FY 2008 G.R.E.A.T. 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 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 Bibb County Board of Education will use the grant funds to provide the elementary, middle school, summer, and families components to approximately 3,000 students and 20 families in an effort to enhance participants' abilities to make better decisions as an alternative to being involved in gang activities. The elementary school component will target 1,000 students in the fourth and fifth grades, while the middle school component will target 1,725 students in the sixth grade. The summer component will be implemented through a multi-organizational collaboration with law enforcement agencies and community-based partners in an effort to reach 300 at-risk students, and two sessions of the families' component will be offered to 20 families of youth from schools that participate in the elementary and core G.R.E.A.T. program. Input from county social services departments, the court, and school counselors will be sought in order to identify high-risk families and students that may benefit from involvement in the G.R.E.A.T. program.

CA/NCF