Despite a few hitches, Tacoma efforts to curb youth violence are off to a start. Tacoma City Councilmembers recently heard from city staff and organizers of the Youth Violence and Gang Prevention Program, which stumbled out of the gate, but seems to be getting its legs, based on preliminary reports. 

 

The innovative program is broad in scope, with some lofty, long-term goals, according to a report conducted by Seattle’s Mark Bolan Consulting and delivered to city officials earlier this month. In short, the program seeks to identify middle school kids who run a little hot and are at risk of dropping out of school. Teachers and staff at McIlveigh, Stewart, Gray and Gault middle schools selected students who have a grade point average of 2.0 or lower, have school attendance problems, behavioral issues, and one of the following clinchers — a relative involved in a gang, some sort of run-in with law enforcement, or a recommendation from their school principal. Once selected, so-called troubled youth are shuttled into one of three programs — Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Aggression Replacement Therapy (ART), and the Male Improvement Project (MIP).



In total there were 64 kids inducted into the program during the past year. Seven were still being assessed when the report was completed, meaning that 57 kids were enrolled in the program since November 2007. The number of kids receiving help is fewer than program organizers had hoped, but a good start, says John Briehl, executive director of Tacoma’s Human Rights and Human Services Department.  

 

“We hope (now that the kinks are worked out) that we’ll have a good flow of students, instead of a trickle,” says Briehl. 

 

As with most community-wide pilot projects set to tackle a complex, seemingly intractable array of social issues, Tacoma’s youth violence prevention programs ran into a few problems. Shortly after the ART program began, Tacoma School District lawyers collared organizers, demanding that they use a complicated human subject review process to ensure the safety of students, and changed up some of the paper work. Resetting the circuits on the program meant kids already enrolled had to start over, and a second group of 30 kids waiting to participate would have to wait another year. Some of the students who were already enrolled dropped out. 

 

Meanwhile, administrators at Gault Middle School got self-conscious, according to the report. Teachers and staff dragged their feet, offering only a few referrals, fearing that participation might result in Gault being labeled as “gang territory,” according to the report. 

 

“This instance of resistance, as tied to attitudes and perceptions, is an important factor for the project to continue to address,” the report reads. “If the key is to continue to find the ‘right’ youth who might benefit from the project services, and the schools are hesitant to find these youth because of perceptions or attitudes, then there needs to be a mechanism to help alleviate those considerations …” 

 

Limited participation means limited data for researchers trying to figure out just how well these programs worked, said Briehl, who said the program is likely to produce more fodder for analysts in the coming year. 

 

Based on limited information, the Bolan report found some trends worth noting. Participants in the ART program, for example, showed some improvements in attitudes about conflict, and fewer instances of aggressive behavior, especially among students who were able to complete the program. Also noted were overall declines in the attendance and grade-point average among youth referred to the project, but these remained stable for kids who completed the ART and FFT interventions.

 

“I think we learned a lot this year,” said Briehl. “Next year will be better.” 

Want to help?

 

Mentor253, which seeks male volunteers for troubled kids at Gault and McIlvaigh school, can be reached at 253.272. 0771.