The Impact of Violence on Children and Families

Violence has left deep scars across Pulaski County, touching children, parents, and entire neighborhoods. LaShanna Bruce and Deanna Walderns of the 100 Families Initiative sit down with Restore Hope's Paul Chapman to explain how the initiative helps families in crisis and offers real alternatives to a life of violence.

Chapters

• 0:00 Youth Violence Crisis in Communities
• 7:21 Trauma and Family Impacts
• 10:17 100 Families Initiative Explained
• 17:24 Group Violence Intervention (GVI) Approach
• 21:30 Signs of Hope for Communities

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I was able to go into the unit and really kind of talk to some of the youth. They can't even process really what they've actually done, so it's like how do we get them before the crime has been committed? It's hard and it's a cry for help. These families are asking what are we going to do? Gbi actually works.

Speaker 3: 0:22

Around the nation. Gun violence is destroying families and weakening communities, and it's becoming a leading cause of death for young people. We know that in nearly every city, only a small number of people are driving most of the violence. An approach called Group Violence Intervention, or GVI, identifies those individuals and engages with them directly, trying to offer them a way out before the violence occurs. It's not just about stopping the shootings. It's about building a community where everyone feels like they have a shot at hope. Hey, welcome to A Shot at Hope, a special edition of Smart Justice where we're talking about the impact of violence on communities and what we can do about it. And in this episode I'm joined by two friends who I've been working with for years in this community Deanna Walgreens and LaShonna Bruce, and so thanks so much for joining us for this episode. Lashonna and Deanna, why don't we just start with just a brief introduction about you know who you are and the kind of work you've been doing in this community?

Speaker 1: 1:22

Okay. So yeah, I'm LaShonna Bruce. Thank you for having me on your show, but I have been in this community forever, born and raised in Little Rock, arkansas, graduated from Central High School, started this work years ago working for a church here as a director of after school programming, and so I've been working with families for years, as well as with my church, because we have a local program at our church working with families. So when Paul started Restore Hope, I transitioned to this role, working with families. So just continuing this long life of direct service, helping families and getting to see the community in action and how programs help and resources help families here.

Speaker 3: 2:09

Deanna, you've been working for a long time also. You work for every Arkansan, for EA Families is what you call it.

Speaker 2: 2:15

Correct.

Speaker 3: 2:16

But before that you've had many years of service.

Speaker 2: 2:20

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 2:21

I got in here, let's see, 22 years ago from St Louis, missouri and kind of came into a whole other space that I hadn't seen before. And when I got here, in my own story, I am an adult adoptee from the foster care system, and so there was always this plaguing question of what happens if we got there before bad things happened, and in that that has led me to be an adoption and foster care trainer. I've been a pregnancy counselor and I've gone on to family preservation program that I ran through a previous organization and I met Drew Davis not long after I got here, in about 2000, 2003 to 2008. And I started serving right when he was still in a truck for the Arkansas Dream Center, and that's truly the space where I truly got into that missional aspect of serving others, and so this is now more years than I want to count and we're still doing the same thing, and now as my role as coordinator at 100 Families, Thank you both for the service that you're giving here in this community and the way that you're helping people.

Speaker 3: 3:58

I want to talk specifically in this episode. We're talking about the impact of violence on children and families in our community and and unfortunately Pulaski County is had a higher than than usual violence for a long time, and so in some, in some ways it you know that's it could be quite depressing, especially for the families that are victims of. But at this time now I think we've got an opportunity maybe to do better than we're currently doing or have done in the last little while. So let's talk about first, about how you've seen how violence is impacting the community and, specifically, maybe, the families that you're working with.

Speaker 1: 4:44

I think it's. The impact is number one, it's hard and it's a cry for help. The community is wanting help for not just the families as impacted but for the community as a whole, because it's scary. You know, violence isn't a pretty thing, it's scary. So the families that we are serving that are coming into, I would say, the 100 Families Initiative or just come in contact with in our local churches or in the workplace, these families are asking what are we going to do? What as a community? What are we going to do? Because no one is seeming to have that answer to really solve this problem, because the numbers are steady, growing and they're young. These are young, young people that are committing these crimes, and so the violence, what is it? Stemming from Mental health, lack of resources? What is it?

