MMYC Gang Prevention and Intervention Project

The OJJDP FY 10 Earmarks Program furthers 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 Conference Report to accompany the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117), H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-366 at 702-714.

Prince George's and Montgomery counties in Maryland have experienced significant increases in gangs/gang-related violence over the past several years. This increase is primarily due to the arrival of MS-13 and other Latino gangs in the counties. Law enforcement and the Joint County Anti-Gang Task Force have recommended early prevention programs to counter the efforts of gang members to recruit youth as young as elementary school, and culturally-appropriate prevention, diversion and intervention for youth at high-risk of gang-involvement/already gang-involved. The Latin American Youth Center-Maryland Multicultural Youth Center's (MMYC) will meet these needs through four programmatic components: 1) gang prevention for in-school youth; 2) gang prevention/diversion for out-of-school time (summer and afterschool); 3) gang prevention/diversion for youth who have dropped out of school; and 4) intensive intervention for gang-involved youth. Each component includes community outreach; leadership and life skills development, academic enrichment, job readiness skills and case management; behavioral health; and screening and referral. The program's objectives are: successful outreach/recruitment; increasing resilience factors among participants; reducing gang involvement among participants; retention/tracking; and enhancing linkages with law enforcement to reduce gangs. Performance will be measured through pre and post tests, surveys, school performance, and short and longer-term behavior and attitudinal changes. NCA/NCF