Secretary of Defense William J. Perry today announced the winners of the DOD
Model Community Incentive Awards program. The program, designed to recognize
proposals which work to strengthen military families, will release $6.4 million
to 20 installations over the next three years.
In ceremonies held today in the Pentagon, Mr. Fred Pang, assistant secretary of
Defense (Force Management Policy), recognized the winners for innovative
installation programs "designed to strengthen families with children especially adolescents. Of the 134 proposals received, 20 programs were
selected as the `best of the best'."
Ms. Carolyn Becraft, deputy assistant secretary of Defense (Personnel Support,
Families and Education) whose office conceived the project, opened the ceremony
by praising the installations for their efforts and creativity.
"The quality of the submissions was high," said Becraft, "making for an
outstanding competition. The winners will share $6.4 million in DOD funding
over the next three years. This awards ceremony culminates a year-long
process, the first of its kind in DOD family programs, where installations are
rewarded for evaluating their own needs and developing their own solutions."
Mr. Pang stressed that "This project is one of many of Secretary Perry's
Quality of Life initiatives. It's a model of President Clinton's
re-engineering government program and will usher a new era in Defense Family
Programs."
The projects will receive funds beginning in the Third Quarter (April - June)
of this Fiscal Year. All are designed with a strong evaluation component that
will determine the effectiveness of the project in meeting their stated goals
and will give DOD models for use at other installations experiencing similar
problems.
"We were so pleased with the response and all the great ideas," said Becraft,
"that our office will be preparing a book summarizing all the 134 proposals
which will be shared throughout the Department. I encourage those not selected
to pursue local funding of their project. This shows that the best ideas come
from the installations -- where the real needs of people are seen."
Those installations with winning proposals include:
Fort Richardson/Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
Yuma Army Proving Grounds, Ariz.
Naval Air Station Lemoor, Calif.
Marine Corps Air Station, Tustin, Calif.
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.
Macdill Air Force Base, Fla.
Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii
Winter Harbor, Me
Keesler Air Force Base, Miss.
Fort Hood, Texas
Whidbey Island, Wash.
NATO SHAPE Headquarters, Belgium
Kelly Barracks, Germany
Kitzengen Army Community, Germany
Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany
Baumholder Army Community, Germany
Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy
Howard Air Base, Panama
Headquarters, 34th Support Group, Yongsan, South Korea
Incirlik Air Base, Turkey
MODEL COMMUNITIES FOR FAMILIES AND CHILDREN
INCENTIVE AWARD WINNERS
SYNOPSIS OF PROPOSALS
Baumholder, Germany
Project: Cut the Risk
Incentive Award: $400,000
Description: The Baumholder program focuses on the developmental,
employment and relocation adjustment needs of youth. The four-pronged program
includes components of sponsorship, goal directed teen advisory committees,
community service projects and outreach. The plan also focuses on the
challenges of blended families in building relationships.
Fort Hood, Texas
Project: Youth for Action Hotline
Recommended Funding: $160,000
Description: Fort Hood will train youth to staff a Youth Hotline. The
24 hour, 365 day a year toll free number links to a national program providing
youth-oriented crises prevention and intervention. It will be staffed by
trained consultants who assist and refer troubled youth. As a subscriber, the
installation will receive monthly summary reports of calls and problems. The
data can be used to focus on specific problems in local high risk youth
populations.
Fort Richardson/Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska
Project: Youth Enrichment Program
Recommended Funding: $280,000
Description: This project is a joint effort between Fort Richardson and
Elmendorf AFB, Alaska and the Alaska Army National Guard. This effort will
bring a consistent level of programming to the youth of these communities by
increasing the communication and cooperation between installations. Components
include community oriented policing and home visiting, as well as conflict
resolution, anger management and cultural sensitivity training.
Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii
Project: Enhancing Service Integration in Military Communities
Incentive Award: $554,000
Description: This project will develop youth transition centers to
provide a comprehensive program to connect youth with positive activities and
healthy friendships. A strong collaboration component uses middle schools to
promote the youth programs. The centers will offer programs to reduce crime
and delinquency, provide youth sponsorship, career information, and skills
development. Youth and families will be actively involved in the planning and
implementation of these programs.
