Sacramento Ceasefire

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).
Based on the Boston Ceasefire approach, this data-driven outreach and intervention strategy has shown been to reduce youth homicides and gang-related violence. There are five building blocks to the Ceasefire strategy: (1) Data Analysis: The goal is to identify the individuals, geographic locations and 'hot spots' that have the highest violence. The programs can then target the small percentage of the individuals who are the 'drivers of violence' for the greatest impact. (2) Direct Communication: A call in is set up where the at-risk youth and young adults are invited to meet with a range of Ceasefire partners. They are told that the community wants them to succeed and will not stand for their violent behavior. (3) Support Services Pipeline: If the youth decides to seek assistance, they are connected to high quality employment opportunities. Social services and other support services are provided at this point as well. Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA) have committed two program leaders for this project. Several other partners include the District Attorney's office, Sacramento County Probation, Sacramento Sheriff's Department, several local pastors, and Area Congregations Together (ACT). (4) Street Outreach: This component works to spread the message, defuse tension amongst individuals and gangs in conflict, and connect individuals to services and mentoring. (5) Coordination of Law Enforcement Efforts: Utilize all Law Enforcement resources (local, state, and federal) to focus efforts on groups and individuals who drive the violence, and continue until it stops. This grant will fund the coordinator of the Sacramento Ceasefire project. NCA/NCF