The Pittsburgh Division's model of the "Community Oriented Schools: Adopt a School" Initiative is a comprehensive and detailed program. It incorporates the resources of the United States Attorney's Office, Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee and the local District Attorney's Office (from the respective county in which the initiative has been implemented), other federal, state, county, and local law enforcement as well as a myriad of human service organizations/agencies, and businesses throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
1st Annual Pittsburgh Divsion "Adopt a School" Leadership Award 2001. Recipient: Pennsylvania State Representative Jane Claire Orie. Working with the Community
The initiative was implemented in the McKeesport School District (located in Allegheny County) in January of 1999. In less than three years time, it has expanded to approximately fifty schools across six counties of Western Pennsylvania and one county in West Virginia. Additionally, there are about two hundred and fifty agencies that have partnered in this endeavor with the Pittsburgh Division.
There are several components of the program that can be implemented in kindergarten through 12th grade. For instance, the student police academy offers over thirty subjects for the prospective schools to choose from and is conducted in sessions ranging from eight to thirty-six weeks. Instructors from all levels of law enforcement, human service agencies, and businesses are scheduled to teach classes in their area of expertise.
Shriners Hospital for Children: Monthly outreach clinics. Syria Shrine Temple Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania There are also specialized instructors for programs such as, "A Look at Safe Schools: Guns, Gangs, and Violence", which has lesson plans for teachers, parents and students, Community Oriented Policing, Conflict Resolution/Mediation, Cultural Diversity/Sensitivity, Mentoring, as well as the services of the ASSIST (Advancing School Safety Incorporating Strategies Together) Project.
The ASSIST Project provides for specially trained teams to offer all school districts the expertise to organize and convene multi-jurisdictional/disciplinary task forces, develop long range strategic plans, design crisis response protocol, incorporate crime prevention programs such as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Other components include governmental education sessions, school crime watch, crime stoppers, mentoring (role model and peer to peer), youth diversion, and career development in the law enforcement profession.
Pittsburgh Division assisted the Shriners at the annual circus The Initiative Model
This model provides proactive and consistent programming that is presented in such a manner that a constant presence of resources works with youth in the schools to assist in various aspects of their lives that place any/all students at risk. The extensive and comprehensive resource base of the partnership provides a multi-disciplinary approach that has the ability to simultaneously address a multitude of interrelated societal problems, including drugs, gangs, violence, dysfunctional families, while providing positive influences and role models.
The initiative explores new approaches to law enforcement rather than traditional methods of reaction, arrest and incarceration and begins to address the underlying problems that may lead a child into a life of crime. With this principle concept, the "Community Oriented Schools: Adopt A School" Initiative is one that may bring to fruition an alternate way of policing and building relationships. It enhances traditional methods while adding prevention, intervention and diversion programs that are proactive in nature. This philosophy embraces an all inclusive concept as the key to success in building strong communities and schools.
