County’s Effort To Deter Youth Violence

As part of a comprehensive effort to deal with the growing problem of youth violence in Westchester, County Executive Andy Spano recently announced that the county will bring to White Plains, Yonkers and Port Chester a program that trains kids in non-violent ways to settle disputes and also trains them to train other kids.

The program, known as Power of Peace, is one of several initiatives that are the outcome of the Summit on Gang Prevention and Youth Violence sponsored last April by Spano and District Attorney Janet DiFiore. Others include training for United Way’s 2-1-1 responders, a speakers bureau and an inter-agency/inter-government task force.

“You don’t get rid of gangs overnight or through one program,” said Spano. “The professionals who spoke and shared information at our summit made it clear that there must be a vast array of programs and services to prevent gangs in the first place and deal with gangs when they exist. As a county, we are committed to helping our local communities and families deal with this.”

DiFiore said, “The best way to put gangs and the violence they foment out of business is to maintain strong partnerships between law enforcement, the community, schools and social service agencies. I have made it a priority to focus on gang violence by aggressive prosecution of the individuals and groups responsible. We have seen the number of gun recoveries and prosecutions rise dramatically this year. Combining our efforts by taking the worst offenders off the streets with County Executive Spano’s initiatives to address the triggers of violence in our community before they explode is not only proactive but also effective.”

Power of Peace, a program of The Guidance Center in New Rochelle, is patterned after a program created at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Dutchess by prisoners who were trying to develop tools to deter youth violence. Michael Arteberry, a volunteer at Green Haven, came to the Guidance Center to adapt the Green Haven program into Power of Peace. Currently, he runs it in several places in Westchester, including New Rochelle.

Through Power of Peace, youth (not just “troubled youth”) are trained in non-violent ways to settle problems including impulse control, conflict resolution and resistance to peer pressure.

The decision to bring the program to White Plains (the school district), Yonkers (Nepperhan Community Center) and Port Chester (Carver Center) was made by the county at the suggestion of the Reducing Youth Violence Committee, an inter-governmental/inter-agency group put together by the Westchester County Youth Bureau.

Here are some of the other initiatives now under way:

• Speakers Program: The Reducing Youth Violence Committee has launched a speakers program. To date, committee members have spoken in White Plains, Greenburgh, Yonkers, Mount Vernon and Peekskill concerning youth violence and what can be done. A flyer, “Youth Violence and Gangs - What You Need to Know, Gang Prevention: What Parents Can Do, What Schools Can Do and What Community Members Can Do,” is distributed.

• Summit DVD: A video of the April Summit was created by the county’s Communications Office. It can be seen at www.westchestergov.com/gangprevention. This can also be viewed on cable television by those with Optimum IO cable channel 504 (Westchester on Demand).

• 2-1-1: The Reducing Youth Violence Committee is working with United Way’s 211 to make sure operators at this service phone number know how to handle calls from parents or others looking for information on how to deal with youth violence phone calls. A script will aid callers in finding the best referrals and solutions.

• Youth/Police partnerships: The Step Up, White Plains Youth Bureau’s Gang and Violence Prevention Initiative, has completed the first youth/police partnership training. Similar programs are in the planning stages for Mount Vernon and Peekskill, with those municipal youth bureaus taking the lead to improve youth, police, and community relationships.

• Best Practices: The county continues to work with Student Assistance Services to help implement best practices through the Communities That Care (CTC) model. This is specifically focusing on New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains, Ossining, Peekskill, Eastchester and Mamaroneck. (Port Chester will soon be included as well.) Each of these communities assesses the available community resources to respond to risk factors that have been identified by student surveys.

• Academic Performance: The Westchester County Youth Bureau and the Guidance Center are collaborating with Iona College and the New Rochelle City School District in a new grant-funded initiative aimed at youth violence reduction and improved academic performance in the public housing complexes in New Rochelle.

• Enforcement: The Westchester County Youth Bureau is working with the Yonkers Juvenile Crime Enforcement Coalition, to coordinate action plans to reduce violent juvenile crime.

• Mentoring: Greg Owens, who was a keynote speaker at the gangs summit, will spearhead a Westchester Mentoring Partnership that is sponsored by the state Office of Children and Family Services. All municipal youth bureaus will join in this countywide effort.

• Training: The Westchester County Youth Bureau is collaborating with the Westchester Community Fund to provide gang prevention training for all personnel who work in county funded youth development programs.