Developing and implementing a Block Parent program

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Abstract

Neighborhoods can become safer places for children and adolescents when parents and volunteers work together with local law enforcement and educational agencies. Volunteers — even the homebound elderly — can serve as block parents, providing safe haven to youth in crisis situations, even if they do not have children of their own. This effective practice was adapted from the book, Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods: Stopping Crime Where You Live by Stephanie Mann.

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Issue

Making neighborhoods safer in an unsafe time takes collaboration and creativity.

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Action

According to the book, Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods, steps to take when developing and implementing a Block Parent program include:

  • Form a Child Safety Committee with other like-minded parents or volunteers.
  • Check with local police or the school district to see if they can connect you to an existing Block Parent program or help you get started forming your own.
  • Develop and distribute a fact sheet explaining the program to local schools and for other marketing purposes.
  • Use school newsletters or local newspapers to announce where and when your Committee will be registering block parents.
  • Recruit block parents beyond a particular neighborhood, because children often pass through other neighborhoods on their way to school, and during other activities.
  • Block parents can be recruited through:
    • Neighborhood associations
    • Civic organizations
    • School-based parent groups (such as the P.T.A.)
    • Kindergarten or elementary school
    • County or street fair
  • During the registration event, be sure to get the name, address, phone number, date of birth, and drivers' license number from potential block parents. Let people know they will need to be cleared through a background check.
  • Work with local police so that they can do the background clearance. Although police cannot share a person's criminal history with the public, they will be able to let you know if someone is deemed satisfactory as a block parent.
  • Alternatively, have individual block parent volunteers get their own clearance letters (for a fee) from the police department.
  • In neighborhoods where most of the adults are working, the safety committee can try to recruit neighbors who have home businesses, or those who are retired or homebound, whether or not they have children of their own.
  • Length of service for a block parent varies. Some parents serve for the length of a school year, while others with several young children might volunteer to serve longer.
  • Provide guidelines for block parents. (Refer to the book: Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods by Stephanie Mann for sample guidelines.)
  • Have window signs and decals printed for block parents to place visibly in their windows or doors.
  • Educate children about the Block Parent concept:
    • Plan a party in the neighborhood
    • Make short presentations in the classroom or at student assemblies
    • Have block parents sponsor an open house

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Context

A block parent is someone who has promised in advance to assist children and adolescents who come to their door in need of assistance. A short-term, provisional guardian, a block parent takes care of a child until parents or police are notified and arrive.

Children might make contact with a block parent if they become lost, have witnessed a crime, been approached by a suspicious stranger, harassed by adolescents, or if they are caught in extreme weather.

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Citation

Mann, Stephanie and M. C. Blakeman. Safe Homes, Safe Neighborhoods: Stopping Crime Where You Live. Berkeley, CA: Nolo Press, 1993.

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Outcome

The Block Parent program can help make neighborhood children safer, regardless of whether they seek out adults in this capacity, because signs alone (much as "Neighborhood Watch" signs) work to deter kidnappers and others who would do harm to children.

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Posted On

December 7, 2005

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