Speaker 3: 5:44

You worked for the Placid County Sheriff for a while and especially got to see the young people coming into the jail there who were charged with horrific crimes, horrific crimes, and they were 18 and younger.

Speaker 1: 6:01

We had a lot of youth that really that got me because I was able to go into the unit and really kind of talk to some of the youth. They can't even process really what they've actually done. So it's like how do we get them? Before the crime has been committed, what's going to stop them from committing that crime? Because they't really processing it and some of them, the way they are articulating the reasons, it's either for protection, protecting themselves, or because they've seen it, they've grown up in that and what else is there to do? And so it's like mentally they're not even capable of articulating or understanding the reason why they're committing these crimes. So for them to be able to see that or hear that, it's like something deeper, something deeper rooted and that comes from possibly their environment and then generationally. What is going on at home? What is taking place the home?

Speaker 3: 7:04

Deanna, let's talk specifics around some of the families that that have either, you know, been the perpetrators of crime or the victims of violent crime that you're seeing. What impact are you seeing, you know, both for the kids and the parents.

Speaker 2: 7:22

It's quite a landmine. That is what we're ending up seeing is because we're we're meeting with kids that are 12, 13, 14, 15 years old in some of our alternate learning schools and they're telling us that they've had a gun pulled on them six times in the last two weeks. Since we were there last and within my first six months, even being employed with both every arkanes and in the hunter families initiative, we lost two boys that were very near and dear. They had been, they had grown up in our Arkansas Dream Center and they were shot down overnight they were cousins over a stolen gun, but at the same time that same young man was in my office the week before telling me he had to protect his mom and that he was the only one there to do that.

Speaker 2: 8:27

And so it comes to generational trauma in those effects, because they genuinely feel the weight on themselves to be the proverbial man of the house, because many times there's not a dad involved or there's harm.

Speaker 2: 8:43

And even our mothers, even though they may look tough on the outside, many times they've gone through unspeakable traumas sexual violence, physical violence themselves, and haven't even it's been a cultural place where we don't talk about it, and so we just keep pushing on and we're just pushing through in this space of keeping, keeping secrets and pushing forward as though we're tough and we have it all together and and it's just it's. It's not truly what I'm seeing. And so we've got 13-year-olds spending the weekend boosting cars and mom knows, because they parked one of them in the backyard. You know, this is what we're seeing At the same time in these same spaces. Initially, in our mentorship with youth, we brought board games. Our children couldn't read the pieces. In our mentorship with youth, we brought board games. Our children couldn't read the pieces in there in high school and it was hard to see that, you know.

Speaker 3: 10:00

So you're both involved in this program that you've mentioned called 100 Families, 100 Families Initiative, and so let's talk for the viewers that don't know what that is. Give us an overview, and then I want you to give some examples of how folks are connecting through that initiative. So what's 100 Families?

Speaker 1: 10:19

So 100 Families. It's an initiative. You have 13 areas of social determinants. That a family is assessed in A care a family advocate actually assesses the family in these 13 areas of social determinants. That a family is assessed in A care a family advocate actually assesses the family in these 13 areas of social determinants and a care team is built around the families in these social determinants areas. These providers are already doing the work in the community and those providers are actually providing those resources for the families in need so it's just a.

Speaker 1: 10:48

It's a way to more efficiently kind of coordinate what I need absolutely and moving those families from crisis all the way to thriving and, ultimately, to a career all right.

Speaker 3: 10:59

so those, uh, those advocates many of those advocates uh work for you, and so they're onboarding folks after the assessment and building plans. Let's talk about some of the partners that are in the Pulaski County assessment. Who are you connecting families with?

