The California Cities Gang Prevention Network

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February 2011 Bulletin 21 The California Cities Gang Prevention Network Addressing Gang Violence by Creating Safe and Healthy Communities Violence and gangs are public health issues.

Institute, 2009). Victimization and exposure to violence also have serious long-term consequences.

2010). The health consequences do not end there.

1 February 2011 Bulletin 21 The California Cities Gang Prevention Network Addressing Gang Violence by Creating Safe and Healthy Communities Violence and gangs are public health issues. Violence affects the health and daily choices of individuals and communities, especially young people and people of color, groups who are disproportionately affected by violence (Prevention Institute, 2009). Victimization and exposure to violence also have serious long-term consequences. Studies have found that victimization and exposure to violence are strong predictors of adolescents use of violence, influencing adolescents desire to participate in gangs and gang activities (Kelly, 2010). The health consequences do not end there. Once in a gang, gangaffiliated youth engage in a variety of behaviors that place them at significant risk for a range of negative health outcomes, including drug dependence, cognitive impairment, injury, and disability or death from violence (Sanders, Lankenau, & Jackson-Bloom, 2007). Though the connection between health, violence, and gang membership deserves greater analysis, it is clear that to address violence cities must aim to create safe and healthy communities. This bulletin will draw on the findings and recommendations of Addressing the Intersection: Preventing Violence and Promoting Healthy Eating and Active Living, a report published by the Prevention Institute, a national nonprofit organization that takes a comprehensive, integrated approach to solving complex health and social issues. The bulletin will also feature promising strategies from programs in two Network cities, Los Angeles Summer Night Lights and Richmond s EcoVillage, as well as a national example: Flagstaff, Arizona s Walking School Bus program. These strategies illustrate some of the ways cities are building safe and healthy communities. The Prevention Institute: Gangs, Violence, Healthy Eating, and Activity A recent report, Addressing the Intersection: Preventing Violence and Promoting Healthy Eating and Active Living (2010), from the Prevention Institute examines the connection between violence, gangs, healthy eating, and active living. The Prevention Institute found that: Violence and fear of violence cause people to be less physically active and spend less time outdoors; Violence and fear of violence limit people s access to healthy food because they alter people s purchasing patterns (e.g., what stores people can access at different times of day); Experiencing and witnessing violence decrease individuals motivation and capacity to eat healthy and be active; Violence reduces community cohesion; and Violence acts as a barrier to investments in community resources and opportunities that support healthy eating and active living.

February 2011 The California Cities Gang Prevention Network 2 In many instances, the Prevention Institute found that gangs played a significant role in altering the community conditions and

Additionally, gang graffiti establishing ownership of a territory contributes to community blight, disinvestment in communities, and a reduction in the physical activity of community members.

2 February 2011 The California Cities Gang Prevention Network 2 In many instances, the Prevention Institute found that gangs played a significant role in altering the community conditions and health-related behaviors of individuals. In some communities, gangs played a direct role in determining what food was sold and promoted. Additionally, gang graffiti establishing ownership of a territory contributes to community blight, disinvestment in communities, and a reduction in the physical activity of community members. Gang Reduction and Youth Development, who has worked on SNL since its inception, says, Behavior, rather than identity, serves every spectrum of the community. SNL also engages the healthiest component of each community (personal communication, December 28, 2010). Los Angeles Summer Night Lights For the past eight years, developing healthy and safe communities has been at the heart of Los Angeles Summer Night Lights (SNL) program. SNL is a six-week, end-of-summer program that keeps parks open after dark (from 7:00 p.m. to midnight), a time of peak gang activity. The goal is to save lives by building the community s power and supporting physical activities in parks. SNL s approach to violence prevention is simple: the more people who are in the park, the safer it is. However, SNL also provides communities with a plethora of services and resources, including recreation, employment, and food. Youth play late night basketball at Mt. Carmel Recreation Center during SNL 2010 programming Because gang violence fragments communities into two cultures those who are and are not involved with gangs SNL was created to unite and engage all members of the community, including gang members. Community engagement is achieved by a focus on behavior rather than cultural differences. Guillermo Cespedes, Deputy Mayor, Youth Squad members and an SNL participant pose for a picture during SNL meal time The Baldwin Village community of Los Angeles helped develop and pilot SNL, which was initially called Summer of Success (SOS), in the summers of 2002 and Today, 24 different parks and communities participate in SNL. When one walks into the park during an SNL night, Cespedes says, Everyone is having a great time, eating, taking part in a recreation activity...engaging in peace. During the six weeks that SNL runs, communities participate in basketball games, soccer games, and tennis games. Participants are also able to attend theatre and musical performances, and play in dominoes tournaments. At the end of the summer, the 24 different SNL sites get together for a day of competition, food, and dancing. SNL is a part of Los Angeles comprehensive strategy. Funding for the program comes from public and private partnerships. Planning groups composed of diverse city and community agencies from each site develop a schedule of activities for each community, with a specific demographic in mind for different time periods. Each agency in the planning committee adopts a unique role. For example:

