NCJ Number
183682
Date Published
2000
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This report describes the background and first year of a field demonstration project conducted at 15 sites to test strategies for using religious institutions to anchor local partnerships aimed at high-risk youth to reduce involvement with crime and drugs, increase educational achievement, and help prepare them for productive employment.
Abstract
The project resulted from an analysis begun in 1997 and prompted by the Success of Boston's Ten Point Coalition, a group of congregations organized in 1992 to respond to that city's youth violence in partnership with the criminal justice and law enforcement communities and with social service agencies. The selected sites were congregations with a significant number of members residing in the immediate neighborhood to make it possible for volunteers to serve during formal program hours as well as informally through encounters on streets and playgrounds, in stores, and on stoops. The research on the work of these sites focused on the following issues: (1) congregation capacity for program implementation; (2) the role of faith in service delivery; (3) the extent of faith-based organizations' reach into the community; and (4) the impact of the initiative on youth and their communities. Preliminary findings indicated that many of the organizations involved in this work are small, tradition oriented, and personality driven. Additional challenges included funding, evaluation, leadership, targeting of high-risk youth, collaboration, planning and program strategies, and building relationships and trust. Faith was a strong motivation for volunteers' involvement. These preliminary findings clearly pointed to the importance of faith-based initiatives in working with high-risk youth and the need for all concerned to closely examine the potential for building on the relatively small efforts that such congregational efforts currently represent. 12 references