Youth Services Section

NEW THIS SUMMER!

Youth services launches Community Athletic Program

The Howard County police youth services section launched a new program this summer to encourage constructive activities for young people. The mobile Community Athletic Program, or CAP, consists of a traveling trailer filled with sports gear, games and video game equipment and is staffed by school resource officers and other youth services officers.

The concept is for police to engage with at-risk youth in areas where young people congregate during the summer months.

"The CAP will be deployed to neighborhoods where youth gather – usually unsupervised – and offer productive drop-in activities with an aim to deter crime and potential gang involvement," Lt. Jim Marshall, who heads the youth division, said. "As an added benefit, the program will foster positive relationships between young people and police."

The CAP will differ from the unstaffed open space and sports facilities throughout the county. It will provide positive options

for youth in their own neighborhoods – and in locations where crime tends to increase in the summer, including near shopping

centers, apartment complexes, foot paths and tot lots – under the supervision of police and on a drop-in basis.

The CAP's prevention/intervention model will target middle- and high-school-aged youth who do not yet have transportation but are too old for traditional, supervised summer activities. The trailer will be deployed during weeks when youth services

does not have other activities scheduled, such as the Youth Police Academy and Camp Bear Trax.

It will visit a different neighborhood each day of the week and then return to that neighborhood on the same day in subsequent weeks.

"The program will also better utilize school resource officers by deploying them to work with youth throughout the summer," Marshall said. During past summers, SROs had been assigned throughout the agency while school was out of session.

The CAP will be integrated into the agency’s multifaceted crime-fighting and anti-gang strategy. It is estimated there are 300 gang members who live, work or pass through the county on a daily basis, and more than 70 percent of county high schools report

some degree of gang activity in the schools. Through a wide range of efforts, including youth outreach, the HCPD is making strides in deterring gangs from taking a foothold in the county.

Funding for the mobile CAP is provided by an anti-gang grant from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Visit the CAP

MONDAYS at East Columbia Library
TUESDAYS at Savage Park
WEDNESDAYS at Wilde Lake Middle
THURSDAYS at Centennial Park North
FRIDAYS at Harper's Choice Middle

HOURS 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

NOTE The CAP will not be in service the weeks of July 13-17 and July 27-31.

MORE YOUTH SERVICES PROGRAMS & OFFERINGS

The youth services section is responsible for providing intervention, prevention and enforcement services for youth through a variety of programs, including the Bear Trax program, Explorer Post 1952, after-school program, diversion/first offender program and the investigation of runaway reports.

The section is the clearinghouse for all juvenile arrest reports and civil citations and serves as the liaison with the Department of Juvenile Justice. The section also assists patrol officers and detectives with case coordination and preparation.

Each year, the section hosts the Bear Trax Summer Camp for disadvantaged children ages 10 and 11. The staff also participates in the BearTrax Holiday Party, which serves 54 children ranging in age from five to 10 years old.

One officer from the section is the adviser to Explorer Post 1952. The Explorer Post is set up as an introduction for youth to all phases of law enforcement.

The after-school program is a collaborative effort between the police department and the Departments of Education, Recreation and Parks, Health and the Office of Substance Abuse. The program is designed to provide 40 elementary and middle school students, ranging in age from four to 8, with positive, supervised programs during the high-risk after-school hours. The program includes tutoring, a recreation program and a social skills component designed to teach the students problem-solving, anger management, conflict resolution and decision-making skills.

The diversion/first offender program is designed to address the needs of juveniles who are identified as status offenders (non-criminals) or minor first-time offenders. An intervention plan is developed for each youth and his or her family. In 2002, the program was awarded with the Governor’s Crime Prevention Award as one of the outstanding proactive crime prevention programs in Maryland.

The section also handles all runaway investigations reported in the county and assists outside agencies with locating runaways from other jurisdictions.