Delinquency Prevention Program
The Delinquency Prevention program will continue as a collaborative relationship between Eleven (11) non-profit agencies providing services within the Weed and Seed target area to create a streamlined systematic approach to care for individuals living in these neighborhoods. This approach will include a model of community support including outreach, identification of need, access to services for individuals and families in the target area. Each agency will provide specific services outlined in this proposal which will result in minimization of service duplication, increased access to care for everyone in need consequently increasing the self-sufficiency of people living in the Weed and Seed area.
The following is a list of initiatives that this collaboration will focus on:
1.) Parenting and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs – Parenting skills training for parents to increase their ability
to provide a nurturing environment for their children. This program also includes an activities program for children of all ages geared
towards developing healthy choices related to social interactions including teen pregnancy prevention activities for youth over the age of
13 years.
2.) Family Enrichment Programs – Family counseling focusing on development of healthy relationships between families
to decrease violence, neglect and other stressors related to family dynamics. This program focus’s on encouraging two parent households while also working with single parent households on developing health relationships between parents to increase the ability of these parents in taking an
active role in the upbringing of their children.
3.) Second Step – Provides formula, clothing and diapers to children up to age 1 year. This program will be extended for the target area to participants in the project to provide these services until age three based upon participation in other dimensions of the program.
4.) Housing Programs – Provides housing counseling for people who wish to improve their housing conditions through homeownership. These programs include pre and post purchase counseling and mortgage assistance programs. Initiatives under this program will
allow participants in the target area to apply for financial assistance.
5.) After School Programs/Summer/Recreational Activities – Tutoring, mentoring, peer advocates and recreational activities for children at neighborhood locations providing service in conjunction with educational systems immediately following school and during the summer months.
7.) Supportive Services – Educational programs to strengthen self help skills of people living in shelters and transitional housing programs.
8.) Prevention Programs – Prevention programs for youth including tobacco, alcohol and sexual disease transmission.
The following is a brief description of the agencies and their roles.
Collaborative Agency Descriptions and Services:
St. Martin Center, Inc.
St. Martin Center, Inc. will administer the the program for the City of Erie as a subcontractor. The center has a wide variety of
organization capabilities managed by a qualified and dedicated team of staff. The following paragraphs will outline the credentials
and qualifications of all staff members included in this project by both the administering and contractual agencies.
Cheryl Kobel has been the Executive Director at St. Martin Center since October 1985. Cheryl has over 24years experience managing all administrative and operational functions of St. Martin Center including: program development, planning implementation and outcome
evaluation, developing and coordinating all policies and procedures governing St. Martin Center, hiring, supervising, and training
over 55 employees on three sites, securing funding, coordinate all corporate communications, monitoring a $2 million dollar operation
budget, managing program services, organizing and coordinating an HIV/AIDS program, liaison to federal, state, and local government sources.
Prior to becoming the Executive Director, Cheryl worked as the Social Service Administrator of St. Martin Center from 1981 to 1985. In
addition to her work at St. Martin Center, Cheryl is a member of: the National Association of Social Workers, the Homeless Impact Committee
of Erie County, Kiwanis Club of Erie, a board member on the Second Harvest Food Bank, the Erie County Public Assistance Office, and Better
Homes of Erie, she is the Treasurer of the Parade Street Redevelopment Project, and a committee member of Northwestern Pennsylvania
HIV/AIDS Coalition.
In addition to grant administration, St. Martin Center provided the following services in 2007:
- Emergency Food Assistance
- Emergency Financial Assistance (energy bills, mortgages and rent)
- Emergency Prescription Assistance
- Money Management (basic budgeting)
- Work Readiness (financial assistance for identification necessary clearances, uniforms, safety gear, transportation)
- Nutrition education
- Housing counseling for families and individuals who wish to improve their housing conditions through homeownership
- Thrift Stores for inexpensive clothing and home furnishings
- Case Management Services
A.R.I.S.E. Inc.
A.R.I.S.E Inc. is a faith based non-profit agency providing leadership, academic enrichment, youth fitness, and personal
development programming to target area residents, especially youth.
The mentor program will be the focus providing referral services, individuals tutoring for children, family empowerment programs
and juvenile delinquency reduction programs for children. The program will also facilitate connection of service to collaborative
programs. The following is a detailed description of services provided:
- Family empowerment programs
- Tutoring programs
- Computer training
- Recreational programs
Catholic Charities Counseling and Adoption Services
Catholic Charities Counseling and Adoption Services, originally established in 1953 as social service agency now provides a variety
of social services including parenting courses, family enrichment programs, individual, group and family counseling, adoption and foster
care placement and emergency food clothing and diapers to children in need below one year of age.
