YCWA 'Safety thru Leadership' Program Implementation, Outreach Enhancement and Improvement

The OJJDP FY 09 Earmarks Programs further the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Explanatory Statement Regarding H.R. 1105 (Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009), 155 Cong. Rec. H1653 (daily ed. Feb. 23, 2009) (statement by Rep. Obey, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House).

Youth Crime Watch of America (YCWA) will implement the 'Safety thru Leadership' Program. The target population will be middle and high school youth in YCWA affiliate states and territories, including Florida, Rhode Island, Alabama, and Kentucky. The goals of the project are to: (1) Implement the 'Safety thru Leadership' program and measure outcomes at 75 sites; (2) Enhance and Improve the YCWA Program Model; and (3) Effectively Communicate Messages and Disseminate Best Practices to communities in these states and territories. Objectives for achieving these goals will be to: (1) Provide Technical Assistance and Training; (2) Measure Outcomes in Youth Development and Crime Prevention; (3) Build an Evidenced Based Model; (4) Expand , Improve and Enhance Program Components; (5) Communicate promising practices throughout national system; and (6) Educate youth at prevention conferences. Major strategies and deliverables will be: (1) Certification of 75 program sites for two years; (2) Collection of performance measures in youth development and crime prevention at 75 sites over two years; (3) Standardize and replicate Best Practices in 5 component areas; (4) Expand the peer mentoring component; (5) Conduct 15 group trainings; (6) Develop and disseminate a paper newsletter for 5,000 recipients; (7) Develop and distribute a monthly electronic newsletter; (8) hold two conferences for 500 participants; (9) Conduct presentations at two national prevention conferences; (10) Create a 'Next Generation' Board of Directors; (11) Document and share 15 Youth Success Stories; and (12) Develop and disseminate a YCWA Annual Report. Data will be collected on an ongoing basis. Census Surveys and Outcome Measure data will be collected annually by the affiliate directors and passed on to headquarters, as they have been over the past 10 years. Overall assessments of the effectiveness and process of the initiative will be discussed each quarter among staff and at monthly affiliate director phone meetings.
NCA/NCF