House Community
Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #368 Gang Activity Prevention |
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Requester: |
Ken Jenne |
Organization: |
Broward Sheriff's Office |
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Project Title: |
Gang Activity Prevention |
Date Submitted: |
01/31/2000 5:37:17 PM |
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District Member: |
Debby Sanderson |
Service Area: |
County |
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Counties Affected: |
Broward |
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Recipient: |
Broward Sheriff's Office |
Contact: |
Kim Gorsuch |
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2601 West Broward Blvd. |
Contact Phone: |
(954) 831-8936 |
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Fort Lauderdale 33312 |
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Project Description: |
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This is a collaborative, holistic model of prevention, intervention and enforcement for youth at risk of gang involvement. This collaborative project was initiated during FY 98-99 and is currently in the second full year of operation. The program was developed following a second grand jury report on gangs that recommended additional prevention and intervention services for youth. This project, intended as a pilot in the first year, has been hugely successful, serving a large number of at-risk youth through collaboration between the Broward Sheriff?s Office, the Broward County School Board, the local Juvenile Justice Board, the Office of the State Attorney, and Communities in Schools (CIS), a statewide not for profit agency. The collaborative approach is designed to identify youth at risk of becoming or already a gang member. Referrals to the program can come from any of the partners, a parent/guardian, community agency or others. The program is designed to serve approximately 1500 elementary, middle and high school youth annually. Each youth will receive an assessment to determine if the youth fits the broad criteria and/or exhibits risk factors. Services to youth are provided in a variety of ways and include an anti-violence, anti-gang, self esteem building curriculum, case management and support services to families, and after school programs with an anti-gang focus. Other components include a student incentive program, which rewards students for positive school performance and program participation, and a mentoring initiative. The second component, that of law enforcement, is designed as a multiple-agency, cross sworn group of officers that coordinate and share information to identify serious gang members in order to dismantle them. This multi-level approach lends itself to a seamless system of prevention, intervention and enforcement for at risk and known gang members. |
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Services Provided/Benefit to State: |
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Independent evaluators from FAU are currently evaluating the program. The preliminary report states: ?In its first year of operation, the Gang Activity Prevention Program (GAP) generally exceeded expectations of stakeholders to implement a multi-faceted, school-based prevention and intervention program. ?GAP has the potential to accomplish its goal of implementing a holistic model that will be worthy of replication elsewhere in Broward County, the state of Florida, and nationwide.? Other early results indicate: ?Of those students on the GAP caseload for three months or more, 55% showed improvement in academic performance in at least one subject, 33% showed improvement in school attendance, and 46% showed improvement in school behavior.? The program has statewide implications, as gang members are highly organized, are very mobile and travel from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. As a result of this initiative, several gangs have been dismantled already with ties to Broward, Dade and Orange counties. In addition, this collaborative, holistic model of prevention, intervention and law enforcement has been featured at several statewide conferences. At the Statewide Gang Investigators Conference and at the Statewide Communities in Schools Conference, the audiences expressed strong interest in replication in their own communities. In addition, the program has been featured in a joint publication on best practices produced by the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and Communities in Schools. Preventing youth from becoming gang members by improving their academic success and behavior, increasing their self esteem, teaching constructive alternatives, and providing supportive case management and services to families will have a significant cost saving impact on the full range of juvenile justice services in the state. Future costs of additional intervention services, detention stays, placement in commitment facilities, and possibly prison terms will be avoided. This cost effective program ($.91 per day per youth in state money) is well worth the investment now to avoid significant expense later. |
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Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
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Partnering with the Broward County School Board, GAP has served students in 10 schools since August 1998 when the program began. More than 1100 students benefited from GAP's assistance during the 1998-1999 school year. The program is school-based, with case-management services and family support for youth who risk becoming involved in gangs and who demonstrate a tendency toward violent behavior. Combined with community law enforcement efforts, GAP aims to weed out existing gang influences while helping students to realize their potential. |
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Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$497,512 |
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Total cost of the project: |
$811,505 |
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Request has been made to fund: |
Operations |
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Is there Local Government or Private match for this request? |
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Yes |
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In-Kind Amount: |
$313,993 |
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Was this project previously funded by the State? |
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Yes |
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Fiscal Year: |
1999-2000 |
Amount: |
$497,512 |
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Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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Yes |
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Amount: |
$750,000 |
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Purpose for future year funding: |
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Recurring Operations and recurring and expansion of existing program |
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Will this be an annual request? |
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Yes |
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Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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Yes |
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Agency: |
Juvenile Justice, Department Of |
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Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? |
Yes |
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Is there a documented need for this project? |
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Yes |
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Documentation: |
two grand jury reports recommended gang prevention and intervention |
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Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? |
Yes |
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Hearing Body: |
Broward County Legislative Delegation |
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Meeting Date: |
12/16/1999 |
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