A Message From the President

Protecting Our Children and Youth

Al Lenhardt, President and CEO

The National Crime Prevention Council works in many areas to support neighborhood-wide strategies that create safer, more caring communities. Because prevention is the best approach and often the least expensive in keeping our communities safe and our homeland secure, we focus on producing the tools that local communities can use to stay aware, engaging the skills and energies of volunteers, and coordinating local resources and planning activities. We accomplish this work by protecting children and youth, responding to emerging crime trends, partnering with law enforcement to prevent crime, promoting crime prevention and personal safety basics, and creating safer communities through intentional safe design programs. Throughout the coming year, look for Catalyst to have articles and resources woven into those issues. This month we discuss our efforts to protect children and youth.

We believe that one of our primary responsibilities at the National Crime Prevention Council is not only to help protect the nation's children and youth but to help them learn to protect themselves. To ensure that our messages are relevant and effective, we continually develop new materials and services that are tested, improved, and retested in classrooms and community settings. Through a wide range of initiatives, the National Crime Prevention Council plays a leadership role in helping prevent drug abuse, violence, and other crime problems among children and youth. We produce educational materials for young people and their caregivers, and we provide training and technical assistance for law enforcement officers and community members across the country to help raise awareness about effective prevention strategies to use with young people.

Following are highlights of some of the work the Council did last year to help protect children and youth:

• Produced public service advertising teaching parents to “spot the clues” that their child is being bullied. The ads star Kelly Ripa of Live with Regis and Kelly and Hope and Faith . The PSAs, done in partnership with ABC Television, are guaranteed at least $250,000 of national ABC Television placement as well as promotion for additional placement to ABC affiliates.

• Produced bullying prevention posters to be placed in almost 7,000 schools nationwide to provide tips on how children can cope with bullies

• Developed online web banners, reinforcing the television work for parents. Webisodes and interactive online games have been developed for placement on our website for children, McGruff.org; children playing the role of witness to a bullying situation can choose what to do and then see the consequences of their choice.

• Selected 29 sites to participate in the Youth Outreach for Victim Assistance (YOVA) project.  Eight sites participated in YOVA last year and will serve as mentors to the 21 new sites.

• Conducted a YOVA national training for more than 90 youth and adults from the YOVA sites.  Each site sent at least two youth and one adult to the training in Washington , DC , in August 2005.

• Released Reaching and Serving Teen Victims: A Practical Handbook. This resource provides strategies for assessing the extent and nature of teen victimization in the community, creating effective outreach, making the service environment teen-friendly, and interacting with teens in helpful and productive ways.
  

• Released McGruff the Crime Dog Presents Winners Don't Use Drugs!. This comic activity book helps children resist pressure to use alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.  The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention printed 500,000 copies of this new resource, which the National Crime Prevention Council promoted to law enforcement officers and community groups.

• Published Community Works: Smart Youth Make Safer Communities, second edition

• Conducted trainings for more than 500 educators, school resource officers, and community-based and juvenile justice workers

• Designed and coordinated trainings on gang prevention in Hmong/Mien youth communities in Sacramento, CA. More than 30 local agencies and community leaders benefited from these trainings.

• Co-sponsored 32 refugee youth to attend the 16 th National Youth Crime Prevention Conference and International Forum in Miami , FL

• Partnered with the Allstate Foundation on a press event highlighting the awarding of ten $7,000 grants to Be Safe and Sound schools in Pennsylvania . Governor Ed Rendell spoke at the event, which was also attended by State Senator Jim Ferlo.
  

This year's plans include the following:

• Develop a McGruff Club program to engage elementary school children in crime prevention action projects
• Develop a curriculum-based crime prevention program for elementary school children
• Develop new topical publications including a tech-safe kids guide and a gang prevention resource kit
• Develop a monograph highlighting best practices in the implementation of Teens, Crime, and the Community
• Present numerous trainings and webinars on children and youth crime prevention and victimization issues
• Provide training and technical assistance to a number of Boys & Girls Clubs in the implementation of children and youth programs
• Provide mini-grants to support 100 crime prevention service-learning projects led by youth
• Provide grants to 33 sites conducting youth-led campaigns to prevent youth victimization
• Work with National PTA to engage members as advocates for safer, more secure schools
  

We will continue to keep you apprised of our progress on these and other efforts throughout the year as we work together to provide safe and secure communities for our nation's children.