In the early 1990s, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) began working with youth at risk of joining gangs or already in gangs. Government officials were becoming alarmed about the increasing numbers of youth gangs, and BGCA officials were hearing about increased gang activity from their local clubs.

The Boys and Girls Clubs of America drew on their long work in juvenile delinquency prevention in developing programs aimed at preventing youth from joining gangs and enticing youth away from gangs. The programs, Gang Prevention Through Targeted Outreach, and Gang Intervention Through Targeted Outreach, seek to reach youth by first establishing relationships with them and then providing them with services they need to keep or get their lives on track. The programs are based on research that showed that risk factors for delinquency are similar to risk factors for joining a gang. BGCA sought to offer alternative activities and supports to youth that a gang typically meets.

The prevention model brings youth into local Boys and Girls Clubs to participate in all aspects of Club programming. Known as "mainstreaming," the approach seeks to avoid labeling adolescents-who probably have already heard a host of negative labels about their behaviors, according to Becky Flaherty, senior director, Delinquency Prevention, Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

"We know from research that you don't put a bunch of high-risk kids together. They will learn high-risk behavior from each other," Flaherty said.

She continued, "When we talk about community mobilization, we are talking about working with adults who understand mainstreaming. Let's say a fifth grade teacher sees a kid drawing gang signs. He's not there yet [as part of a gang] but he's headed there. Instead of saying, `I see you drawing gang signs,' and sending him to the Boys and Girls Club for a [anti] gang class, she could say, `I see you're artistic, and send him to a Boys and Girls Club or YMCA for an art class. The programming, at least initially, is going to be about art."

But the art teacher would also incorporate conflict resolution into the art lessons, Flaherty said. As the staff at the Boys and Girls Clubs get to know the youth, they help them set goals for school and for life. An evaluation of the program found that it was difficult in practice to integrate programs that incorporated a youth's interest and builds skills, such as conflict resolution. In practice, the program was typically offered separately.

"Because getting the gang members to the classes the program offers can be challenging, Clubs provide incentives and rewards for good attendance," wrote Amy J. Arbreton and Wendy S. McClanahan of Public/Private Ventures in an evaluation of the programs. "A reward might be the opportunity to go waterskiing or rock climbing. These events give youth an important chance to see appropriate behavior outside of the neighborhood."

The approach also involves a close working relationship with the parents, the school, and law enforcement and probation, if necessary, so all the key adults in the youth's life know what is happening with her. Club staff make special efforts to recruit youth, going to schools, hanging out in parks, and seeking referrals from police, probation officers, and teachers.

Public/Private Ventures, Inc., conducted an evaluation of the BGCA prevention and intervention programs between 1997 and 2000. Both programs fared well. For the prevention program, the evaluators surveyed the youth when they first were recruited to the program and 12 months later. The evaluators found that the majority of youth engaged in Club activities for 12 months (73 percent for the prevention group and 50 percent of the intervention group) reported going to the Clubs or projects several times per week in the month prior to the follow-up interview.

The evaluators pointed out that those levels of retention and participation "are difficult to achieve with any youth or teen, let alone with youth who have been engaging in high-risk behaviors." Study findings also reported that participating youth reported several experiences that are critical to healthy development, according to the research literature. Those experiences included (1) receiving adult support and guidance from at least one Boys and Girls Club staff; (2) feeling a sense of belonging and safety; and (3) finding the Club activities interesting and challenging.

In trying to determine whether the prevention program played a role in keeping youth away from gangs, the evaluators reported that more frequent participation was "associated with the following positive outcomes":

• Delayed onset of one gang behavior (less like to start wearing gang colors)
• Less contact with the juvenile justice system (less likely to be sent away by the court)
• Fewer delinquent behaviors (stealing less and less likely to start smoking pot)
• Improved school outcomes (higher grades and greater valuing of doing well in school)
• More positive social relationships and productive use of out-of-school time

Sources:

Arbreton, A. J. and McClanahan, W. S. (March 2002). Targeted Outreach: Boys and Girls Clubs of America's Approach to Gang Prevention and Intervention. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures. Also available on-line at http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/148_publication.pdf.

Boys and Girls Clubs of America Web site http://ww.bgca.org.

Flaherty, B. (July 2004). Personal communication.