$1 Million Grant From the Department of Justice Will Support Newark Community Street Team’s Work with the Newark Opportunity Youth Network

Newark – The Newark Community Street Team (NCST) was awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a highly competitive STOP School Violence Program award. With this funding, NCST will partner with the Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) to hire and deploy a team of Training and Interventionist Navigators (TIN) in NOYN’s charter school to serve opportunity youth, young people ages 16-24 who are not in school and not working, as well as support school staff in their work. This award comes on the heels of the announcement of a $2 million grant to NCST for its High Risk Intervention street team work to focus on preventing incidents from escalating to violence in Newark’s wards.

WIth the award of this grant, NCST will be able to hire new staff, as well as provide mental health first aid training, school climate assessment and planning and activities, as well as in-depth violence prevention and intervention in partnership with NOYN.

“Thanks to this funding, we expect TINs to be working in the schools by mid-2023. They will identify students at risk, create a safety plan and refer students to NCST’s Trauma Recovery Center if needed,” said Solomon Middleton-Williams, NCST’s Deputy Director. “They will also be able assign a trained peer support student to assist with creating a sense of safety for the students.”

The TIN aspect of the program is uniquely designed and positioned to adapt to the needs of the NOYN community. Building on the efforts and successes of NOYN’s current school safety processes, NCST will support their overall school safety strategy by providing its own expertise in outreach, intervention, and trauma informed work.

“Through the YouthBuild process, which all of our schools and programs implement, students can chart a new path to success, surrounded by a supportive community committed to developing skilled leaders for the local workforce,” said Robert Clark, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NOYN. “Our partnership with NCST will further strengthen this model and help empower even more young people to transform themselves, their families, and their communities.”

NCST is considered a national model for Community Violence Intervention (CVI) organizations and has contracted with the State of New Jersey to assist other organizations with capacity building. NCST has helped launch a national organization to assist CVI organizations across the country and continues to engage in community-based, trauma-informed high-risk intervention, mediating ongoing disputes that may result in violence and preventing retaliation. NCST also offers community members mental health services through its Trauma Recovery Center, provides nuanced care to community members via its Overdose Response Team, and promotes safe and healthy continuums of care for students in the neighborhoods it serves through its Safe Passage Program.

About Newark Opportunity Youth Network 

Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) launched in 2016 after over a decade of work as YouthBuild Newark, an affiliate of YouthBuild USA, to provide young people ages 16-to-24 years old with an opportunity to earn a GED while gaining on-the-job training through community building projects. Robert Clark, Founder and Executive director, made history as the first YouthBuild graduate to found a YouthBuild program in a major city, and his visionary leadership has led to years of successful community building throughout New Jersey as well as collaborations with local and national Community-Based Organizations (CBOs). https://www.newark-oyn.org/

About the Newark Community Street Team

The Newark Community Street Team is the community violence intervention organization in Newark, New Jersey.  NCST specializes in resolving relationship-based disputes toward a peaceful outcome. NCST coordinates efforts with partners, including city agencies, service providers, policy organization, and more in order to improve the quality of life of citizens in the City of Newark.  NCST draws upon an evidence-based, trauma informed approach to violence reduction. https://www.newarkcommunitystreetteam.org/

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