COMMUNITY
Partners
The Institute on Race and Justice is affiliated with a number of organizations through representation on IRJ's community advisory board and a number of agencies through current or past collaboration hosting conferences or events around relevant social justice issues or initiatives.
- Disproportionate Minority Contact: A Focus on Juvenile Justice in Massachusetts
The Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston (BMA) is an alliance of over 80 churches of various denominations. As part of its mission, the BMA demonstrates its ability to create positive change in the Boston area.
The mission of the Higher Education Resource Center is to provide inner-city young people and their families with the tools necessary for overcoming hurdles to higher education by using the church as the setting and principal resources for this effort.
District B-2 is an outstanding example of the Police Department's community policing efforts. Through initiatives such as the Community-Based Juvenile Justice Project, the hiring of a Domestic Violence "Peace Liaison" specialist, and the bicycle patrol program, officers in District B-2 are working with the community to prevent crime.
The Boston Ten Point Coalition brings together African-American churches and clergy with the Boston Police and community-based organizations to fight gun and gang violence in Boston communities, as well as to help at risk youth. Under the Adopt-A-Gang program, city churches have agreed to keep their doors open and serve as drop-in centers to provide sanctuary for troubled youth. The Boston Ten-Point Coalition – Operation 2006 participated in Boston’s Operation Ceasefire neighborhood forums, at which youth were given zero tolerance messages and offered services. The Coalition also is linked to Boston’s strategy to prevent youth violence.
The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) is a nonprofit community-based planning and organizing entity based in the Roxbury/North Dorchester area of Boston. DSNI's approach to neighborhood revitalization is comprehensive (physical, environmental, economic and human). It was formed in 1984 when residents of the Dudley Street area came together out of fear and anger to revive their neighborhood that was nearly devastated by arson, disinvestment, neglect and redlining practices, and protect it from outside speculators. DSNI’s mission is: “To empower Dudley residents to organize, plan for, create and control a vibrant, diverse and high quality neighborhood in collaboration with community partners.”
The Ella J. Baker House is a non-profit, community-based organization that provides direct service to thousands of high-risk youth and their families by working and living “in the trenches” in Dorchester’s Four Corners neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Baker House has developed creative strategies and partnerships, through the practice of “doing what it takes” to serve the pressing needs of our neighbors and clients. Baker House combines a settlement-house-style community youth center with direct outreach in the streets, courts and correctional facilities, helping high-risk youth avoid violence, achieve literacy, and access jobs.
La Alianza Hispana (The Hispanic Alliance), founded in 1970, is a community based, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Latino self-determination, advocating for equal access to basic services, and combating the effects of poverty, discrimination and the stress of migration. La Alianza Hispana provides linguistically and culturally appropriate services primarily to the Latino community of greater Boston and also advocates for equal access to basic human services for all. We are a far-reaching, multi-service agency that offers universal supports such as job training, health and wellness clinics, assistance to families at risk, teen pregnancy prevention, and street youth outreach.
The efforts of Project RIGHT, Inc. focus on grassroots organizing and community development activities. Project RIGHT assists residents of the Roxbury / Grove Hall community by building the capacity of resident based organizations and supporting their organizing and civic activities. Through organizing direct action, advocacy, education, and coalition building, Project RIGHT promotes resident leadership and neighborhood stabilization.
Roxbury Community College is a co-educational public institution of higher education offering Associate Degrees and certificate programs. RCC's primary objective is to provide residents of the Commonwealth optimum opportunity for access to a college education.
Roxbury Defenders Unit, Committee for Public Counsel Services | |
A division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services Defender Unit that provides legal services of various types to indigent parties.
Collaboration with IRJ: - Disproportionate Minority Contact: A Focus on Juvenile Justice in Massachusetts
Solidarity Inc. is a non-profit, faith and community based organization created by the collaboration of Field's Corner Neighborhood Church, Viet-AID, Ella J. Baker House, and Youth Service Providers Network. Created in response to the high percentage of Asian American youths involved in gang violence, interracial violence and activity, Solidarity Inc. develops creative strategies and partnerships to serve the pressing needs of Asian refugee, immigrant neighbors and clients.
Established by the Committee for Public Counsel Services, the Youth Advocacy Project began in 1992 with a goal of protecting and advancing the legal and human rights of children and promoting their healthy development. YAP’s mission is based on two core beliefs: children, like adults, have human and legal rights. At the same time, children are different from adults. Physically, cognitively, emotionally, and psychologically they are works in progress – they require stability and protection to develop their capacities for intelligence, productivity, and empathy. We strive therefore to make the juvenile justice system in Massachusetts one in which children’s rights are respected and their potential for growth is nourished. It is in this way that the courts can facilitate the development of personal strengths and diminish the risk of recidivism in children. In working to actualize our mission, we have developed several complementary forms of advocacy.
Collaboration with IRJ: - Disproportionate Minority Confinement Report Release
Youth Opportunity Boston (YO) is a federally funded, job readiness program that will infuse a variety of educational, social, and recreational activities to help young people (14 – 21) prepare for the world of work and to further their education. YO Boston will coordinate services with community agencies, employers, educators, and other supporters of youth development. YO Boston is committed to creating and expanding youth programming in a way that will continue to meet the needs of our young people. Serving youth and families identified as having the most depressed living, health, work and educational opportunities in the city. Youth Opportunity Boston will provide creative outlets, help youth develop leadership, and foster a sense of empowerment that will expand their employment and educational bases.
- Ordinary People, Extraordinary Courage: Lessons from Bulgaria
- Assessing the Causes and Consequences of September 11th, 2001
The mission of CfJJ is to ensure public safety throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and improve our juvenile justice system through advocacy and public education. Comprised of diverse individuals and organizations, CfJJ operates on the philosophy that prevention, intervention, diversion and rehabilitation should be the mainstays of our juvenile justice system.
Collaboration with IRJ: - Disproportionate Minority Confinement Report Release
- Disproportionate Minority Contact: A Focus on Juvenile Justice in Massachusetts
The mission of the The Civil Rights Project (CRP) at Harvard University is to help renew the civil rights movement by bridging the worlds of ideas and action, and by becoming a preeminent source of intellectual capital and a forum for building consensus within that movement. In May, 2003, the Institute is co-sponsoring a conference with CRP on School-to-Prison Pipeline, in an effort to better understand how educational institutions can work in concert with community and public agencies to implement programs of intervention and prevention and to commission research that will explore how school policies and practices may be affecting the flow of certain students into the criminal justice system.
Collaboration with IRJ: - Reconstructing the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Charting Intervention Strategies of Prevention and Support for Minority Children
Dudley Outreach Workers Alliance / Roxbury Network | |
The Roxbury Network is sponsored through a collaborative effort with La Alianza Hispana and Health Care for All and is funded by the Annie Casey Foundation. The Network, which consists of approximately 30 Boston agencies that specialize in areas of education, criminal justice, youth services, and health care, meets on a monthly basis. The purpose of the Network is to form a coalition of agencies to share resources and information to provide better constituent services, identify community issues and needs, and advocate for community change. The Institute attends the Network's monthly meetings and reports on Institute projects and activities. The Network has also requested IRJ to facilitate a presentation to educate its member on the racial profiling study conducted by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety, in which the data are being analyzed by the IRJ.
Grove Hall Safe Neighborhood Initiative | |
The Grove Hall Safe Neighborhood Initiative is a collaborative effort between primary partners (Boston Police ?District B2, MassHousing, Project Right, Inc., community residents, and property management companies) to reduce crime, improve the quality of life, and to increase the efficiency of local criminal justice operations within the Grove Hall area. The Institute attends and occasionally facilitates regularly scheduled meetings and may assist with the development of a unified database through which common information on federal, state, and local agencies working to reduce crime can be accessed and shared. The Institute was also invited to participate in the planning and design team meetings for the development of the New Boston Pilot Middle School, currently being built at 270 Columbia Road in Dorchester and due to open in Fall 2003.
Grove Hall Youth Worker’s Alliance | |
The Grove Hall Youth Worker’s Alliance is a consortium of youth service provider agencies that meet on a monthly basis. Agencies include members from the field of education, criminal justice agencies, community-based organizations, and social service providers. The purpose of these meetings is to share information and resources, update community partners on relevant youth trends and topics, and form alliances and collaborative relationship with community partners. In this capacity, the Institute attends monthly scheduled meetings and updates members on Institute projects and activities. The Institute was also invited to participate in the planning and design team meetings for the development of the New Boston Pilot Middle School, currently being built at 270 Columbia Road in Dorchester and due to open in Fall 2003.
The mission of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) is to ensure equity in the administration of justice and in the provision of public service to all communities, and to serve as the conscience of law enforcement by being committed to justice by action. The goal of NOBLE is to be recognized as a highly competent public service organization that is at the forefront of providing solutions to law enforcement issues and concerns, as well as to the ever-changing needs of our communities.
Collaboration with IRJ: - Confronting Racial Profiling in the 21st Century: Implications for Racial Justice
The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is a national membership organization of progressive police executives from the largest city, county and state law enforcement agencies. PERF is dedicated to improving policing and advancing professionalism through research and involvement in public policy debate.
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