Howard Air Force Base, Panama
Project: Teens oN Top (TNT)
Incentive Award: $440,000
Description: Teens on Top (TNT) is a multi-faceted teen violence
prevention program. The project includes four components each separately
managed with guidance from a Teen Advisory Committee. Teens oN Top program
areas include: 1) Stay in School Employment, 2) Life Skills Enhancement, 3)
Leisure Time Adventure Programs, and 4) Construction of a Teen Center. Youth
will construct the Teen Center with oversight/mentoring from the Base Civilian
Engineering Office.
Incirlik Air Base, Turkey
Project: Youth Small Business Initiative
Funding Incentive Award: $30,000
Description: The Incirlik program will provide youth with an
opportunity to operate a small business in conjunction with AAFES and adult
volunteers. Teens will open and operate a small business for packaging and
wrapping mailable items. The teens will elect officers in the company, hire
and run a purchasing and personnel department, design a marketing plan,
maintain inventory controls and manage financial statements. Success of the
venture will be determined by the teen's ability to control costs and maintain
a break-even financial status. This unique aspect of the program places teens
in charge and provides them with real-life business experience.
Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi
Project: Sharing Experiences, Sharing Ourselves
Incentive Award: $270,000
Description: This proposal implements a collaborative,
multidisciplinary program, "Sharing Experiences, Sharing Ourselves," designed
to prevent the incidence of a number of adolescent "risk factors" including:
adolescent violence; gang membership; substance abuse; intercultural, ethnic
and racial problems; teen pregnancy; school dropouts; and AIDS susceptibility.
The program, to be established as a demonstration project at four sites, three
local middle schools and at the Keesler Youth Center, uses youth who are
selected and trained as student coordinators. It is designed to improve
student relationships in an increasingly multi-cultural society. The project,
originally conceived within the local school system, enjoys wide-spread
community support.
Kelley Barracks, Germany
Project: The Getaway
Incentive Award: $215,000
Description: The Getaway is a proposed safe house and twenty-four hour
teen crisis center designed to serve the greater Stuttgart Community. The
program will provide a safe haven for teens and focus on counseling and
prevention programs. DoD will fund the concept of teen crisis center and safe
house on a start-up basis in order to identify the actual need usage prior to
recommending a capital investment in a dedicated facility. The program will
serve as an alternative to troubled teens and/or their families being sent back
to the United States.
Kitzingen, Germany
Project: Youth Action Initiatives
Incentive Award: $575,000
Description: This proposal focuses on early intervention and prevention
of gang-like activity. It targets increasing levels of juvenile violence by
developing comprehensive programs and coordinating community resources in the
following areas on need: (1) youth jobs; (2) positive after school and evening
activities; (3) family and youth therapy; (4) education and prevention
programs; and (5) transportation.
MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
Project: Positive Image Program
Funding Incentive Award: $150,000
Description: The MacDill Air Force Base "Positive Image Program" is an
educational program designed to prevent delinquency and violence. The goal is
to increase the employment preparation skills of youth and provide successful
job placement. A partnership with the community will provide entry level
trainee positions for youth. Another component will provide youth with
recreational and educational activities such as bay fishing, overnight tours,
and educational trips to universities and nearby installations. The program
will provide educational seminars on child abuse, spouse abuse, teen dating
violence, and alternatives to gang involvement.
Marine Corps Air Station Tustin, California
Project: Community Youth Enhancement Program
Incentive Award: $175,000
Description: This project will establish a partnership with the local
Boy's and Girls clubs as a method of expanding youth programs to more
comprehensive developmentally-oriented services. Base personnel will use Boys
and Girls Clubs of America training and program materials to accomplish this.
The affiliation will allow DoD youth in the community access to comparable
services at the local club while targeting on-base youth through the existing
center.
NATO SHAPE Support Group, Belgium
Project: International Model Youth Program
Funding Incentive Award: $230,000
Description: NATO SHAPE, Belgium will establish a multi-national youth
sponsorship and cultural awareness program. The funding will provide SHAPE a
facility, personnel, and funds to develop a video for inbound youth outlining
what to expect once they are assigned to SHAPE. The program also offers
outreach, team building and youth involvement in recreational and social
prevention focused activities.
