GRIP?s goal is to reduce crime and provide youth and their families with healthy alternatives by reducing gang activity and violence in a targeted area.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Virginia proposes to replicate the highly successful Richmond Gang Reduction and Intervention Program (GRIP) and to extend its collaboration effort with law enforcement, prevention and intervention practitioners, schools, faith-based organizations and community members as a way of enhancing and expanding programs in Highland Park, VA. The GRIP model will be used to reduce delinquency and gang activity, improve coordination and activities among stakeholders, improve prevention/intervention program activities and to reduce violent gang-related incidents in the Highland Park area. Project activities will include: holding monthly meetings of service providers, community-based partners and faith-based members to change the way social services are provided and to secure resources for needed programs; expanding after school programs so that more youth have a place to go later in the afternoons; improving attendance and study habits of those attending programs; providing youth with healthy summer alternatives including summer camp; improving interaction and respect of authority between youth and police officers through police interaction with youth at summer events and community policing; providing youth with mentoring and job training activities; and raising awareness of signs of gang involvement for parents, teachers, practitioners and the community. Increased community awareness will help parents, teachers, and practitioners make referrals of gang-involved youth into programs dealing with intervention strategies, including the GRIP Intervention Team. Once gang-involved youth are accepted into Intervention Team, they will be tracked and monitored for continued improvement in problem areas. CA/NCF