Speaker 2: 11:18

Absolutely Utilizing the existing services in the community allows us greater impact to serve even more families, and so at a given afternoon I'm going to use Jessica, for example. So Jessica was one of our moms that came in through the Department of Children and Family Services. She had what we call a protective service case, which means she was able to keep her child with her, but had just enough of a need that there were some really issues that without some help she would lose her child, and so what we did there with Jessica is the first thing she needed, of course, is housing. So many times we're talking directly with housing authorities. We even have partners that, if they have a felony in their background or multiple evictions, we even have second chance renters that we've been able to partner with to help families get the housing they need, even though I will say in Pulaski County, that is one of our hardest areas to serve, it's just the sure thing.

Speaker 2: 12:27

Having housing in general, and so she would go on.

Speaker 2: 12:31

She had a pretty traumatic background herself, and so we were able to connect with our friends at Arkansas Relationship Counseling Center who was able to do counseling for her to help her heal from her own past, but also meet with her and her child for some family therapy, which allows them to progress and move forward together.

Speaker 2: 13:00

And so, in addition, we have numerous staffing agencies here too many to name that have been incredible partners, both with employment we work with workforce quite a bit, and so they help many times with job training services. And in Jessica's life she did want to move on. She actually wanted to move on to EMT school, and so in a pinch we even purchased her book for EMT school, because you're not going to miss your first day over a missing book. And so in her life we layered, we went to, we walk with her for many months, because typically a DCFS case can last up to 12 to 15 months, based on where we walk in. And so in her life, meeting month after month and putting partner after partner in place allowed her to not only be better as a parent, because she was healed herself, she also went on to graduate, and so she's officially an EMT now, which put her into-.

Speaker 3: 14:15

Case closed.

Speaker 2: 14:16

Case closed now, and that's the beautiful thing. It put her in a bracket that goes outside of that working poverty system, and we know it's gonna take about 18 to 20 dollars an hour to do so it's. It's that space where you don't you no longer qualify for any government benefits but you still don't quite make them enough to to actually be able to pay for them themselves, and so she has been thriving. Now it's been about six months since she graduated with us, and so that's just one example of how we're able to work together with partners in the community.

Speaker 3: 14:51

Okay. So what I'm hearing from you on 100 Families is you've got, you've got kind of all these partners that are going to work together in a new way. It makes sense to the makes more sense to the participant because they feel like they've got someone that's helping kind of navigate, not just out of the trouble to close maybe a child welfare case, but then on to maybe where they are in a situation where they're a lot less likely to catch another case in the future.

Speaker 2: 15:22

That's our hope.

Speaker 3: 15:22

To be in that kind of trouble. Let's talk specifically about how many families are we talking about, like right now, that are being served by this Alliance, this 100 Families Alliance in Pulaski County.

Speaker 2: 15:35

We're currently serving today 357 families currently active. Our advocates carry a caseload around 60 to 65 right now.

Speaker 3: 15:48

And an advocate's that person that helps navigate.

Speaker 2: 15:50

Correct, that's the family advocate and they get to walk with them from the start all the way to the end and they get their voice heard in that space, which helps them go along many of the other systems and help navigate that Backgrounds for those advocates.

Speaker 3: 16:10

What did they go? I mean, how do they qualify to be an advocate?

Speaker 2: 16:14

Many of our advocates have lived experience so their life qualified them. We have one of our advocates was a 30-year gang member. We have one of our advocates was a 30-year gang member and who better than to talk, to go into a school etc. To talk about gang violence? Not exactly, Not exactly the material I'm not always the right person in there.

Speaker 2: 16:41

We have other families who've gone through the child welfare experience themselves. They know what it is to sit in that seat and have their children removed. But they also know that space of navigating beyond that, working their case plan and actually having their family put back together.

Speaker 3: 17:07

Sometimes it's not a straight line, or a perfect scenario, but they walk that journey of grit together All right. So 100 Families is about organizing, kind of, all the service providers in a community. Let's talk a little bit about because we've been meeting with many people and we think that Pulaski County needs the GVI or the Group Violence Intervention Program.

Speaker 1: 17:25

Tell us a little bit about what it is Sure. So the interesting thing about GVI just like 100 families brings in the community and the providers and resources, gvi actually brings in law enforcement, the moral voice, the community, all these providers to help families right, but it's more of a preventative intervention type. To help families, right, but it's more of a preventative intervention type. So they actually come together, wrap around or go into the homes, talk to the family.

Speaker 3: 17:51

Whose homes are they?

Speaker 1: 17:56

Those that are committing the crimes or about to commit the crimes. So one of the things is in the communities, you'll notice, especially here in our community, there are small pockets of people that are committing violent crimes. They know each other right. So you have the attorneys going in with the law enforcement, basically teaming together to go into the home to stop them from committing the crime, and one of the things they say is we'll stop you or we'll catch you if you make us right, but we will help you if you let us. So that's so important. It's like you have to have us all working together providing services, providing, you know, the help for families, which also ultimately provides hope for the families.

Speaker 3: 18:45

So GVI is kind of targeted at those that are committing the crime or likely to commit the violent crime and you said there's kind of three distinct groups. There's the law enforcement in cities and municipalities, this community moral voice which on previous episodes we've talked to some of the moms who are working very hard, whose sons have been murdered, to some of the moms who are working very hard, whose sons have been murdered, who are working very hard to prevent violence in the future so that no other mom has to go through what they've been through.

Speaker 3: 19:15

And then GBI then has that offer of help. And so let's talk about how that would work, how you would see that work with 100 families here in Pulaski County.

Speaker 2: 19:27

Absolutely and in many ways as those families are getting identified. So maybe we catch that younger juvenile at truancy and skipping school or a very minor crime and they're brought in through offense petition et cetera, and they're brought in through a FANS petition et cetera.

Speaker 2: 19:50

we will help and wrap around the entire family unit and help with mental health, behavioral support, therapies, et cetera, to help that family hopefully never actually end up in that space, but beyond that, we're also able on a regular basis to work directly with victims of crime and have a great support in both Little Rock and North Little Rock with victim services to help walk alongside as those victims are identified and we wrap full supports around them as well, and so I can't agree more of that. If you're willing to let us help, we will Together.

Speaker 3: 20:36

Yeah, that just seems like you've got. The help is kind of organized through 100 families and so it should make that message or that offer of help maybe more powerful, because you've already got the community kind of organized to be able to provide the help. Let's talk about so GBI and other communities that it's been implemented in. What were kind of the results on violent crime?

Speaker 1: 21:03

Jefferson County, which is right down the road from us, they went over 540 something days without a juvenile homicide. That is remarkable, and seeing that and saying that they can do that in Jefferson County and being able to celebrate that we can do that here, gbi actually works.

Speaker 3: 21:23

All right. So you've both been long working in this community, and so what gives you hope right now, at this point in time?

Speaker 1: 21:33

What gives me hope is families are wanting help and we're able to provide it. We have initiatives, we have resources. Families wanting help gives me hope.

Speaker 2: 21:44

For me, it's definitely the next family we serve. It always is Because we've seen 100 families work. For me, it's definitely the next family we serve. It always is because we've seen 100 families work. We've seen a community wrap around families and the outcome's incredible.

Speaker 3: 22:13

And so, for me, we walk into every family as though they're going to be the next, next success story, because that's our hope for every family we serve. I tell you, what gives me hope is folks like y'all, and and prosecutor and County Judge, and the mayors here in Pulaski County, the sheriff, the judges everyone wants to make this change and are committed to collaboration. So that gives me hope that it's actually possible.

Speaker 3: 22:33

It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it. Thanks for joining us on this episode of A Shot at Hope. You can get other episodes anywhere. You get your podcast on YouTube or you can go to smartjusticeorg.