Catholic Charities Counseling and Adoption Services is accredited by the Council on Accreditation. Counseling and Adoption Services
provided the following necessary family, children, and parenting education and counseling programs:
- Project WIN support to further education opportunity and/or job training
- Assistance in helping people access community health resources
- Parenting and family enrichment courses
- Direct service, educational materials and counseling from Project WIN
- Substance abuse and/or mental health services
- Pregnancy counseling
Erie County Juvenile Probation
Will offer a delinquency prevention program to provide youth sentenced to probation to work in various community orientated activities
as volunteers to earn restitution for fines that they have been assessed by the courts.
Youth will also participate in competency development and skills enrichment groups. Youth will residences within the target area will
be selected to participate in reimbursing victims of the target area first.
Hispanic American Council
The Hispanic American Council of Erie (HACE) was incorporated in 1975 to promote the well-being of the Hispanic community, both economically
and socially. While ancillary services and funding sources have changed over the years, core services have always included employment
preparation and job search, educational classes, and information and referral regarding community resources.
In 1998, the Hispanic American Council of Erie added programming to serve the needs of the refugee community. Services to these
combined Latino and refugee populations presently include education classes, training opportunities, employment preparation and job
search, transportation and daycare, outreach and preventative education for drug and alcohol, HIV & STD’s, interpretation,
case management, immigration counseling and tobacco addiction.
The Hispanic American Council of Erie proposes to offer a tutoring program for youth from the ages of 12 to 20. This tutoring will take
place at the HACE location at 554 East 10th St. weekdays from 3:00 to 5:30 daily. The program will utilize volunteers from Gannon’s
Honors Program, from Mercyhurst College Community Services Program and other volunteers from local churches and the community.
All volunteers will receive training on working with limited English speaking youth, some background information, rules and procedures
for volunteers. The tutors will assist the youth with their homework and attaining the skills so that they can achieve success in the classroom. There will no transportation to the program but the program will offer transportation home.
Nurturing Hearts, Inc.
Nurturing Hearts, a social service provider located in Erie, Pa intends to submit an application to do a truancy reduction project.
Nurturing Hearts is a non-profit, 501c3 organization, whose mission is to empower girls, ages 10-18, to have productive futures through
holistic, gender-specific programs, education and experiences.
The project will be a locally focused model that provides truancy reduction supportive services to adolescents from the city of Erie, with
an emphasis on the Weed and Seed target area schools. The project will be focused upon addressing the increasing truancy related issues of adolescent female between the ages of 10 through 18. Nurturing Hearts will be expanding its current services to include females and their families
referred by agencies, schools, and the courts for prevention programs aimed at truancy related issues.
Nurturing Hearts intends to use a Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment based model to achieve the three identified Truancy reduction objectives:
- Reduce the factors leading to truancy among clients
- Increase program participants conformance with the recommended educational classes and daily schedules
- Increase the educational attainment of the participants by providing additional supportive services
- Maintain educational schedules for six month after completing the program
- Identify affordable medical, insurance, and health related services for clients and their families.
These services include both an individual approach, through in-home visits provided by care manager and staff, and a group approach, which
are both vital keys to our programming success. Group settings are wonderful opportunities for youth, especially females to peers others who
are facing similar challenges, get help with homework, learn life skills, discover their unique talents, and have fun.
Sisters of Saint Joseph Neighborhood Network
The SSJ Neighborhood Network began in January 2000 with the goal of working in a specified area of Erie with residents and the community
to bring about neighborhood revitalization and a sense of community ownership. Strategies to accomplish this include:
- Mobilizing local leadership
- Providing a focus for self-help initiatives
- Earning the trust of neighborhood residents
- Partnering with the broader community leadership
The mentor program will be an expansion of the basic life skills program, which will be the focus of this collaboration are outreach and
referral services, individuals tutoring for children, weekly soup kitchen, family empowerment programs and sewing and knitting programs
for children. The program will also facilitate connection of service to collaborative programs. The following is a detailed description
of services provided during this quarter:
- Weekly soup kitchen
- Family empowerment programs
- Tutoring programs
- Computer training
- Cooking classes were
- Recreational programs
Booker T. Washington Center
Founded in 1923 by a group of concerned citizens interested in the welfare of the minorities and felt the urgent need to create a
community center in Erie, Pennsylvania and on January 2, of that year created an organization to achieve that goal. The Booker T.
Washington Center strives to improve the conditions for work, play, study, health and living in the Erie community and to work with
other agencies whose goals and objectives are consistent with those of our organization.
The Sumer of Success program, will provide structured educational enrichment youth and recreational programs to youth within the Weed and Seed target area for a seven week summer program.
