a home visit to the family to find out why and see whether the school can help solve their problem.

The role of schools in crime prevention is essential. In many cases, the school offers the only safe and stable environment in a child's life. Many of Lincoln Elementary's students lack basic needs like housing, food, and clothing. To tackle the variety of problems, Lincoln Elementary has become part of a larger collaboration of community organizations in Richmond that pool resources and share information. The school acts as a "community center" through which children can get all of their basic needs met. Outreach workers from the local organizations act as liaisons between the school and the services.

Because the hours after school are known to be the most dangerous for children, Lincoln offers its students a variety of after-school activities to keep them safe and positively engaged. All the staff at Lincoln are trained in conflict mediation, so when trouble arises on the school grounds, they can teach children that violence is not the only way to handle conflict. This is especially important for younger children in families where older brothers are already involved in gangs, or domestic violence between parents is common.

Contact:
Marco Gonzalez, Former Principal
Cesar Chavez Elementary School
960 17th Street
Richmond, CA 94801
(510) 412-5081
(510) 412-3353 Fax

HEADSTART

Head Start is a federally funded, national program which provides comprehensive developmental services for low-income, pre-school children ages three to five, as well as social services for their families. Specific efforts for children focus on education, socio-emotional development, physical and mental health, and nutrition. The cornerstone of the program is parent and community involvement.

Research shows that by investing in high quality pre-schools, the public at-large can save $7 per child in welfare and criminal justice costs. It also shows that students are twice as likely to finish high school, go to college, get a good job - and keep it - leading to a better standard of living. They are also half as likely to get into trouble with the law, or become pregnant as teenagers.

Head Start takes a comprehensive approach to early education: it works with parents to address basic child health needs such as vaccinations, and it teaches young children how and why to wash their hands and brush their teeth, as well as how to use a knife and fork and set and clear the table. It also gives children balanced, healthy meals to improve their diet and growth, and the emotional warmth and support to express their feelings about the stressful environment in which many of them live. Crucially, it empowers them to plan their day and play activities, and report their progress at the end of it - thus giving children at four and five years old the sense that they can control their own fate instead of being victims to whom things only happen.

Contact:
Head Start Office (locally)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (nationally)
Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
Head Start Bureau