Safe & Sound To Introduce National Youth Crime Prevention Program
Safe & Sound will introduce an exciting national program that teaches teens about police and community, crime prevention and reporting, substance abuse and drug dealing, gun violence, and gangs. Participants will also learn ways to help young people with the development of youth-led action projects to prevent crime and build safer neighborhoods.
The program, “Community Works, ” provides trainers with interactive, topical lessons to use with young people to help them understand how crime affects them and their families, friends, and communities.
The goals of the “Community Works” program are to provide a practical understanding of crime and crime prevention that’s useful in the lives of youth, and involves them in crime prevention projects to help make their communities safer and more vital.
The two-day Community Works training will be presented on Sept. 28th and 29th at the UWM School of Continuing Education, 161 W. Wisconsin Ave. The workshop is free and open to youth workers, directors and managers of youth programs, educators, and law enforcement.
Community Works is a science-based program and primary vehicle for educating young people under the Teens, Crime, and Community (TCC) Initiative. TCC, an initiative developed by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) and Street Law, Inc., with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, seeks to prevent the victimization of teens and to engage them as resources for community safety.
The comprehensive Community Works program consists of three elements: (1) the Community Works: Smart Youth Make Safer Communities curriculum; (2) input and advice from community resource people; and (3) service learning projects. Community Works teaches teens to be resources for each other, helps them see how to interact positively with community members, strengthens young people’s awareness of their communities’ resources, and encourages youth to focus on their leadership roles in building a safe community. The program is full of highly interactive activities that build leadership and communication skills, and it culminates in a community service project – planned, designed, and implemented by youth.
Providing the instruction for the Community Works program will be Judith Zimmer, Deputy Director of Street Law, Inc. Judith is a lawyer, educator, and conflict resolution expert who has co-authored several of Street Law’s curricular materials including Community Works, We Can Work it Out!, and Let’s Say “We Can Work It Out!” She works on Street Law’s law school-based programs, D.C. area programs, and Street Law’s initiatives in Nepal. While at Street Law, she has worked as a teacher trainer and curriculum developer in Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, and Nepal. Prior to coming to D.C., Judy ran the Street Law program at her alma mater, the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, and helped run the law program for Cleveland’s Law and Public Service Magnet High School.
Street Law, Inc., is a nonprofit organization with 35 years of experience of providing practical, participatory education about law, democracy, and human rights. Through its philosophy and programs, people are empowered to transform democratic ideals into citizen action. Street Law has developed dozens of publications and programs on practical law, crime prevention, conflict resolution, and youth advocacy for use in school systems, juvenile justice facilities, and community settings.
“Community Works”, says Norma J. Balentine, Director of Safe Places, “could not be a better fit for Safe & Sound’s signature youth-led Crime Strategy Initiative.” “We’ve been looking for some way to help our Safe Place partners work more effectively with youth to build their strengths as community change agents for crime.” “We’re excited about Community Works and its potential,” she said.
The two-day workshop is being funded by United Way, which also provided support for a symposium this summer on “Best Practices in Youth Crime Prevention.” This training is a continuation of that work.
To find out more about the Community Works training and how you might qualify for one of the few remaining seats, call Sharon Koziczkowski at 220-4797 or email her at skoziczkowski@milwaukeehidta.org.
