Fiscal Year 2008 G.R.E.A.T.

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 curricula help students develop values and practice behaviors that will help them avoid destructive activities. G.R.E.A.T. program staff coordinate project activities with federal, regional, state, and local agencies, as well as individuals from community and civic groups. The goal of the program is to train criminal justice professionals to deliver a school-based curriculum that teaches life-skills competencies, gang awareness, and violence-avoidance techniques.

The City of North Las Vegas Police Department, in collaboration with the Southern Nevada Community Gang Task Force, the North Las Vegas Boys and Girls Club, Shade Tree Shelter, Valley View Community Cares, Latino Community Connection, and Life of Crime are committed to helping at-risk youth avoid gangs and violence. Through the grant, the city will certify two officers as G.R.E.A.T. instructors and will teach the G.R.E.A.T curriculum in area elementary and middle schools, with the goal of serving approximately 1,050 fifth graders and 1,150 sixth graders. It is anticipated that 60 students will also participate in the summer component and 20 families will participate in the families component. Referrals to the families component will be made by schools, churches, and the Nevada Department of Family Services.

CA/NCF