Programs
What NCPC is Doing
Children and young people are at the heart of crime prevention. Not only are they a central rallying point . . .
<p>Children and young people are at the heart of crime prevention. Not only are they a central rallying point for communities, but effective education and strong families in a healthy community context can reduce delinquency and adult crime. Children and young people who learn good crime prevention habits will carry many of those habits through to adulthood. The National Crime Prevention Council (the Council) reaches out to involve young people in their communities. The Council focuses on engaging children and youth in making their homes, schools, and communities safer from crime through its Teens, Crime, and the Community ( TCC ) initiative; Youth Safety Corps (YSC); Youth Outreach for Victim Assistance (YOVA); and the Be Safe and Sound Campaign. The young people the Council works with and mentors learn about prevention and law-related education through TCC, YSC, and YOVA. Through the Be Safe and Sound campaign, the Council mentors parents, educators, and community members as they work to ensure safe learning environments for children and youth. The young people participate in prevention projects, mentor younger children, partner with adults to bring about positive community change, and support one another in their drug and crime prevention work.<br /><br />Through a combination of education and service, the TCC program has motivated more than one million youth to create safer schools and communities. TCC accomplishes this through a comprehensive prevention and law-related education curriculum, Community Works, and a youth club component , Youth Safety Corps. Community Works teaches students how to examine violence and law-related issues in the context of their schools and communities, addressing important topics such as handguns and violence, underage drinking, substance abuse, gangs, shoplifting, dating violence, and conflict management. The young people then apply what they learn to real-life situations. This curriculum also contains a lesson plan on student involvement in homeland security.<br /><br />Youth Safety Corps participants expand their leadership, communication, personal development, and project management skills as they undertake projects to bring about positive change in the environment in which they live and learn. Youth participants undertake meaningful prevention projects such as organizing crime prevention community carnival, a campaign using posters and videos, and initiating a diversity awareness forum.<br /><br />Youth Safety Corps is the club component of the TCC initiative. YSC provides youth with opportunities to address school safety issues and develop leadership skills. The youth and adults participating in YSC clubs are trained on how to assess and analyze their school's social and physical climate to identify areas of concern. The teams implement projects to address these issues and then evaluate the impact of their work. Youth Safety Corps clubs build upon the TCC curriculum, Community Works, by allowing youth to continue their learning in crime prevention and expand their involvement in school safety issues. Schools can also use YSC as a starting point for identifying safety concerns and taking positive action to improve the learning environment.<br /><br />Youth Outreach for Victim Assistance (YOVA) Project is a project of NCPC, funded through a cooperative agreement with the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. NCPC partners with the National Center for Victims of Crime (the National Center ) to implement and support this project. These three organizations share the goal of educating adolescents on the dynamics of victimization and providing information on where they can turn for help and support.<br /><br />NCPC and the National Center have selected 28 school- and community-based sites to participate in this program. Each site will form a team of youth and adults who together will identify the specific teen victimization issues they wish to address and then plan and implement a campaign to educate teens on the issues. The campaign may include radio public service announcements, poster campaigns, and assemblies, among other possibilities.<br /><br />The national partners (NCPC and the National Center ) will cultivate connections between participating organizations and their local victim service providers. The partners will develop a guidebook for victim service providers that will help these providers identify and serve adolescent victims in teen-friendly service environments.<br /><br />Two youth leaders and one adult from each site attended an introductory training in February 2004, where they received information and learned the skills to coordinate the educational awareness campaigns. The National Partners provided training and a toolkit to serve as a resource. Regular conference calls enabled the teams at different sites to share information about their campaigns, their challenges, and their successes. NCPC provided funding through subcontracts to the sites for their campaigns, and the sites reported regularly on their progress.<br /><br />This project will also evaluate the impact made by the educational awareness campaigns. Lessons learned from the YOVA project will be published to serve as a guide for communities that wish to implement similar campaigns in the future. YOVA sites and projects will also be featured on the National Partners' websites and publications.<br /><br />The Be Safe and Sound campaign , an initiative of NCPC conducted in collaboration with National PTA and NCPC partners The Allstate Foundation, ASSA ABLOY Group, Nextel Communications, and Security Industry Association promotes a comprehensive approach to safety and security in our nation's schools.<br /><br />Launched in September 2002 and piloted in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, Be Safe and Sound combines safety&mdash;programs, policies, and procedures&mdash;with security&mdash;lights, locks, and alarms&mdash;to ensure a safer, more secure school. A primary goal of the campaign is mobilizing parents to advocate for enhanced safety and security at their child's school. Be Safe and Sound continues to engage and educate parents and other key figures about the need for safe and secure school environments; provide objective and expert-based school safety and security principles; and promote safety and security principles to school administrators, school boards, and local government officials. Through the Caregivers' Guide to School Safety and Security; the School Safety and Security Toolkit: A Guide for Parents, Schools, and Communities; and other materials, parents learn ways to mobilize and work with school administrators to enhance safety and security at their child's school.</p>