Kids Cares Thrive Inc.
Kids Care Thrive, Inc . is a faith based non-profit agency providing leadership, academic enrichment, and personal development programming
to target area residents, especially youth ages 8 to 18 years old.
The after-school mentoring program provides positive options for youth. It builds healthy citizens, equipping both youth and the neighborhoods they serve with healthy assets. Through this program we will be connecting neighbors, forming community relationships and raising awareness, responsibility and accountability for one another. Participants will have opportunities to build memories and experiences that will help them believe in themselves, in God, and show that they have a place in the community we are assisting neighborhoods and beautifying their community.
The students who participate in extracurricular activities have better grades, feel greater attachment to school, have lower truancy rates
and reach higher levels of achievement in college, as documented by a 17 year study that followed 1,800 sixth graders in 10 Michigan schools through high school and college. (Extra Benefits Tied to Extracurriculars, Education Week, October 2000)
The mission of the program includes providing a tool that breaks the negative cycle of poverty, crime and victimization. Working with
both adult and youth mentors, the program provides options and opportunities for youth to view life from a positive viewpoint.
Trinity Center
The Trinity Center, is a youth based non-profit agency serving the needs of the youth of the Weed and Seed target area. Trinity
Center provides a multitude of educational, social, recreational, and enrichment programs. The Sumer program, will provide structured
educational enrichment based youth and recreational programs to more than 200 youth within the Weed and Seed target area for a eleven week
summer program.
SNOOPS Neighborhood Watch
SNOOPS is a neighborhood based non-profit and watch group that serves the needs of the residents of the Weed and Seed target area. SNOOPS Small Home Emergency Repair program is designed to provide emergency support to low income, physically disabled, new home owners, and elderly residents who require emergency housing repairs when they are financially challenged.
The program is structured to offer financial assistance to repair and/or correct impeding safety or health hazards or threats of
physical danger and deteriorating structural damage
Program Outcomes
The intended program beneficiaries are those individuals living within the Weed and Seed target, which do not access services related
healthy nutrition and diet, health and home hygiene, parenting courses, family enrichment programs, housing counseling and money management.
Those living in The Weed and Seed target area are among the poorest in the city of Erie with 25.8% of individuals and 32.4% of children living
at or below poverty level.
The Delinquency Prevention programs will impact the community by providing access to target area residents geared towards increases in positive activities and educational opportunities for children, increased opportunity for family enrichment, increased home ownership opportunities, summer recreation and education for target area youth and continued focus by law enforcement and neighborhood watch groups on crime reduction and enforcement. The combined efforts of the eleven agencies involved in this project will decrease reliance on emergency services and refocus on building self sufficiency.
Participants will begin to empower themselves through employment or by continuing education, will accumulate wealth through homeownership,
and begin to care and take responsibility in revitalization efforts in their community.
Description of how the proposal will likely directly impact goals and strategies of the Target Area’s existing Weed and Seed
revitalization plan. The goal of this project is to increase the self sufficiency of families living within the Weed and Seed target area
and decrease their reliance on “easy fixes” rather than permanent solutions to their problems. The projected outcomes of this
project are included in the following section.
The project will assist individuals to increase their ability to conduct long range life planning including healthy choices related to nutrition, family dynamics, and access to medical care, money management, employment and hygiene. By increasing skill levels and understanding in these crucial life skill areas, it is expected that the following Weed and Seed initiatives at the city, county, state level will be addressed:
1. Decrease in reliance on emergency financial programs
2. Increased neighborhood owner occupied home ownership
3. Decrease in unemployment
4. Decrease in obesity
5. Increased involvement with health care providers
6. Decrease in high school drop out rates
7. Increase in educational opportunities available to families
8. Decrease in illness related to lack of medical intervention
or dietary issues.
9. Increase in the number of children participating in after
school programs
10. Decrease in family violence and child neglect
11. Increased access to substance abuse and mental health
counseling
12. Decrease in teen pregnancy
13. Decrease in sexually transmitted diseases
14. Decrease in juvenile related crimes including vandalism,
noise ordinance violations and disorderly conduct
15. Decrease in juvenile substance abuse including tobacco,
drugs and alcohol
Useful Links
- Weeding Initiatives
- Seeding Initiatives
- Restoration Initiatives
- Law Enforcement Tips
- Get Involved
- Target Neighborhoods
- Proj. Safe Neighborhood
- Event Calendar
- In the Press
- Silent Complaint Form
The Strategy
Weed and Seed, a community-based strategy sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), is an innovative, comprehensive multiagency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization. Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) oversees the Weed and Seed initiative.
