Baltimore GREAT Program

The Gang Resistance Education And Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program is a life-skills competency program designed to provide students with the skills they need to avoid gang pressure and youth violence. G.R.E.A.T.'s violence prevention curriculum helps students develop values and practice behaviors that will assist them to avoid destructive activities. The G.R.E.A.T. program coordinates with federal, regional, state and local agencies, as well as individuals from community and civic groups. The goal of the G.R.E.A.T. program is to train law enforcement officers in a school-based curriculum in which the officers provide instruction to school-aged children in life skill competencies, gang awareness, and anti-violence techniques. Training in the core G.R.E.A.T. program is provided to officers from any state or local law enforcement agency.

The Baltimore City School Police Force (BCSPF) will use these grant funds to teach the G.R.E.A.T Program in elementary school (more than 1,800 students in the 4th and 5th grade) and middle school (more than 4,000 6th and 7th grade students) and to continue the implementation of the summer (75 children) and family (24 families) components. The program is coordinated by BCSPF and is supervised and monitored by Chief of Police. The Chief and the officers assigned to the G.R.E.A.T. program will work with the Baltimore School Safety and Climate Steering Committee and the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office to provide other services as needed by the students and families. The BCSPF uses performance measures for its evaluation activities and is working with national G.R.E.A.T. program evaluators from Northeastern University to measure the impact of the program.

CA/NCF