ACYF-IM-94-10 4/10/94

ACF Administration for Children and Families	U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Administration for Children, Youth and Families
	1. Log No.: ACYF-IM-94-10	2. Issuance Date: 4/10/94
	3. Originating Office: Children's Bureau
	4. Key Word: Family Preservation and Family Support Services and The Department of Juvenile Justice's Weed and Seed and Families Program

INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

TO: State Agencies Administering the Title IV-B Child and Family Services Program

SUBJECT: Family Preservation and Family Support Services and the Department of Justice's Weed and Seed Program

PURPOSE: The purpose of this memorandum is to provide updated information on the Department of Justice's Weed and Seed Program. This information may be helpful to State and local child welfare agencies as they carry out the planning, coordination, and consultation activities under the new Family Preservation and Family Support Services legislation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE WEED AND SEED PROGRAM

Background

STRATEGY: The Weed and Seed program, initiated in FY 1991 by the Department of Justice, is a focused, comprehensive effort to revitalize high-crime low-income neighborhoods. The goal is to "weed out" violent crime, drug use, and gang activity from selected neighborhoods, and then to help prevent crime from recurring by "seeding" those sites with a wide range of public and private efforts to empower and develop them.

The Weed and Seed strategy involves four basic elements:

law enforcement efforts;
community policing;
prevention, early intervention, and treatment; and
neighborhood revitalization.

It emphasizes:

The importance of community involvement, both in terms of community policing and the development of social service and community revitalization needs and solutions;
the importance of improved coordination among all levels of government, the community, and the private sector in dealing with the problems of targeted communities;
the importance of coordinating law enforcement and neighborhood revitalization so that each reinforces the other; and
the role of the U.S. Attorneys as coordinators of this effort, using their many contacts in law enforcement, government, and social services.

Number of Cities Participating

Currently, 21 cities are demonstration sites, an additional ten cities are "officially recognized" sites, and about 40 cities are awaiting official recognition. (See Attachment 1).

Funding

Funding for this program comes from three sources. The Department of Justice's Appropriation Act for FY 1994 provides over $13 million; the Attorney General has made $10 million in discretionary funds available; and $8 million is contributed from asset forfeiture funds.

The Department of Justice recently solicited applications for continuation funding as well as funding for approximately ten new demonstrations.

These new sites will be selected from among those cities which are "officially recognized" and those which have applied for official recognition.

A basic site amount of up to $750,000 will be made both to continuation and to new grantees. The majority of these funds must be pledged to seeding activities.

Training and technical assistance will be available to all sites.

RELATION TO FAMILY SUPPORT AND FAMILY PRESERVATION:

Family Preservation and Support Services and the Weed and Seed programs share common approaches and goals. Both efforts seek to:

protect, strengthen, and help improve the lives of vulnerable children and families;
target efforts on low-income communities whose residents have multiple needs;
involve community residents in the overall plan for the activities that will be under taken to revitalize the community;
involve community residents in the selection, design and operation of the specific services to meet community needs e.g., services that are culturally relevant, easily accessed, and familyfocused;
utilize coordination and collaboration in their planning processes leading to more comprehensive, integrated services in the community; and
seek to identify and coordinate resources available for services to avoid duplications.

We encourage State and local agencies to include representatives of the local Weed and Seed effort in their planning for family preservation and family support services. Attachment 2 is a list of contact persons in each of the demonstration and officially recognized sites.

Inquiries to: Terrence S. Donahue
Assistant Director
Executive Office for Weed and Seed
1001 G Street, N.W.
Suite 810
Washington, D.C. 20001
(202) 616-1152

Olivia A. Golden
Commissioner

Attachments

Attachment 1: List of Weed and Seed sites
Attachment 2: List of contacts in each site