The Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Initiative in Manchester, NH aims to reduce juvenile delinquency through collaboration. It was established in 2009 and brings together various city departments and organizations to collect data, improve communication, and implement best practices. Key programs include Wrap for Youth Resiliency, a multi-agency collaboration, and Project Youth Reach, which deploys bilingual outreach workers. The initiative discusses ongoing issues like truancy and gang activity and how the "Weed & Seed" partnership pioneered this collaborative approach to tackle juvenile delinquency in Manchester.
Weed & Seed - Juvenile Delinquency in Manchester, NH
1. Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Initiative
Manchester, New Hampshire
Marty Boldin, LICSW, LADC, LCS, Director
City of Manchester Office of Youth Services
"Weed & Seed": Technical Assistance Initiative / September 23, 2010
2. Timeline
• Office of Youth Services Established 1971
• Youth Services Roundtable - 1981
• "Weed & Seed" - 2001
• PIT Subcommittee - 2002
• "Weed & Seed" Graduated Site Status - 2007
• Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Initiative - 2009
• Policy and Practice Changes - 2010
14. Youth Gangs in Manchester
• Gang History
• Adult Gangs
• Organized Street Crime – Juveniles
• Neighborhood Gangs
– Disconnected Youth
– Electronic Media
– Tracking
15. Weed and Seed
Steering / NWG
Makin’ It
Happen /
GMASSA
United Way /
MSD Data Project
CCDO / CCS
Technical Support
Project Safe
Streets /
HIDTA Task
Force
OYS WYR
Project /
YouthReach
Project
16. City of Manchester Juvenile Delinquency Prevention
Task Force
• Mayor’s Office
• Board of Alderman
• Manchester Police
Department
• Manchester School District
• Manchester Office of Youth
Services
• Manchester Health
Department / "Weed &
Seed"
• Manchester Highway
Department
• NH Division of Juvenile
Justice Services
• NH Division of Children
Youth & Families
• Salvation Army
• Boys & Girls Club
• YMCA
• Mental Health Center of
Greater Manchester
• Manchester Police Athletic
League
• Saint Anselm College
• Makin’ It Happen Coalition
• Granite United Way
17. Task Force Goals
• Data Collection & Dissemination
• Communication Infrastructure
• Best Practice Model Implementation
18.
19. Wrap for Youth Resiliency (WYR)
• Manchester Police Department
• Manchester School District
• NH Division of Juvenile Justice Services
• NH Division of Children Youth and Families
• Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester
• Hillsborough County Dept. of Human Services
• City of Manchester Office of Youth Services
20. Project Youth Reach
• Bi-Lingual Outreach
Workers
• Work between ‘shifts’
to connect providers
• Connect with
Disconnected Youth &
Families
• Identify HOT SPOTS
& act as a deterrent
24. Issues on the Table
• Truancy
• Re-entry & Mentoring
• Youth Employment
• Youth Violence & Community Violence
• Engaging Watch Groups more Intentionally
• Targeted Intervention with Disconnected
Youth – At Risk for Gang Activity
29. This entire initiative and the efforts
thereafter are almost entirely the
result of work that was developed
and nurtured by "Weed & Seed"
Partners at the "Weed & Seed" Table
30. Thank You
If you have any questions please feel free to contact:
Marty Boldin, Manchester OYS Director
(603) 624-6470
mboldin@manchesternh.gov
Editor's Notes
The Confluence of Poverty, Unmet Needs for Refugees/Immigrants, and Schools in Need of Improvement
+ 29% Living in Poverty
+ Unmet needs for Disconnected Youth
+ Schools in need for Improvement
Department of Justice National Gang Threat Assessment 2009: "Predictive NGIC/NDIC intelligence: Criminal activity related to street gangs likely will increase throughout the New England Region. Armed robberies, carjacking, drug trafficking, extortions, and home invasions are likely to increase because of the influx of Bloods, Crips, Latin Kings, and Trinitarios members from neighboring regions." The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a gang task force in the City of Manchester under their “Safe Streets” program.
While representing less than a third of all youth served annually by OYS, the number of youth and families who seek help for the first time is a key
statistic for OYS staff to track. During 2009, it is likely that new service requests will increase by 40%. It is important to note that once a family starts to work with OYS, our staff will provide services throughout childhood for that child.
Since 2002 OYS has seen a 250% increase in new requests for service and has also worked to show a 370% decrease in the number of children that we send to court for CHINS petitions. Our strategy worked by developing a multidisciplinary team in Manchester that carefully reviews each Court referral ‘before’ spending money & time unnecessarily for children who are better served by Manchester’s youth serving community. As a result, the OYS “WYR” model has been recommended for adoption by the State of New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services: Division of Juvenile Justice Service
From 2001 to 2008 Manchester has shown a 40% decrease in Juvenile Crime and Court petitions. At the same time, the number of Manchester youth at
the John H. Sununu Youth Services Center has also decreased. In fact, five years ago one out of every three youth at SYSC was from Manchester. Now, for every ten youth at SYSC one is from Manchester. OYS provides targeted and effective diversion services to make Manchester a safer place.
Wrap for Youth Resiliency
Mayor, Chief and Superintendent of Schools are working together to develop an overall program plan to address school safety
Manchester School District New School Discipline Policy
Truancy, Gang Intervention, Tracking, Watch Groups
Interagency Coordination through Mayor’s Office ((MPD, MSD, OYS) & (OYS School & Data Base) & USA Pilot Program & Mayor’s Focus in Gangs – Information Sharing (Jamie Branch)
Interagency coordination –
MPD, MSD, OYS, "Weed & Seed", Makin’ It Happen, Board of Mayor and Alderman – SECURE WEB SITE
OYS School (Tracking) & OYS Database & Tracking
Gang Coordination Task Force – Project Safe Neighborhoods – Gang Education Summit (11/4 & 11/5 2010)
