2009 Gun and Gang Violence Reduction Program

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a nationwide commitment to reducing gun crime, links existing local programs together and provides them with necessary tools. PSN 1) takes a hard line against gun criminals, using every available means to create safer neighborhoods; 2) seeks to achieve heightened coordination among federal, state, and local law enforcement; and 3) emphasizes tactical intelligence gathering, more aggressive prosecutions, and enhanced accountability through performance measures. The United States Attorney in each federal judicial district will lead the offensive. The fiscal agent, in coordination with the PSN Task Force, will allocate funds throughout the community.

Court Services and Offenders Supervision Agency (CSOSA), serving as the fiscal agent for the District of Columbia, will use the grant to address violence in underserved communities by utilizing prevention, intervention, and suppression activities. The district will address at-risk and high-risk youth in the district in an effort to provide wrap-around services, including mentoring, education, truancy prevention, family strengthening, substance abuse prevention, life skills training, recreational activities, and parental support; focus on providing youth with positive alternatives to street life through conflict resolution and street-level outreach; and partner with local and federal law enforcement to aggressively combat violent crime and gang activity. Mentoring Today will serve youth who are returning from juvenile incarceration and reintegrating into the community with the goal of keeping young men from returning to criminal behavior. Higher Achievement will deliver an intensive, comprehensive mentoring support program for more than 400 at-risk youth who reside and attend school in some of the poorest, high-crime neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative (CHSFSC) will work to strengthen neighborhood based support systems, focusing on the prevention of and intervention in youth violence and family instability. CHSFSC will support the expansion of the Gang Intervention Partnership (GIP) model to the highly volatile Parkview community, to provide incident-based mediations, link targeted youth and their families with supportive services, and implement outreach and intervention programming to violence associated with crew activity. The Latin American Youth Center will support an intervention program addressing female gang violence. Jobs Partnership Greater Washington will use funds to cover the cost of program materials, books, and supplies associated with the operation classes, transportation costs for job interviews, and other related expenses. These efforts will help to reduce recidivism among targeted adult ex-offenders. CSOSA will provide training and technical assistance at the direction of the PSN task force.

NCA/NCF