March 2012

www.atf.gov

Contact: ATF Public Affairs Division

(202) 648-8500

Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program

Purpose

The Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) Program is a gang and delinquency prevention program that is provided to middle – and elementary-school students by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and other law enforcement agency partners. G.R.E.A.T.. seeks to help students avoid gang membership, violence and delinquent behavior and teaches students how to resist gang pressure and develop positive attitudes concerning law enforcement.

Authority

The G.R.E.A.T. school program is taught by specially trained ATF agents who partner with local criminal justice professionals during the school year. In addition to ATF, G.R.E.A.T. federal partners include the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).

Mission

Elementary School G.R.E.A.T. Program

G.R.E.A.T.’s six-week, skills-based, elementary school curriculum for fourth and fifth graders provides information that produces attitudinal and behavioral changes in youth. The program is taught in schools and focuses on positive behavior rehearsals, cooperative and interactive learning techniques and teacher activities. Researchers believe children who display aggressive behavior during their elementary school years are more likely to display antisocial and violent behavior as adolescents and young adults. With the G.R.E.A.T. Program and other prevention efforts that are provided during the elementary school years, researchers believe there is an opportunity to stop negative behavior.

Middle School G.R.E.A.T. Program

The middle school G.R.E.A.T. Program is a 13-week curriculum that is designed for sixth and seventh graders. In the first evaluation of the G.R.E.A.T. Program in 1995, researchers recommended teaching the core curriculum at the entry level of middle school rather than in the seventh and eighth grades. Evaluators indicated that children undergo major transitions as they move from the fifth to the sixth grade, form new peer groups and become more susceptible to the lures of gangs and peer group pressures.

Specially trained ATF and other uniformed law enforcement officers teach the GREAT. curriculum in the classroom and train students to avoid gang pressure and youth violence. The G.R.E.A.T. curriculum also can be used in conjunction with other prevention programs that encourage positive relationships with parents, schools and community and law enforcement organizations.

G.R.E.A.T. Summer Component

The G.R.E.A.T. summer program builds upon the school-based curriculum; adds structure to summer months; provides an opportunity to enhance social skills; and offers alternatives to gang involvement. Students engage in positive social, cognitive and interpersonal growth activities that range from field trips to sporting events. While the G.R.E.A.T. summer program is most beneficial when viewed as a reinforcement of the school-based initiative, students are selected from their communities or from other programs.

G.R.E.A.T. Families Training

G.R.E.A.T. facilitators lead G.R.E.A.T. Families, a six-session program that is designed to strengthen families and assist communities. The curriculum engages parents and young people in cooperative lessons that facilitate communication among family members and enhance family decision-making skills.

The curriculum uses group interaction, activities and skills practice to foster positive family relations and engage parents and children between the ages of 10 to 14. A G.R.E.A.T. facilitator works closely with one or two co-facilitators to guide as many as 10 families (approximately 30 family members) through a variety of activities and discussions.

The G.R.E.A.T. Families program also links the curriculum to specialized family assistance resources that provide G.R.E.A.T. instructors with the tools needed to work effectively with families and family service agencies.

G.R.E.A.T. Officer Training

Certified G.R.E.A.T. Officer-trainers provide instruction to aspiring teachers regarding how to teach the school-based program to elementary- and middle-school students. Before they enter the classroom, incoming G.R.E.A.T. instructors receive 40 or 80 hours of instruction based upon their classroom experience, skills and educational background. They also learn how to teach the G.R.E.A.T. Families component.

History of G.R.E.A.T.

The G.R.E.A.T. Program was developed in 1991 through the collaboration of ATF and the Phoenix Police Department. The program began as an eight-lesson, middle school curriculum and trained its first G.R.E.A.T. law enforcement officers in early 1992. Six years later (1998), four law enforcement agencies were added to assist in the administration of the program: La Crosse (Wis.) Police Department; Orange County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office; Philadelphia Police Department; and Portland (Ore.) Police Bureau. In 2004, by an act of Congress, administration of the G.R.E.A.T. Program transferred from ATF to the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), at the Department of Justice. In October 2004, BJA awarded a grant to the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) to provide national training coordination services and related tasks.

Currently, the G.R.E.A.T. Program has four regions and training sites: Southeast – Nashville (Tenn.) Police Department; Midwest Atlantic – La Crosse (Wis.) Police Department; Western – Portland (Ore.) Police Bureau; and Southwest – Phoenix Police Department.

The National Policy Board (NPB) is the governing body of the national G.R.E.A.T. Program. Chief executive officers from ATF and the other federal partners and law enforcement agencies listed above constitute the NPB, whose chair rotates each year.

G.R.E.A.T. Program Statistics

Since its inception in 1991, G.R.E.A.T. has graduated more than 6 million students. It has certified as G.R.E.A.T. instructors more than 12,500 law enforcement officers and professionals from 2,543 agencies.

Fiscal year 2011 statistics for the G.R.E.A.T. Program are as follows:

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