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Strategic Plan to Reduce Young Adult Violence and Gangs in Newport News, Virginia: P.I.E.R. Strategy

REENTRY

Nationally there are over 650,000 people released from state and federal prison each year that arrive on door steps of communities across the United States.  According to the Sherriff’s Office, there were 12,917 individuals released back into the community from the City Jail. This is approximately 1,000 people a month who are trying to reestablish a standard of living for themselves.  The effort of a community to address whether an individual will successfully return in a supportive role for their families and their community can be demonstrated by the establishment or enhancement of a community wide reentry strategy. For a community to establish an effective reentry program it must begin by developing a continuum of services that begins when a person is sentenced to a local, state, or federal institution for incarceration.  Under the direction of current Sheriff, Gabe Morgan, the community is moving into a better understanding of the power and necessity of a Community Reentry Program.  While a number of citizens and community stakeholders have yet to be educated on the need of this effort, it is essential and in the best interest of public safety within Newport News for a city wide reentry strategy to be developed and adopted.  Sherriff Morgan was the chair of the Reentry Operational Council which has provided the following recommendations. 

Recommendation 1

Establishment of a Newport News Reentry Council

Recently, Sherriff Morgan conducted a morning breakfast of community stakeholders, government agency, and former inmates to show the need and direction for developing a city wide council on reentry.  This council would be made up of justice serving agencies to include Police Department, Sheriff’s Office, the Commonwealth’s Attorney; the Department of Human Services, Probation and Parole, and faith-based and selected business leaders.  This council would provide support to the development of the City-wide reentry strategy. 

Recommendation 2

Designate or Employ a Community Reentry Coordinator

It is recommended that the City designate or employ a coordinator of reentry services to work directly with the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Sheriff’s Office, Human Services, and Probation and Parole Departments to ensure that reentry services and opportunities are being developed and coordinated for all who would come out of local and state incarceration.  In addition, this individual would work with local businesses, faith-based organizations, and educational institutions to develop a database of ongoing opportunities for those returning to the community from incarceration. 

Recommendation 3

Designate or Employ Additional Inmate Counselors for Newport News Incarcerated Population

During the research for this strategic plan we became aware of the fact that currently there are only two full-time counselors serving the entire population of inmates within the City Jail.  It would be very difficult to develop a case management system towards a reentry process into the community with little or no support as it currently stands.  It is recommended that the City work with the Sheriff’s Office to analyze the specific needs of case management and counseling in the current incarcerated adult population with the overall objective to developing individual strategies for community reentry. 

Recommendation 4

Expand Transitional Housing for Returning Inmates

During their work, the Operations Council on Reentry, found that there was extremely limited scope of transitional housing for returning inmates in Newport News.  When inmates are asked to return to a community only to become instantly homeless, they often feel an immediate need or desire to enter a life of criminal activity again.  It is recommended that part of the reentry plan for the city of Newport News include the immediate investigation of the establishment of adequate transitional housing for inmates returning within the City from incarceration. 

Recommendation 5

Establishment of a Reentry Program for Juvenile Offenders within the Community

It is recommended that a strategy be enhanced or established for juveniles who are returning from the City’s detention facility into the community.  This case management plan should be adopted as an overall part of the reentry program for the City of Newport News. The plan should call for strengthening the juvenile’s opportunity to community structure, community education, and related services.

Recommendation 6

Expand Reentry Educational Opportunities

During the Operational Council meetings on reentry, we quickly learned that educational programs within the City Jail have been hampered by the lack of resources dedicated to providing these services for incarcerated individuals.  Currently there is only one GED instructor employed for the entire population of the inmates of the Newport News City Jail.  This fact alone should be alarming and should show the need for a heightened focus on reentry services across the board.  Every inmate who is due to come back within the community should be provided the opportunity to complete the educational requirements for a high school diploma.  While we realize this would be a choice of the individual inmate, the fact that the resources are lacking impedes the success of almost all inmates.  It is recommended that the city, school division, and community nonprofits enlist faith-based partners to increase the educational opportunities for those incarcerated within the Newport News city jail.  In addition, it is also recommended that educational opportunities in various trades and career applications be expanded. 

