For over three years, the Prevent Delinquency Project has been at the forefront of helping parents in Westchester County, New York, protect their children from harm. Through the F.A.M.I.L.Y. Model of Parental Supervision and Child Threat, an information service for parents, the Prevent Delinquency Project was one of the first organizations in the county to teach parents about the threats their children face, including gangs, drugs, reckless sexual practices, violence, and the Internet. Recent meetings with PTA groups in the elementary and middle schools in Peekskill, New York, for example, addressed all of these threats, and showed parents actual gang insignia, drug paraphernalia, street weapons, and online chat rooms containing inappropriate teen profiles, to assist them in recognizing when their children may be heading for trouble. Additionally, parents learned a simple and effective method of supervising and guiding their kids.
Now, with the assistance of Sandra Garcia, a Family Services of Westchester coordinator who organized the event, the Prevent Delinquency Project has reached out to the too-often neglected Latino community. On May 5, 2006, the Prevent Delinquency Project, represented by its founder, Carl A. Bartol, and Police Officer Leo Dylewski, met with a group of concerned parents at the Neighbors Link Center in Mount Kisco, New York. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Parents expressed a sincere interest in learning about the threats to their children, actively engaged the presenters, and discussed working together, in keeping kids safe.
Future meetings are already in the works at the Neighbors Link Center and other locations in Tarrytown and Port Chester, New York. In addition, the Prevent Delinquency Project is in the final stages of completing G.I.M.M.I.E., an innovative new gang resistance program aimed at elementary school children, and organizing Westchester County's first-ever Parent Summit.
