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 city of Linden, through the police department, will utilize funding to provide the elementary, middle school, families, and summer components in an effort to establish positive life skills and healthy conflict resolution among youth, and curb recruitment from gangs coming into the community from adjacent towns. Through the grant, approximately 2,330 students and 20 families will receive the G.R.E.A.T. curricula. The elementary program will target all fourth and fifth grade students in the city, while the core, middle school curriculum will be provided to all seventh grade students in the public and parochial middle schools. In addition, the department, along with the Linden Recreation Department and a community-based organization, will offer the summer program to students entering the sixth grade. The families component will also be offered during the year to parents of all elementary and middle school youth in order to help them become aware of the signs of gang activity.

CA/NCF