Community Collaboratives Addressing Youth Gangs: Interim Findings From the Gang Reduction Program

• NCJ Number: 224808
• Author(s): Meagan Cahill Ph.D.; Mark Coggeshall; David Hayeslip Ph.D.; Ashley Wolff; Erica Lagerson; Michelle Scott; Elizabeth Davies; Kevin Roland; Scott Decker Ph.D.
• Date Published: May 2008
• Length: 553 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2007-JV-FX-0003
• Agencies: OJJDP-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation

Annotation

This report presents the interim findings of the implementation and outcome evaluation of the Gang Reduction Program (GRP), a $10 million, multiyear initiative sponsored by the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for the purpose of reducing crime linked to youth street gangs in Los Angeles, CA; Milwaukee, WI; North Miami Beach, FL; and Richmond, VA.

Abstract

The implementation portion of the evaluation found that sites had developed strategic plans approved by OJJDP that were consistent with target-area needs and problems. Local governance and communication have improved, and partnerships among members have evolved. Coordinator outreach resulted in a broad participation in GRP planning and implementation; and a significant number of programmatic activities across all GRP components were operating by late 2007. Further, GRP has improved communication about gang issues within the target areas and among participating organizations. The evaluation findings on the effects of GRP in each site were mixed. Only one site, Los Angeles, showed a significant reduction in crime levels. Serious violence, gang-related incidents, gang-related serious violence, and citizen reports of shots fired all decreased after the implementation of GRP in Los Angeles. Smaller declines in these measures were found in the comparison area, with no evidence of displacement identified. In Milwaukee and North Miami Beach, no significant changes in the measures were found after GRP implementation; and in Richmond, the period after implementation showed a modest increase in serious violence and gang-related measures. Increased crime awareness and the reporting of gang crimes among target-area residents may help explain the unexpected official increases in some crime measures that were found in Richmond. By late 2007, three of the four sites had undertaken significant steps toward sustaining the least costly portions of the initiative beyond the Federal funding period. 53 tables, 83 figures, a 124-item bibliography, and appended supplementary data and information