The Gang Intervention Partnership Model

Key Principles
♦ Gang/Crew violence is Preventable: Staff operate with the belief that all parents want what is best for
their children and all neighbors want to live in a safe and healthy environment
♦ The work requires Partnerships: Collective responsibility is required from public agencies (police, child
welfare agencies, etc.), community-based organizations, neighborhood leaders, victims, and even
aggressors.
♦ The work requires Critical Incident Intervention: Partners must immediately and strategically
intervene in violent critical incidents in order to prevent retaliation, building in preventive supports for
larger at-risk youth populations and using incidents as a transformative opportunity to disengage young
people from violence.

An Ecological Approach to Youth Violence

Youth and their families can be engaged at multiple prevention and intervention points through the GIP
Model. At a primary prevention level, partner organizations provide educational programming, job readiness
training and placement, and other positive youth development activities. Other partners conduct
targeted outreach in predetermined community hot spots to monitor and prevent violent incidents while
also engaging youth at risk with the hope of involving them in other programming. Partner staff members
also engage young people and their families during strategic and structured responses to critical
incidents. They enroll youth
and their families in case
Law
management services to Enforcement
provide intensive wrap around
support and prevent Juvenile Justice Youth Serving
retaliation. System Organizations

Gang- and crew-involved

youth and their families are Family
often part of a much larger
web of systems and Child Welfare School
organizations. The GIP Model System Gang or Crew
relies on the positive Involved
involvement and engagement Youth
of each of the different
members of this web, weaving
together a network of support Recreation Peers
for the youth, and their Centers
families. Law enforcement and
government agencies, Community
community organizations, the
youth and the youth’s family
are all key stakeholders in
preventing and intervening in
youth violence.

Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative * www.chsfsc.org * 202-518-6737

GIP Strategic Partnerships

Specific partners are engaged to accomplish different components of the GIP Model. Several examples
are listed in the table below:
Partner Group Example representative in Role
the District of Columbia
All Community-based Provider Staff Collaboratives, Metropolitan Provide gang awareness programs for
Police Department parents, churches, neighborhood/tenant
associations
Community Based Provider Latin American Youth Monitor hot spots, initial engagement of
Outreach Staff Center youth at street level, critical incident
response
Community-based Provider Social Columbia Heights/Shaw Understand the family/sibling situation;
Workers and other Family Support provide ongoing family support
Collaboratives
Juvenile and Criminal Justice CSOSA, Department of Re-entry and release planning,
System, courts etc. Youth Rehabilitation involving partners in supportive
Services handling of cases
Local Law Enforcement Metropolitan Police Critical incident response, conflict
Department mapping of incidents,
education/awareness events
School Staff Columbia Heights Understanding and reporting on school
Education Campus conditions and conflicts, referring youth
Many other agencies and organizations are involved that are not represented above.

Day-to-Day Operations

In addition to their traditional day-to-day roles, all partners commit to conduct specific ongoing activities and
to regularly share information with other partners in the GIP Model. For example, outreach workers monitor
designated community hot spots and schools on a daily basis, regularly speaking with youth and school
staff. Case managers (also known as family support workers) conduct home visits to engage youth and
their families, connect families with needed resources, coordinate and facilitate Family Group Conferences,
and when needed provide specific violence related supports such as burial assistance, relocation services,
and crime victim’s compensation. Additionally, partners host parent workshops, staff trainings, community
events and other engagement activities to regularly educate all community members about gang and crew
related youth violence and prevention techniques.

On a weekly basis, select GIP partners meet to coordinate efforts, develop an ongoing strategy, and define
hot spots for increased intervention and targeted outreach. A strict code of confidentiality is observed by all
members. Law enforcement and community outreach workers maintain on-call 24 hour/seven day a week
coverage and responsiveness to all potential critical incidents. A critical incident meeting of all partners is
held within 24 hours of notification of any incident. A strict protocol (see attached) is followed for the
ongoing monitoring of involved parties and subsequent engagement of youth and their families. As
needed, gang-related graffiti is tracked and removed within 48 hours.

Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative * www.chsfsc.org * 202-518-6737