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Discussion Topics:

•Youth Programming in Brownsville

•Engaging Youth in Crime Prevention and Addressing “Stop Snitching”

•Culture of Violence

•Placed-Based Work and Youth Involvement

•Police Discussion in Schools (Pro’s & Con’s)

•Receiving Feedback from Youth

•Parent Involvement

•Community Events

Youth Programming in Brownsville:

Population: 13-24 Years Old (sub groups 13-21 and 16-24)3-6 months and 6-12 months Mandated Programming (ATI, Family Probation, Diversion) Voluntary Programming (Court Involved and Non-Court Involved)Neighborhood and BAVP Catchment-based (1.9sq miles and aprox 34,000 people)18 developments, 111 building and countless gangs/crews scattered throughout

Programming: Civic Engagement (surveys, asset mapping, community board, research and info sharing, etc)Youth Leadership (project-based planning and execution, event planning and execution)Social Justice (know your rights, public speaking, social entrepreneurship, peer advocacy)

Interest-Based Advocacy (music, fashion, art, technology, design, photography, film, dance)

Key Components:Stipend-Based

Visible

Tangible

Inclusive

Flexible

In spaces of civic and community importance

Illuminating or highlighting

Can see to completion

Not “Community Service”

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Engaging Youth in Crime Prevention and Addressing “Stop Snitching”

New to Youth Engagement:• You need someone dedicated to engaging youth; • Be visible in places they don’t expect you to be; • They are paying attention to the questions you ask, be targeted: • Have something tangible to offer.

Doing Some Youth Engagement: Increasing Buy-In• Interest-based Learning for Advocacy/Social Justice;• Small wins; • Connection to other adults; • Peer leadership.

Addressing Stop Snitching: • “See something, say something” messaging does not work;• Your best assets are your projects and work; • Increasing youth leadership in community spaces and relationships builds investment.

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Examples of Projects:Visible TangibleSeen to CompletionShort-term (6-12 weeks)

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Culture of Violence: Three Pronged Approach

Case Management:• Building trust (don’t over promise, low hanging fruit, show-up)• Addresses relationships to violence (How involved is this young person?)• Figure out and address personal experience with violent trauma

Strengthen Peer Relationships: Group Work• Clear group projects • Group decision making about key components of the project• Let them establish group rules and discipline for infections

• Allow them to make tough decisions

Leadership Roles: Visible Community-Based Projects • Give them more responsibility • Give them autonomy • Give them public speaking roles• Let them tell you how to fix the problem - make them do the research

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Place-Base Work and Youth Involvement:

Identifying the Project:• Recruit in your catchment - no really! • Identify spaces important to youth • Listen for as long as it takes! • Identify the themes in the Narratives

Key Components:• Stipend or Incentive Based

• Visible

• Tangible

• Inclusive

• Flexible

• In spaces of civic and community importance

• Illuminating or highlighting

• Can see to completion

• Not “Community Service”

LET THEM LEAD - Believe me they will!

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BAVP Youth Lead Projects:Space ActivationArt & DesignSurveysEvent PlanningCommunity Info SharingPresentation to CB16Multi-Agency Engagement

Project Components:Stipend based3 months 5-7 Youth Planning + Presentation10-12 Youth Outreach20-30 Youth Event hosting

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Police Discussion in Schools:

1) In NYC, the classroom setting is often too adversarial and doesn’t encourage the type of peer-to-peer interactions necessary for a targeted and fruitful discussion. Smaller group discussions (4-6 ppl) outside of the classroom and in a communal space are the most helpful. It’s fine if you find the participants in the classroom, but the discussion should happen outside of the classroom.

2) I don't think this is a useful strategy when the goal is increasing public safety using a place-based strategy. My experience in New York is that many HS kids don’t go to school in their neighborhood and school violence isn’t a big driver of overall community violence. When mapped, crime hot spots in NYC and Brownsville don’t tend to be near or next to schools. I’m not sure if this is true for other areas across the US.

3) Introducing police to youth in a school setting will not attract the kids that most need the dialogue. Those kids will self-select out.

4) In my experience crime is happening in residential areas - i.e public housing, blighted residential streets, etc. Being able to create a particular ethos within a school for dialogue doesn’t neatly translate to having that dialogue in a community setting, which is what you want! Tackling schools means missing the point of youth engagement in activities that build community efficacy within your catchment. In NYC, a high school class may represent 7 different neighborhood outside of your catchment and you end up casting a wide neat and doing more work for less return. This is a less targeted and a more “block” approach. I think it’s bad strategy.

5) When we do engage high schools in our area, we filter for kids that live in Brownsville and have court or gang involvement. Once we know we have the “right” kid, we engage them in programming at our center and train them for social justice work and community benefit projects in the community/catchment. During training is when we introduce guest speakers, such as police and other law enforcement. For the webinar, I can say exactly this or I can skip this bullet point.

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Receiving Feedback from Youth:

• Social media - don’t be afraid! :)• Small group discussions• One-on-one project debriefs• Incentive participation in feedback sessions• Exit surveys • Have youth ask youth! • Make it fun - art, video, photography, etc

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Parent Involvement and Community Event: Who knew they could go hand in hand?

Type of Events: • Festivals• Block Parties • Showcasing of youth work

Benefits: Why it works• Demonstrates Trust and Community Investment• Builds Trust in Overall Projects• Show Results Quickly • Builds Volunteerism • Visible

Other: • Case management wins

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Questions, Comments & Open Discussion

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Contact information:Erica Mateo, Director of Community Initiatives

emateo@nycourts.gov347 404 9586 917 561 9476

mailto:emateo@nycourts.gov