September 4, 2007

Purdue partners with community to weed out crime, seed success

"The Weed and Seed initiative is aimed at reducing crime by enhancing community resources such as educational, employment and recreational services," said JoAnn Miller, an associate professor of sociology and an affiliated member of women's studies. "The overall goal is to improve public safety."

In August, Lafayette received a five-year $1 million grant from the Community Capacity Development Office at the U.S. Department of Justice. The Downtown Lafayette Weed and Seed site will target the area within the Wabash River, Sagamore Parkway, Greenbush Street and the old Norfolk Southern Rail Corridor. This area has a high crime rate and a 27 percent poverty level, Miller said.

Fort Wayne, Gary and Indianapolis are the other Indiana cities participating in this program. Throughout the nation, there are 250 Weed and Seed sites, which range in size from a few neighborhood blocks to square miles.

Jay Akridge, interim vice provost for engagement, said Purdue's participation in the program is one of many ways the university reaches out to help the community.

"We want to make our experts available to solve problems and contribute to the vitality of communities throughout Indiana," Akridge said. "Reducing crime in one of our closest communities is critically important, and we are eager to be part of the solution."

Half of the funds will be directed to the Lafayette Police Department and Community Corrections for problem solving programs, and the other half will be used to create safe havens at Lafayette's Hanna Community Center and Trinity United Methodist Church that offer programs for children and young teens.

The Weed and Seed project began with the Reentry Problem Solving Court, where Tippecanoe County Superior Court Judge Don Johnson presides, and Miller is the program evaluator. The program brings persons from prison into weekly court sessions to talk one-on-one with the judge about issues relating to family, education, work, housing, health and treatment for drug addiction. Weeding efforts will help police focus on weapons and drug dealing offenses, as well as support community initiatives such as Project Safe Neighborhood.

 Miller, who wrote the proposal for the city, is serving as the academic partner and will be responsible for analyzing project successes and setbacks during the next five years. A steering committee of community leaders and residents will develop long-term strategies for crime prevention.

"Our seeding efforts begin with bringing a national program -- Families and Schools Together -- to children who may become disengaged from school and, therefore, attracted to a lifestyle that can lead to drug abuse or crime,� Miller said. “The program helps keep children excited about school and encourages their parents and caretakers to be more interested in their educational and social experiences. We want to reduce truancy and suspensions, as well as increase the high school completion rate. Soon we hope to initiate programs with Ivy Tech Downtown Lafayette that will provide new educational opportunities for older teens."

Seeding efforts also focus on providing mentoring relationships and health care to children and young teens. This is based on a partnership between Trinity United Methodist Church and the Purdue School of Nursing, resulting in the Trinity Nursing Center for Infant and Child Health. Julie Novak, professor and head of the School of Nursing, helped create the clinic in response to rising child-abuse rates in Tippecanoe County. The church makes space available where graduate nursing students, supervised by nurse practitioner faculty, provide care for children. The nursing program will expand to serve school-age children and teens.

Beth Lana, Capstone coordinator for the School of Nursing and Trinity liaison, said the program provides services to a social group in need.

"Some of the statistics in the downtown area are alarming for younger people," Lana said. "We're very interested in providing health services and strong relationships for families with young teens and children so that they can improve on their academic success and social skills to become good citizens."

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology is housed in the College of Liberal Arts. The Purdue School of Nursing is a part of the College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Health Sciences.

Purdue's Office of Engagement offers university resources to address economic development and other issues affecting the state's prosperity and quality of life. Engagement staffers work directly with Indiana's leaders, the business community and citizens to find ways to advance that mission.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Sources: JoAnn Miller, (765) 494-4699, jlmiller@purdue.edu

Jay Akridge, (765) 494-9095, akridge@purdue.edu

Beth Lana, (765) 423-4705, elana@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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