Cross Country

Youth To Gather in March

The 17th National Youth Crime Prevention Conference is set for March 20–23, 2006, in Ogden, UT. The conference will focus on youth crime, violence and drugs, fostering skills to facilitate safer schools and communities and preparing youth to return to their communities and schools with concrete action plans for crime prevention. Sponsored by Youth Crime Watch of America, the conference, whose theme is “Elevate, Educate, Inspire,” is supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Utah Council for Crime Prevention.
 
Conference workshops will address preventing juvenile delinquency, gang violence, and bullying; initiating community and youth action to prevent graffiti vandalism; and helping children who have experienced disasters. Adults can take full-day seminars on marketing crime prevention and implementing Youth Crime Watch training.

An international forum held in conjunction with the conference will provide representatives from countries around the world the opportunity to explore common crime prevention themes.
 
For registration information, call 305-670-2409 or visit www.ycwa.org. Please note that participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult chaperone (maximum of five participants per chaperone).

Keep America Graffiti Free

Keep America Beautiful, Inc., has announced the winners of the second annual Graffiti Hurts National Award competition. There were winners in three categories:

• Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, Lawrenceville, GA (communities with population over 100,000)
• City of Riverbank, CA (communities with population under 100,000)
• Just 4 Kids, Key West, FL (paintbrush mural)

Graffiti Hurts was launched in 1997 through a partnership between Keep America Beautiful and the Sherwin Williams Company. Graffiti Hurts provides community resources and promotes best practices for graffiti prevention.

Entrants in the competition represented local governments, police departments, nonprofit volunteer organizations, and other groups dedicated to eradicating graffiti vandalism. The winners receive a cash award, a plaque, and local and national recognition.