3 February 2011 The California Cities Gang Prevention Network 3 Parks and Recreation supplies the space (the park) and develops recreational programs (e.g., secures the locations and puts together athletic leagues); The Police Department provides community policing; Gang intervention workers provide mediation services between various gangs; and Community-based organizations provide the food, equipment, and sponsorship or deals from local vendors. SNL s 2010 statistics show that the program has led to a 57% reduction in gang-related homicides, a 55% reduction in shots fired, and a 45% reduction in victims shot. Cespedes also finds that SNL develops the community s trust in city and police employees. More importantly, community backing and participation in SNL helps develop the power and skills of citizens, reigniting the problem-solving mechanisms of the communities SNL supports. SNL requires the year-long presence, knowledge, and service of multiple stakeholders (e.g., the Mayor, law enforcement, intervention workers, and community members) in the communities most impacted by gang violence. However, as Cespedes points out, SNL can be reproduced by other Network cities. It is not rocket science. SNL implements all of those elements already at play in the Network it s just one additional component to the comprehensive model. Richmond s EcoVillage EcoVillage, a farm in the urban area of Richmond, California, has been providing the young and young at heart with the opportunity to create a healthy environment and a just society through a range of handson activities. The program teaches participants how to grow healthy food, share the food with their community through farmers markets, as well as contributing to violence prevention. The EcoVillage farm was founded by Shyaam M. Shabaka to encourage urban youth to learn how to be self-sufficient and lead a healthy lifestyle; however, the farm opens its doors to kids of all ages (8 80). EcoVillage aims to build kids confidence so they can develop and achieve long-term goals. The program encourages participants to engage with nature and social and environmental issues. Participants learn about alternative energy, green jobs, and social responsibility, in addition to caring for small animals. It is through the social responsibility component of the program that its youngest participants acquire violence prevention support. Through a mentorship program coordinated between Helms Middle School and Richmond High School, troubled middle school students are connected with high school mentors to help keep them out of trouble. The philosophy of this mentorship program assumes that the more kids work with each other and get to know one another, the less likely they are to hurt one another. Flagstaff, Arizona s Walking School Bus The Walking School Bus (WSB), a program that encourages children and supervising adults to walk to and from school, is a safe and fun international model utilized as a way to fight childhood obesity. Thomas Elementary School, in Flagstaff, however, chose WSB as a means to increase the safety of its school and a nearby park. Before implementing its WSB program, parents and children at Thomas Elementary School were afraid of walking to school. Bushmaster Park, notorious for its criminal activity, was on Thomas Elementary School s boundary and on the walking route of some families. To encourage families and children to walk to school, many individuals and groups came together to create the Bushmaster Neighborhood Committee. These included the Safe Routes to School coordinator, Thomas Elementary s principal, the Flagstaff Police Department, POST (Parks, Open Space, and Trails), the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association, the Flagstaff

