2016
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Highlights of B oys & Girls Clu bs participatin the National F g in orum on Youth Violence Preve ntion June 2016 | Volume 4, Issue 1
Bridging the Gap: Connecting Law Enforcement and Youth By: Keith Blanchard, President & CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis
Memphis is now one of the most violent cities in the U.S., surpassing Chicago this year to have the highest murder rate per capita in the country. i Memphis is also ranked as having the 2nd highest violent crime rate in the country.ii In the wake of what is taking place in Ferguson, Baltimore, and throughout the country, I wanted to do something to repair relationships between communities and law enforcement and encourage positive interactions between youth and off-duty law enforcement officers in a space like Boys & Girls Clubs. My career first began in law enforcement. I was a police officer in Salinas, California for 7 years, serving a community with a long history of youth gang violence. During my time with the Salinas Police Department, I was the Executive Director of the Salinas Police Activities League (PAL). At Salinas Officer Reginald Huley with youth from the BGCGM Porter PAL, our mission was Goodwill Club. to provide recreational, social and educational activities to the youth in the community. We served over 3,000 youth in the Salinas PAL programs during my tenure and really got a sense of how law enforcement could interact with youth in the community to cultivate understanding between the community and law enforcement. (continued on page 2) i ii
http://aol.it/24hMJBh http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/30146794/fbi-memphis-second-in-violent-crime
Contents Bridging the Gap: Connecting Law Enforcement and Youth .............................1
Partnerships Enhance My Daughter’s Kitchen Mentoring Program............................................................3
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana Collaborates with New Partners to Improve Academic Engagement................................................... 4
Share and Engage in our Facebook Group................................................................ 4
MEMPHIS
Tennessee
When I left the Salinas Police Department, I transitioned into a position with the Boys & Girls Clubs and asked myself, “How can I bring what I learned as a cop to Boys & Girls Clubs?” I have worked with Clubs in different parts of the country in various capacities and have always sought to build a strong partnership between them and law enforcement in order to build trust and community. After 12 years with the Boys & Girls Club of Alachua County in Gainesville, Florida, I became the CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis (BGCGM) and realized that my work with law enforcement would be not only a great resource, but perhaps a necessity. One thing that aided the goal of creating positive relationships between youth and law enforcement was that there were already established connections between the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis and local law enforcement. The former Chief of Police is a Club alumni, and a commander of the Memphis Police Department is on our Board of Directors. Moreover, we have 4 part-time Club employees who work with our youth in the afternoon and serve as police officers at night. By building on these connections and creating the space for interaction, we have seen many positive outcomes from our effort. Although not every officer on the force is interested in spending time at the Club, those who do take advantage of the opportunity to get to know the local youth have a positive impact on our kids. Reginald Huley is a member of the BGCGM Porter Goodwill Branch staff and an officer with the Memphis Police Department. His dedication to positive youth development and his role as a mentor is rooted in his refusal to see any more of his close friends lose a loved one to senseless violence and street gangs: “I made a personal commitment to myself that I will sacrifice my time and efforts to change the mindsets of the next generations.” Reginald’s commitment is having a big impact on the youth at the Club. As one Club member explains, “Coach Huley aka Boochie has been a father figure, coach, and person that I can tell about my vulnerabilities. He has spent countless hours teaching me life lessons, basketball skills, and how to conduct myself as a young man! I have learned a lot from him and I am very grateful to have him in my life.” In addition to the officers who are Club staff, we have several officers who come in both regularly and intermittently to volunteer in various capacities. For example, the Memphis Grizzlies recently offered the Clubs tickets to attend a game and the Police Department provided buses and vans to transport the youth and chaperoned the trip. Other officers come in on a weekly basis and serve as mentors, taking part in Club activities and programming, and many times, bringing along fellow officers to work out and play basketball with Club youth.
Suggestions FROM THE CEO: Moving forward, I am looking to formalize our partnership with the Memphis Police Department and build on the progress we have already made. We have a new interim Director of Police and my plan is to work with him and whoever the permanent replacement will be. I have found that becoming as involved as possible in various law enforcement initiatives is the best strategy for building relationships with local law enforcement. I recommend that other Clubs have a member of their staff join their local juvenile justice councils and gang and crime prevention councils. For youth, there are ways to engage in Police Academy simulations and programs that expose them to the law enforcement perspective and participate in policing scenarios. I would also highly recommend that Clubs host roundtables with their Club members and police officers, especially after major incidences in the community. Creating these sorts of partnerships with police departments comes with its own challenges; but, in cities like Memphis, they are vital. They are commitments we need to make not only for our Club members, but for the community as a whole.
In addition to physical activities, youth and officers engage in other Club programming including Passport to Manhood and SMART Girls. At Porter Goodwill, boys and girls have separate meetings where the focus is to have open discussions about any topic the youth choose. Recently, one of the youth participating in this forum took the opportunity to ask officers about a situation in which someone in the community, who many of the Club youth knew, was shot by police. Officers and youth used this space to discuss the situation and have an open dialogue about what happened and share their perspectives.
