Boys & Girls Clubs of America Join Forces with Renown Experts to Host National Symposium on Youth Gangs

Boys & Girls Club of America
Friday, 1 March 2002

Boys & Girls Club Professionals Join Law Enforcement Officials, School Administrators, Researchers and Others to Study Trends and Promote Strategies

Boys & Girls Club of America (B&GCA) teams up with the Youth Gang Consortium and National Youth Gang Center to host the 2002 National Youth Gang Symposium in Orlando, Fla., June 10-13, 2002. The event, sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention, will focus on national trends and strategies to prevent and intervene in youth gang involvement.

Boys & Girls Club professionals, along with local law enforcement, social services, school administrators and other youth development experts, should attend the conference as a team. Parties interested in participating should contact their local Club and register as a collaborative group at www.gangsymposium.org.

Conference sessions provide cutting-edge insight from national experts in the theory, research and practice of youth gang and violence prevention. Participants exchange ideas with professionals from all disciplines involved in fighting youth gang and violence problems. Attendees will take away information and strategies that can be put into immediate use.

Invited speakers at the conference include:

- Mark Wahlberg, actor (Planet of The Apes, The Perfect Storm, and other films) and alumnus of the Colonel Daniel Marr Boys & Girls Club of Dorchester, Mass.;

- Father Gregory J. Boyle, S.J., founder/director of Jobs for a Future/Homeboy Industries, an employment referral center and economic development program for at-risk and gang-involved youth, located in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles;

- Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, associate dean for Faculty Development; director and professor of the Division of Public Health Practice, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, Mass.;

- Milton Creagh, corporate trainer, author, speaker, youth development advocate, and president, Milton Creagh and Associates, Atlanta.

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (www.bgca.org) comprises a national network of 3,000 neighborhood-based facilities annually serving more than 3.3 million young people, primarily from disadvantaged circumstances. Known as "The Positive Place for Kids," Clubs provide guidance-oriented programs on a daily basis for children 6-18 years old, conducted by full-time professional staff. Key programs emphasize character and leadership development, educational enhancement, career preparation, health and life skills, the arts, and sports, fitness and recreation. National headquarters is in Atlanta.

For more information, or to contact Boys & Girls Club of America, see their website at: www.bgca.org