Recommendation 7

Enhance Job Training and Availability for Returning Inmates Within the Community

Research has shown that inmates that return to the community with an opportunity to establish individual and family support through gainful employment run a low risk of committing crime and returning to incarceration.  It is recommended that part of the community focus on reentry include job training and job placement for returning inmates.  To accomplish this strategy,  it is recommended that community businesses and job training programs be contacted and given support to provide job training and job placement to this much needed population. 

Recommended Action Steps for Reentry

  1. Establishment of a Newport News Reentry Council
  2. Designate or Employ a Community Reentry Coordinator
  3. Designate or Employ Additional Inmate Counselors for Newport News Incarcerated Population
  4. Expand Transitional Housing for Returning Inmates
  5. Establishment or Enhancement of a Reentry Program for Juvenile Offenders within the Community
  6. Expand Reentry Educational Opportunities
  7. Enhance Job Training and Availability for Returning Inmates Within the Community

Funding and Sustainability of the P.I.E.R. Model

One of the greatest challenges facing communities across America including Newport News is how to fund and sustain a specific strategy to reduce crime and violence. While developing the recommended P.I.E.R. Strategic Model to the community we realize that a major question lies in the factor of what the specific recommendations will cost and how to sustain the strategy. This factor is what drives the development of a strategic plan and not a simple program. Many of the strategies that have been suggested will simply lead to a change in operational services provided within the community with an overall direction to greater citizen involvement in those services. In working on this effort we have had positive input from various leaders who represent local government, faith-based organizations and businesses. As exhibited in the number of individuals who worked on this plan, community leadership and stakeholders have openly endorsed this direction. For that reason we believe that local political and government leaders should embrace the recommended strategy and seek out ways to fund it.  Whether through current City resources, local surplus funding, grants or private-public partnerships, we believe in order for the community to move in the recommended direction of this strategy, there will have to be a level of financial investment. To show the community’s commitment to this strategy the following actions have been taken:

In addition to this funding, $200,000 dollars has been pledged from the Cal Ripken Foundation to establish a model baseball and training facility at the recommended South Morrison P.I.E.R. Center.  It is recommended that the community leverage a greater involvement through national partnerships to include the Boys & Girls Club, 4H Program, National Endowment for the Arts, US Department of Education and the US Department of Justice which provides seed funding for: Police Athletic Leagues (PAL), Gang Resistance Education and Training and various private funding sources to help in funding the initiative.

The sustainability of the P.I.E.R. Strategy will be met with the following:

A combination in implementation of the above recommendations the Newport News P.I.E.R. Strategy would become a way to do business for the city and its neighborhoods.

Coordination of the P.I.E.R. Strategic Plan in Newport News, Virginia

To be successful in addressing the problem of teenage young adult violence, it is important to come to the realization that government does not own the problem or the solutions.

Strategic plans are best written, coordinated and facilitated at the grass root level with the emphasis on citizen involvement.  A caution at this juncture is simply not to cede leadership or operation of this project to the City Bureaucracy. Although City staff’s natural inclination—as willing, intelligent and experienced representatives—is to take charge of the effort, this plan seldom works.

The coordination of such efforts by a broad base of community interests is essential to the success of the overall plan.

The National Center for the Prevention of Community Violence (NCPCV) is willing to discuss continued engagement with leadership of the Newport News Youth Violence Prevention Program if it is the desire of the Mayor’s Task Force.

NCPCV has consulted in over twenty states and helped build the Richmond GRIP program, and is currently in a vital part of the Memphis Strategic planning process as well as worked in Los Angeles, Ca, Miami, Florida and Milwaukee, Wisconsin to assist in the strategic efforts. The Richmond engagement is widely considered a benchmark of youth violence reduction in America. The NCPCV is rapidly becoming a national force in strategic planning to stem the tide of youth violence overtaking the nation.

P.I.E.R. Strategy - Next Steps

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