NCJ Number
221271
Date Published
December 2003
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This report evaluates the Pennsylvania Weed and Seed Program (PAWS), specifically, the Lancaster (LWS) and York (YWS) initiatives.
Abstract
Evaluation of PAWS indicated that, overall, the strategies were successful, especially in identifying potential sites, delivering the PAWS vision, and working collaboratively. The program partnerships were selected in the right combination, and the program has likewise demonstrated great commitment and intensity of effort in identifying how best to serve its constituents, mainly through its training and technical assistance. However, the evaluation has shown that each PAWS activity could and should be improved. Moreover, the full set of PAWS activities could benefit as a whole from better integration with one another so that together they more firmly support a limited set of critical objectives and goals. The program aim is to dislodge target communities from the control of drug dealers and others who might fundamentally threaten their vibrancy and vitality, and to reinvigorate these communities with a wide range of crime and drug prevention programs and human service agency resources to prevent crime from reoccurring. The evaluation was designed to assess the various PAWs strategies, and provide feedback to the Executive Office, and the LWS and YWS sites. The four broad strategies were implemented to accomplish PAWS goals: suppression of targeted crime through the coordination of existing and new law enforcement activities; community policing as a bridge between law enforcement and neighborhood restoration elements; prevention, intervention, and treatment programs that involve human services delivered by governmental and community-base organizations; and neighborhood restoration, which includes components of economic development, improvements to housing and other physical environmental features, improved public services, and community-building and community-development initiatives. PAWS funded the active collaboration among all groups with a presence and mandate in the target areas: law enforcement agencies at the Federal, State, and local levels; service agencies at all government levels; and private sector agencies, with a strong focus on community organizations. 1 table