One of the best ways to have better policing is not to put such a burden for a decent community on the police. Among the good approaches that was used but has largely disappeared were roving leaders, typically working within a city's recreation department.
Austin Texas - Roving Leaders teach life skills and incorporate social-emotional learning to explore difficult topics teens encounter daily, such as violence and addiction. Youth are given a safe space to practice problem solving and encouraged to use critical thinking skills.
The Roving Leaders outreach program began in February of 1998 and remained in operation until 2002. By establishing relationships founded on respect and trust, the staff served as supportive, safe adults, positive role models and mentors for youth ages 5-19 living in lower socioeconomic and high-risk communities. In a case study interview, Roving Leaders participants indicated a positive impact on the their quality of life. The community benefited due to a reduction of juvenile crime, truancy, drug use and teen pregnancy. The program was ended in 2002 due to budgetary constraints.
In 2013, City Council approved unmet needs to reinstate the Roving Leaders outreach program with services directed towards youth ages 12-18 that focus on building character, developing leadership skills and providing access to technology. Roving Leaders teach life skills and incorporate social-emotional learning to explore difficult topics teens encounter daily, such as violence and addiction. Youth are given a safe space to practice problem solving and encouraged to use critical thinking skills. The staff serve as positive role models while guiding participants through activities, lessons and field trips designed to build character and present leadership opportunities. Teens demonstrate leadership through civic engagement, community advocacy and service learning projects. Youth participants are also provided chances to utilize technology as a mechanism for self-expression, a forum for advocacy and as a method of career and talent exploration.
Journal of Park & Recreation Administration, 1997 - The evolution of Roving Leader programs can be traced back to the mid 19th century when churchmen and charity workers worked with young delinquents and city gangs in the slum areas of the emerging American cities. The first organized youth outreach initiative appears to have been the Chicago Area Project that was launched in the mid-1930s to reach youth on the streets. In 1948, the New York City Youth Board organized an outreach program targeted at gangs in Harlem, and in the 1950s youth street outreach efforts were operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Rochester, N.Y., Buffalo, N.Y., and other cities. . . The Roving Leader program in San Antonio was launched in 1972 in response to the question "How can we reach those youngsters who are hanging-out on street corners and not coming to our community centers?" . . .
Mike Gonzaba heads up the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department' s At-Risk Youth Initiative. He explains the mandate of the Roving Leaders in the following terms: "The Roving Leader program offers young people in targeted at-risk areas the same recreation programs that the Department offers at its community centers, but there is more one-on-one communication. We go to them instead of waiting for them to come to us.
"How many of us in our careers have said, 'Geez, if my hands were not tied, I could do this, this, and this with these kids?' This is what the Department empowers the Roving leaders to do. There are legal parameters we have to abide with, but we say to them, "You go out into this particular area of town, seek out youngsters who are either doing nothing constructive or are engaged in anti-social activities. Work with them. Determine on the spot what needs to be done to move them in a positive direction--recreational activities, ping-pong games, basketball games, job referrals, taking them to a clinic, working with their families, or whatever.
"The Roving Leaders have a lot of flexibility--much more than our staff in recreation centers--and that is a key to their success. They are not social workers, but they know where those services are available. If a leader comes across an individual who has been kicked out of school, for example, then he knows all the school principals in the area, knows the kid's family, and can try to resolve the behavior that precipitated the suspension. That's what a Roving Leader does.". . .
All of the Roving Leaders were recruited from the neighborhoods in which they now work or from adjacent neighborhoods. This is critical. A local person who is equipped to do the job is much more likely to be successful than an individual from elsewhere within the Department who has to be retrained. . .
The leaders were well-known and respected in the targeted neighborhoods before working in this program for the city. They did not have to sell themselves to the community, since the trust between them and the neighborhood parents and youth was already established. James, one of the Roving Leaders stated:
"There are many good kids in these areas who do not want to be involved in gangs and drugs. We go in and try to keep them out. We take on those who want to better themselves. They know if they are going to be a part of what I have to offer, they have to go along with my rules and regulations. When I need help, then the parents come and volunteer. They said, 'Whatever you want from us, you got it--just as long as you help keep John out of trouble.' . . .
Ralph is based in the biggest public housing area in the city and acknowledged that the neighborhood and the work could be viewed by others as tough. "On my first day on the job, the guy who was hired with me quit. The next guy they hired as my partner only lasted until lunch time on his first day. . .
"There were drive-by shootings every day when I started and people asked me why I stayed. The answer is, because I loved them. I know deep inside what I wanted to do, and when I took this job I knew it was what someone had in mind for me. I love working with kids; that is the key for me. I have never turned my back on them. They will have the last dime in my pocket, the shirt off my back, a ride to wherever they or their parents need to go.
"If you are a good person yourself, you know which other people are good. I have never had a problem with shooting or fighting. I know I am good at getting kids to respect each other. I move them between neighborhoods and force them to mix with different kids whom they think they dislike. In a few weeks they are calling each other on the phone. When they get to know each other through playing recreation activities, they lose the distrust and become friends. When I take strange kids into a neighborhood, I tell the community they are with me to play ball and won't cause trouble. They never do. Everybody trusts me so it works. There is never a problem. Sunday is supposed to be my day off, but I get calls all the time asking me to come and solve one problem or another. I don't mind it.
A Roving Leader goes to court: "I just went to court for a 15 year old boy, who has been with me since he was eight. He got caught in a drive-by shooting with a group of friends. I knew there was no way this guy could hold a gun and shoot it at someone. He was a real good kid. His mother told me who his probation officer was and I knew him real well. I talked to him about it, and he trusted my judgment.
"He said, 'I needed to hear what you told me, because the police were looking at him as being hard core.' We went to court and talked to the judge. She wanted to know what I was doing there because this kid was Hispanic and I am Black. When I told her, she appreciated what I had to say. I told her, 'He may have been involved with friends and been talked into it, but I know his character. He is not hard core. There is no way he shot a gun. He made a mistake by being there, but is was peer pressure. I know he wasn't an active participant. Everybody makes mistakes and I urge you to give him a chance to redeem himself'."
No comments:
Post a Comment