4 February 2011 The California Cities Gang Prevention Network 4 Parks and Recreation, the city s Mayor, local businesses, and concerned parents and teachers. The committee led efforts to reclaim and increase the safety of Bushmaster Park and establish a WSB program. Park reclamation and safety efforts by the committee included banning the sale of 40-ounce glass bottles of alcohol around the park, an increase in park patrolling, and, finally, establishing a WSB route around the park. The impact of WSB on increasing the safety and health of communities is internationally recognized. An evaluation of WSB in four schools in Christchurch, New Zealand, found that the program increased the physical activity of parents and children, increased the number of children walking to school, and reduced the use of cars and, consequently, petroleum consumption. One of their most important results was the friendships, sense of community and safety, exercise, and satisfaction reported by parents and children (O Fallon, 2001). Recommendations for Creating Safe and Healthy Communities For those cities interested in preventing violence from a public health perspective, the Prevention Institute (2010) makes three recommendations. The first recommendation, which aligns with the Network s goals and ideology, is to address community health and violence problems through a comprehensive, sustainable strategy. The second is to develop violence prevention strategies that support healthy eating and active living through the fostering of safe spaces, community development and employment, and social cohesion. Finally, healthy eating and active living practitioners must foster safer communities through advocacy and partnerships. The National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families (YEF Institute), in partnership with NCCD, launched the California Cities Gang Prevention Network to reduce gang violence and victimization, mortality and morbidity, and to develop a statewide policy agenda to abet promising local efforts. NCCD is devoted to developing criminal and juvenile justice strategies that are fair, humane, economically sound, and effective. The YEF Institute helps municipal leaders take action on behalf of children, youth, and families. Major funding for the California Cities Gang Prevention Network Project comes from grants from The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation, with support from Kaiser Permanente, the East Bay Community Foundation, the Richmond Children s Foundation, and The Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund. This bulletin is co-written by Dr. Angela Wolf, Senior Researcher, National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD), (510) x507, amwolf@sf.nccd-crc.org, Livier Gutierrez, Research Associate, NCCD, (510) x340, lgutierrez@ sf.nccd-crc.org, David White, Intern, NCCD, and Jack Calhoun, President, HopeMatters, Consultant, National League of Cities (703) , hopematters@verizon.net. Please send thoughts or items about this and future bulletins to Livier with a copy to Angela and Jack. Treating violence with community health in mind can directly increase the safety of neighborhoods and schools; save lives; allow individuals to make healthier decisions; and by preventing the proliferation of violence and gangs, reduce the long-term effects of violence. In recognition of these connections, developing a vision of a healthy community and using this vision to inform policy and practice should be a part of Network cities violence prevention work.

5 February 2011 The California Cities Gang Prevention Network 5 References Kelly, S. (2010). The psychological consequences to adolescents of exposure to gang violence in the community: An integrated review of the literature. Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 23(2), 61. O Fallon, C. (2001). Walking School Bus Networks: Evaluation of Trial in Christchurch. Retrieved from pinnacleresearch.co.nz/research/wsb/wsb%20trial%20report%20june% pdf Prevention Institute. (2009). A Public Health Approach to Preventing Violence: FAQ. Retrieved from preventioninstitute.org/component/jlibrary/article/id-143/127.html Prevention Institute. (2010). Addressing the Intersection: Preventing Violence and Promoting Healthy Eating and Active Living. Retrieved from Sanders, B., Lankenau, S., &Jackson-Bloom, J. (2007, August 11). A public health study of gang youth in Los Angeles: Preliminary analysis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, New York City. Retrieved from Resources A Selection of the Prevention Institute Publications on Violence and Health, from UNITY: Public Health Approach to Violence Preventing Violence: A Primer Los Angeles Summer Night Lights EcoVillage Walking School Bus Flagstaff, Arizona s Walking School Bus

A National Perspective on Preventing Urban Violence

A National Perspective on Preventing Urban Violence Violence is not the problem of one neighborhood or group. Coming together and owning this problem and the solutions are central. -Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith,