Agreement - Goodwill Industries of Michiana - Outreach Team to Support Group Violence Intervention

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Individuals in these communities have expressed gratitude to these officers for taking the time to reach out to them; however, it is also acknowledged that outreach performed by law enforcement is still quite different from outreach performed by members of the community. Police outreach is limited by time, trust issues and legal implications for individuals to consider when interacting with law enforcement, even when they mean. well. The VCIU recognizes this and is supportive of creating a street outreach program, called Violent Crime Impact Outreach Unit (VC10U) that will be housed in the social services department at Goodwill as part of the Group Violence Initiative. The VCIOU will be based on a national streetworker outreach program from the National. Network for Safe Communities (NNSC). The VCIOU will consist of individuals hired to be "streetworkers" who will be assigned to specific communities in South Bend. As the name implies, these individuals will work primarily on the streets. They will be visible hi the communities they work in and through relationship building, the communities will view them as trusted individuals who are there to prevent and respond to gun violence. streetworkers will specifically respond to all shooting reports in their area, or work to interrupt retaliatory shootings and create a culture of peace in their communities. The streetworkers will spend approximately 60 percent of their time addressing current violence by interrupting conflicts before they reach the level of shootings and by responding to shootings to avoid retaliatory action, Forty percent of the streetworkers' time will be spent building relationships with at -risk youths and their communities in order to foster a culture of non-violent conflict resolution. The streetworkers will be members from the community who share a similar background to those they will be working with. streetworkers who understand the experiences of the clients they will be working with on a personal basis, will likely make a bigger impact and build relationships with greater ease. As other research has indicated, streetworker outreach programs result in great success in malting communities feel supported as well as helping reduce the rates ofviolence. 9 Objectives • Gun violence rates are reduced in the communities the streetworkers work in. s The community is aware of the streetworkers program and understands their role. • Streetworkers are present and contributing to community cohesion.. Methods The initial phase of the implementation of the Violent Crime Impact Outreach Unit (VCIOU) will last 3 years and will consist of 2 phases. The first phase will last 6 months and the second phase will last 2.5 years. Phase 1 Phase l will occur over a duration of 6 months. This phase will focus on reaching out to potential partners (in the community and within the police department), developing the tools and trainings for streetworkers once hired, and beginning the hiring process for streetworkers. 1. Institutional Partnerships: A goal of the VCIOU and a role of the streetworkers is to be visibly involved in the community. Developing partnerships with high schools, hospitals, and other 9 Pollack, Keshia M., Shannon Frattmoli, Jennifer M. Whitchill, and Karen Strother. 2011. Youth perspectives on street outreach workers: Results front a community -based survey. Journal ofCommunity Health 36 : 469-76.; Wong, Jennifer, Jason Gravel, Martin Bouchard, Carlo Morselli, and Karine Descormiers. 2012..1 ffec#veness of Street Gang Control Strategles., A systematic review and meta -analysis of evaluation studies. Ottawa: Research and National Coordination Organized Crime Division Law Enforcement andFolicy Wanch Public Safety Canada, 023. 4