NCJ Number
236652
Date Published
June 2011
Length
61 pages
Annotation
This report examines the youth gang prevention and intervention programs in the State of Maryland.
Abstract
This report from the Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) examines youth gang prevent and intervention programs in the State's school systems. The GOCCP is required under the State's Safe Schools Act to perform a survey of existing programs and to develop criteria for gang prevention and intervention programs that are evidence-based and that produce measureable outcomes. These criteria include community involvement, collaboration across government systems, information/resource sharing, accountability, gang education/awareness, alternative activities/afterschool programs, anti-bullying provisions, sustained adult mentoring/investment, and multi-systematic or family therapy. The GOCCP's primary recommendation to the Maryland General Assembly is the establishment of a State-level Safe Schools Coordinator within the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to develop and coordinate statewide youth gang prevention and intervention programs that encompass the five components of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's Comprehensive Gang Reduction Strategy. The five components are community mobilization, an opportunities provision, social intervention, suppression, and organizational change and development. This report presents information on the State's criminal gang laws, MSDE's model gang policy, contributing factors of youth gang involvement, examples of national evidence-based gang prevention programs, Maryland gang prevention programs, and criteria for gang prevention/intervention programs. Tables, figures, endnotes, and appendixes