NCJ Number
234973
Date Published
August 2007
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This bulletin presents an overview of lessons learned from the implementation of multidisciplinary gang intervention teams, such as those used in the Comprehensive Gang Model and Gang Reduction Program promoted in cities around the United States by the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).
Abstract
The team-based approach to gang intervention stems from research that has shown a relatively small number of gang members commit the majority of gang-related crime and violence. These gang members are the focus of a team's strategies and goals. Short-term goals for gang intervention teams include the creation of individualized case-management plans for gang members who participate in team programs, the engagement of gang members in direct services that address their specific needs, cooperation in eliminating barriers to needed services, and responses that hold gang members accountable for their negative behaviors. Long-term goals for gang intervention teams are to assist gang members in making the transition out of the gang lifestyle, to improve the effectiveness of agencies serving gang-involved clients, and to reduce gang-related crime in the community. The overview of the lessons learned in pursuing these team goals pertain to laying the foundation for team development and functioning; the structuring of the multidisciplinary team; first steps with clients; the case management of gang-involved clients; specific roles performed by team members; adapting the team-based approach; and information-sharing protocols. A listing of resources and program contacts