MEMPHIS
Tennessee
I truly believe that this sort of dialogue and interfacing has made a difference in Memphis and has been a major reason that Memphis has not seen the same level of tension between law enforcement and members of the community as other cities have experienced. The reality is that it all comes down to relationships. The relationships that we are cultivating with law enforcement at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis are really making a difference in the lives of both our Club members and the police officers who take part in our programs.
Let’s keep the conversation going! If you have questions about my approach to working with law enforcement or want to discuss further, feel free to contact me at KeithB@bgcm.org. Share how you partner with local law enforcement departments on the BGCA Forum Cities Facebook group page.
During basketball practice, Officer Clarence Campbell instructs youth.
CAMDEN
New Jersey
Partnerships Enhance My Daughter’s Kitchen Mentoring Program Teaching kids to cook healthy, simple, affordable meals is the mission of My Daughter’s Kitchen, a partnership of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Vetri Community Partnership, and the Boys & Girls Club of Camden County. Throughout the fall and spring, volunteers teach students to cook dinners that serve a family of six for under $20. The program was started by Maureen Fitzgerald, a food editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer, and now runs at 30 schools in Philadelphia and Camden in addition to the Boys & Girls Club. In a city like Camden where unemployment exceeds 19 percent and more than a third of residents live in povertyiii, learning how to prepare healthy, inexpensive meals is important. Sharnessa Bond, Youth Development Director, shared, “Our Club members truly enjoy being able to be in the kitchen and learn how to cook. They even enjoy helping clean up! Seeing Club members work as a team is inspiring. “ Twelve-year-old Jaylin C. says, “I enjoy participating in the cooking program because I learn different things like measuring, properly setting stove/oven temperature, and properly cleaning up a kitchen after cooking. The cooking program also has taught me that eating healthy can be done creatively and for a low cost.” The program is also an excellent spring board for the members to experience different foods. Ms. Peru, one of the program mentors, said, “I believe that each one has realized just because this is not familiar to me that doesn’t mean it’s bad or I don’t like it. So exposing them to [something] different and them actually seeing and being a part of the process allows them to take ownership and smile when they find out they really do like it.” Research shows that beyond the nutritional value of shared meals, conversations over family-style meals improve vocabulary, resilience and self-esteem, while decreasing young people’s likelihood of eating disorders, teen pregnancy and substance abuse.iv iii iv
http://bit.ly/1WBupDK http://thefamilydinnerproject.org/resources/faq/
NEW ORLEANS
Louisiana
Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana Collaborates with New Partners to Improve Academic Engagement Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana partnered with Volunteer Louisiana and AmeriCorps for the first time this year to bring 40 AmeriCorps members into their greater New Orleans Clubs to enhance the Clubs’ mentoring program. AmeriCorps moves communities forward by creating jobs and providing pathways to opportunity for young people entering the workforce. Each year, AmeriCorps places thousands of young adults into intensive service positions where they learn valuable skills, earn money for education, and develop an appreciation of civic engagement. Through the Operation AmeriCorps grant competition, an initiative that funds projects focused on transformational impact in a two-year period, $124,000 of AmeriCorps funding was granted from Volunteer Louisiana and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor to four Club sites, and is being used to supplement mentoring programs funded by OJJDP.
The Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Louisiana AmeriCorps team participated in Global Youth Service Day with Volunteer Louisiana.
Because of this funding, AmeriCorps members are now serving as program instructors and mentors throughout the greater New Orleans area with the goal of further developing Club members’ academic engagement. AmeriCorps members support their mentees and lead youth in enrichment activities for about 20 hours per week, including the facilitation of Power Hour and Project Learn. They also incorporate high-yield learning activities and find opportunities to recognize Club members, engage parents and families, and collaborate with schools. Interim CEO Carlos Daniels shared, “We are already seeing an improvement in academic engagement among our club members as a result of our AmeriCorps program. Youth are demonstrating that they have an expectation that they will do their homework at the Club and receive help from our AmeriCorps members.” Along with the positive benefits to Club members, the partnership is impacting the lives of the AmeriCorps members as well. AmeriCorps member Maci shares, “I love working with children and I used to go to the Boys & Girls Club as a child, and one of my mentors there left a very lasting impression on me. If I could redirect a child’s life like she did mine, I would be extremely happy.” Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana’s partnership with AmeriCorps and Volunteer Louisiana has given them the opportunity to host dedicated AmeriCorps members like Maci, who in turn create a positive and safe environment for their Club youth.
Share and Engage in our Facebook Group If you are a Boys & Girls Club in the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention and would like to join our Facebook Group, please send an email to jdavenport@firstpic.org that includes the email address linked with your Club’s Facebook account. Once you have been added, you can find the BGCA National Forum Cities Collaboration group listed in the Groups section on the left of your homepage. This is a private group, which means that only members can post and view content. Please post anything that can be helpful to participating Clubs: resources, best practices, questions, and photos of your events.
This project was supported by Federal Award Number 2015-JU-FX-0017, administered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), through Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA). Points of view or opinions contained within this document do not necessarily represent the official position, or policies, of the U.S. Department of Justice.