Naval Air Station Lemoore, California
Project: Family Service Integration Initiative
Incentive Award: $443,000
Description: This program focuses on youth employment issues with a
special emphasis on school-to-work transition for non-college bound youth. The
program provides a job shadowing work initiative that uses mentoring to teach
skills and strengthen values. Other areas target information and education on
career paths and a community service component. The NAS Lemoore plan will
build on an existing county coalition that includes military components.
Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy
Project: Project Connect
Incentive Award: $215,000
Description: Project Connect is an innovative outreach strategy
designed to increase participation of the 70 percent of "uninvolved" teens in
programs designed to combat boredom, isolation and the ready availability of
alcohol--factors which are often present at an overseas installation. A
project coordinator working in conjunction with the DoDDs schools will create
activities and opportunities for youth to become involved through high interest
activity programs. With widespread involvement and cooperation of installation
agencies, Project Choice provides four program components including: activity
and adventure programs; cross cultural immersion opportunities; community
service projects; and job training.
Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington
Project: Partnership for Youth
Incentive Award: $597,000
Description: The Partnership for Youth project strengthens
relationships within the family and teaches positive parenting and coping
skills. It will provide a place for youth to build a sense of belonging.
Program activities include: couples communication, conflict resolution,
leadership skills and community responsibility for 6-18 year olds.
Additionally, youth will be involved in the renovation of a local school
facility for a Youth Center/Volunteer Clearinghouse. Volunteers from the base
and local community will participate in the renovation and local businesses
will provide matching funds. The clearing house will organize volunteer
projects within the community.
Naval Security Group Activity Winter Harbor, Maine
Project: Schoodic Peninsula Partnership
Funding Incentive Award: $335,000
Description: The Winter Harbor partnership will provide military
families located in a very remote community with recreational, social and,
educational programs. The goal of the Winter Harbor proposal is to remove
perceived barriers between the military and civilian communities by providing a
joint-use facility, staff, computer, and recreational equipment and
transportation to enhance the limited social and educational infrastructure of
this area. The facility will support recreational, social interaction, and
access to educational and computer resources seven days a week. In addition,
staff will offer tutoring for students in state-of-the-art computer technology
including access to the Internet.
Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany
Project: Improving the Quality of Life for Teens and Their Families
Incentive Award: $335,000
Description: This project is comprehensive youth program focusing on
relocation, sponsorship and teen employment. The unique component of this
project is the establishment of a Mexican Food restaurant, operated by teens,
in the teen center. Additionally, the project offers a sponsorship program
which is tied to the Internet system and allows newly relocated teens the
opportunity to correspond with friends from previous locations.
U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona
Project: Law Enforcement Cadet Program
Incentive Award: $30,000
Description: U.S. Yuma Army Proving Ground will expand the Law
Enforcement Cadet Program which plays a key role in the installation's ability
to reduce juvenile violence. This program is designed to provide new
opportunities for juvenile offenders and will operate as an all-volunteer
program. Funding will enable the installation to facilitate further
development of this program representing positive alternatives to youth
violence.
United States Air Force Academy, Colorado
Project: Collaborative Effort to Prevent Violence
Incentive Award: $600,000
Description: This project focuses on intensive youth intervention
programs to improve school performance, strengthen parent-child relationships
and build resistance to negative peer influence. This program will be
implemented through tutoring, social skills training and parent training.
Experiential activities such as wilderness therapy will provide an exciting and
challenging learning environment designed to encourage family recreation as a
way to strengthen family relationships.
Yongsan, Korea
Project: Youth Model Communities Task Force
Incentive Award: $320,000
Description: This project will provide intervention and prevention
programs for youths. The Task Force will implement the following key programs:
(1) ASK (After School Knowledge) which matches students in grades 5-12 with a
mentor to help with homework, (2) street justice - an intervention tool to
reach youth and help them decide between right and wrong and the consequences
of their actions, (3) an outdoor leadership program which offers a wide scope
of activities that teach life long skills and provide positive alternatives for
discretionary time, and (4) a teen employment program for 16-18 year olds with
a positive attendance record. Teens will be placed in jobs in the local
community organizations.
