U.S. Department of Justice: Comprehensive Anti-Gang Strategies and Programs

Community-based gang prevention, intervention, and suppression should involve multiple organizations and programs working in partnership to deliver complementary services to a specific population in a targeted area. The Comprehensive Antigang Strategies program provides communities with funds to: 1) hire a multistrategy gang coordinator who will enhance the coordination of existing community-based antigang programs and strategies that are closely aligned with local law enforcement efforts; and 2) implement or enhance existing evidence-based gang prevention, intervention, and suppression programs.

The program will help states and localities implement comprehensive community-based antigang strategies and strengthen coordination of existing resources and activities that support multiple complementary, evidence-based programs to reduce gang activity in targeted communities. Successful applicants should agree to hire or designate a full-time director/coordinator for the duration of the assessment process and implementation of the program.

Awards will support coordination of community-based antigang initiatives that involve law enforcement as an essential partner. Other partners should include schools, social services, faith- and community-based organizations, and businesses. Successful applicants will demonstrate that they are implementing community-based activities consistent with all of the antigang strategies (i.e. The Comprehensive Gang Model) and programs using existing funding (see solicitation for more information). An effective antigang strategy should be based upon a thorough assessment of the gang problem. The response must be a comprehensive, long-term strategic approach that contains the spread of gang activity, protects those youth who are most susceptible, and mitigates those risk factors that foster gang activity.

The four-pronged approach of an effective antigang strategy should include targeted enforcement of youth who commit the most serious and chronic offenses, intervening with those youth who are already gang involved, preventing those youth who have been identified as being at high risk of entering a gang, and targeting the entire population in high-crime, high-risk areas through the implementation of programs that address risk and protective factors.

Amount: Approximately $2,400,000 is available to support up to eight awards ranging up to $300,000 each. The project period is 24 months.

Eligibility: The following are key components of an organization that is ready to implement the antigang model:

• Political leadership of the community and agencies who will collaborate in the proposed project should have a gang problem that exists in the community/target area and acknowledge the existence of that problem.
• Applicant agency is a state agency, unit of local government (law enforcement, school district, criminal justice agency, mayor’s office, etc.), or a not-for-profit with a demonstrated track record for managing initiatives involving multiple collaborating organizations.
• A group of policymakers and leaders composed of law enforcement, criminal/juvenile justice, education, social services, and other governmental entities has been or will be convened. They intend to form an oversight mechanism (steering committee/task force/advisory council) to formulate strategies, allocate resources, and monitor progress. Members of this group should have the authority to commit their agency to provide data for the assessment and participate in a joint planning process to address local gang problems.

Link: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=282447

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