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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
Time: 1:11 am
Time: 1:11 am
Results for gangs (edmonton, canada)
1 results foundAuthor: Grekul, Jana Title: The Community Solution to Gang Violence: "Looking Out, Looking In": CSGV Evaluation Report Summary: In 2003, the Greater Edmonton area experienced an increase in gang activity, gang related crime and gang related violence. The community demanded that something be done about the problem, and particularly that the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) address the problem. Although the EPS had organized a Gang Unit to take a more strategic response to the issue, they realized that enforcement alone would not have a significant long-term impact on reducing gang activity. At the same time, Native Counselling Services of Alberta felt that a community response to the issue was needed to prevent youth involvement in gangs and approached the EPS with the suggestion that they work together to create a ‘community-based approach to gang activity and violence.’ Representatives from these two organizations held a series of conversations and meetings in which they shared their perspectives and concerns, and discussed the benefits and possibilities for engaging others in developing a community approach to gangs. As a result of this meaningful dialogue, the Community Solution to Gang Violence (CSGV) was created. Six years later, CSGV has grown to include more than 40 organizations working together on a strategic, community-wide approach to address the issue of gangs and gang violence. CSGV strives to: • Enhance a sense of community responsibility and commitment to address gang violence; • Promote positive youth development and develop conditions to prevent young people from becoming involved in gangs, and; • Create a community-wide plan and network of support to find solutions to gang violence. One of the first initiatives of its kind in the country, it has at various points in its history grown, evolved, struggled, attracted national and international attention, educated, grown some more, and evolved some more. It has created a community focal point to bring community members together to understand the local gang issue and examine why youth get involved in gangs and more importantly, why youth don’t get involved in gangs. It has developed a positive youth development framework for gang prevention and has shared this information with community members, service providers, policy makers and funders within the Greater Edmonton Area and across the country. It has developed models, programs and practices to support youth gang prevention and intervention efforts. It has developed a web site (www.csgv.ca) to keep people informed about the work of CSGV, and resources, services and tools that can be used to prevent young people from being drawn into gangs. It has connected to and built on community services and initiatives that support youth at risk and are working to prevent youth involvement in gangs. Several research papers exist on the initiative, illustrating its impact on the community, but also on broader government and academic audiences. In February of 2008, Community Solution to Gang Violence produced an evaluation report that primarily focused on the work CSGV did to build important relationships and linkages between key stakeholders in the community; whose work enabled them to effect change in environments that impact at-risk youth and their families. The data examined in this first evaluation report reflected how CSGV built the social infrastructure to engage and mobilize the community around the gang issue, established a direction for the work, and created an evaluation framework for measuring the work and impact of CSGV. The evaluation went on to examine the progress CSGV had made toward achieving its goals. In the first evaluation report, it was clear that CSGV played an important role in raising community awareness around the issue of youth involvement in gangs. The present evaluation report picks up where the previous evaluation report ended and describes the work undertaken by CSGV between June 2007 and March 31, 2009 and perhaps more significantly how CSGV had responded and adapted to changing realities and conditions in the community. Because CSGV is a dynamic and evolving entity, the nature and progress of the work does not neatly fit within fiscal year ends. Instead the evaluation is marked by the evolving and developmental nature of the CSGV initiative. Details: Edmonton, Alberta: Native Counselling Services of Alberta, 2009. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 10, 2011 at: http://www.csgv.ca/counselor/assets/CSGV%20Evaluation%20June%202009%20Final%20Copy.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Canada URL: http://www.csgv.ca/counselor/assets/CSGV%20Evaluation%20June%202009%20Final%20Copy.pdf Shelf Number: 118712 Keywords: Gang ViolenceGangs (Edmonton, Canada) |