Dallas, Tx – Generous donors are enabling Youth Advocate Programs (YAP), Inc. to continue delivering Dallas CRED violence interruption services after April 28, 2023, when city funding for the program ends. As YAP anticipates a City of Dallas Request for Proposal (RFP) to sustain community public safety services, philanthropic support, including funding provided by the Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund, will allow Dallas CRED to carry on.
YAP launched Dallas CRED in May 2021 under a contract with the City of Dallas to include violence interrupters in its public safety strategy. The violence interruption approach was recommended as part of the Mayor’s Task Force on Safe Communities. Dallas CRED’s eight frontline workers have been serving four neighborhoods -- Webb Chapel Road and Lombardy Lane; Texas 12 Loop and North Jim Miller Road; Camp Wisdom Road and Gannon; and East Overton Road and Illinois Ave.
YAP data and Cure Violence Global tracking, implemented last year, found that from May – December of 2022, 100% of the individuals who received Dallas CRED services after engaging in a violent incident have not retaliated. Program leaders say during that time, the city saw an overall reduction of about 10 percent in violent crimes across the four Dallas CRED service areas. In addition to providing day-to-day services throughout the four neighborhoods, in that period, Dallas CRED interrupted 51 violent acts and provided services to 58 high-risk individuals with a recidivism rate of only 2.6% among justice system-involved individuals they served.
Since May 2022, Dallas CRED members have been responsible for 63 violence interruptions; worked closely with 75 of the city’s highest risk individuals on intensive, individualized service plans; and hosted 61 community events, including job fairs.
“As we seek support to maintain and strengthen this important work, we’re applying learnings from the past two years to ensure that we maximize the strengths of our small team to have an even greater impact,” said YAP National Director of Community Safety Fred Fogg. “Additionally, our hope is that Focused Deterrence approaches, like our Baltimore Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) individualized services work, will inform Dallas community-based public safety solutions as they evolve.”
Recognized by their orange shirts, Dallas CRED’s focus is identifying and providing individuals who meet criteria for being at the highest risk levels of being engaged in violence. These include people who have recently returned home from jail or prison or are otherwise justice system-involved; individuals who are gang-affiliated; and those who have recently lost someone to gun violence and at risk for retaliating. At the same time, the team works to help individuals throughout these neighborhoods see their strengths while connecting them with tools to help them put their lives on a positive course. Dallas CRED team members’ credibility comes from their personal stories, as they come from or live in the four neighborhoods and are giving back to their communities after overcoming life experiences similar to those of the individuals they serve.
YAP is a national nonprofit in 34 states and the District of Columbia that for 48 years has provided community-based services as an alternative to youth incarceration, residential care, and neighborhood violence. By combining this time-tested individual and family “YAPWrap” service model with the evidence-based Cure Violence Global violence interruption approach, the Dallas CRED team has connected some of the city’s most high-risk individuals with tools to make positive change.
“Dallas CRED should not be a transitional program, but part of a transformational public safety system where we continue to build on the rapport we’re establishing with city-wide, positive outcomes,” Fogg said. "The grant funding we received from CFT’s W.W. Caruth, Jr. Fund demonstrates the importance of support from diverse sectors uniting to sustain promising safety initiatives that empower individuals, families, and neighborhoods with tools to thrive.”
Learn more about YAP and how you can be involved at YAPInc.org and follow the nonprofit on Twitter @YAPInc.
About Communities Foundation of Texas
The mission of Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) is to improve the lives of all people in our community by investing in their health, wealth, living, and learning. CFT works to accomplish this by growing community giving, expanding community impact, and advancing community equity.
With a vision of building thriving communities for all, CFT works locally and across the state with many individuals, families, companies, foundations, and nonprofits through a variety of charitable funds and strategic grantmaking initiatives. CFT professionally manages more than 1,200 charitable funds and has awarded more than $2.5 billion in grants since its founding in 1953.
CFT is committed to serving and understanding donor needs, expertly handling complex gifts, wisely managing charitable funds, and leveraging its community knowledge to increase charitable impact, in addition to powering several initiatives including the W. W. Caruth, Jr. Fund at CFT, CFT for Business, Educate Texas at CFT, Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy at CFT, GiveWisely, and CFT’s North Texas Giving Day. CFT’s North Texas Giving Day raised over $62 million on a single day in 2022 to help over 3,200 North Texas nonprofits. Learn more at www.CFTexas.org.