Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver (GRID)

OJJDP's State and Community Development Invited Awards program was established to provide grants and cooperative agreements to organizations that OJJDP has selected for funds in prior years. This program has been authorized by an Act appropriating funds for the Department of Justice.

The City and County of Denver Safe City Office will use FY14 State and Community Development Invited funds to continue the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver (GRID) project. GRID aims to achieve several goals: reduced recidivism rates for the youth of interest, reduced violent gang crime in selected neighborhoods, increased positive behavior change in the youth of interest, and increased coordination and capacity of the local partners to reduce the impact of gangs.

Crime rates and gang-motivated crime rates will be collected quarterly and individual and community surveys will gauge community collaboration, communication, and knowledge gained. Five core strategies -- Community Mobilization, Organizational Change, Social Intervention, Opportunities Provision and Suppression -- provide the foundational principles of the Denver model.

Continuation funds will facilitate increases in the number and quality of community-based partnerships and training for staff as well as promote sustainability of this anti-violence work. NCA/NCF

OJJDP's State and Community Development (Invited) Awards program was established to provide grants and cooperative agreements to organizations that OJJDP has selected for funds in prior years. Through the Community-Based Violence Prevention Program (CBVP), OJJDP funds organizations working to reduce youth gun and gang violence through evidence-based models. These programs have been authorized by an Act appropriating funds for the Department of Justice.

The City and County of Denver has support services in place to assist direct victims of violence through several victim assistance and mental health agencies. In an effort to build a comprehensive system that expands existing partnerships while building new capacities, the Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver (GRID) will use these funds to partner with the Faith-based community to build a critical incident mobilization protocol for providing trauma services to children and families affected by acts of community violence. GRID will hire a Critical Incident/ Faith-based Coordinator, recruit trauma mental health volunteers, set up agreements with churches to serve as Safe Havens after a critical incident, assess clients for trauma and refer for long-term care, and work with a current network of outreach workers to canvas neighborhoods and let residents know there is a safe place to go for resources and support. GRID will work with Faith-based organizations to support education and outreach efforts by contracting with trauma mental health specialists to provide trainings in high-risk neighborhoods for community residents to ensure residents understand the characteristics of community violence; know about Safe Havens and are provided with a list of community resources. These efforts will be measured through Critical Incident Response activations, the number of volunteer trauma specialist recruited, Safe Haven clients served, Safe Haven clients assessed for long-term services, community trainings held and attendees, and the number of neighborhood locations displaying trauma mental resources. Funds will also be used to send a team of representatives to the OJJDP Youth Violence Prevention fall convening.

CA/NCF