Newark Community Street Team (NCST)

The Newark Community Street Team (NCST) was founded as Newark's community-based violence reduction strategy. NCST draws upon an evidence-based, trauma informed approach to violence reduction through prevention and intervention in Newark communities. NCST hires, trains and deploys Outreach Workers and High Risk Interventionists in the South and West Wards of Newark and operates Newark's Trauma Recovery Center, an Eviction Prevention Team, a school-based Safe Passage Program and a Hospital Based Violence Intervention Program as well as a Victim Services Department. NCST recently launched an Overdose Response Team.High Risk InterventionThe High Risk Intervention (HRI) team's primary responsibility is to respond to community based violence incidents based on referral from the community or law enforcement. HRI connects those engaged in violence to supportive counseling, crisis intervention assessment and mediation, referrals and resource information in order to restore peace and avoid arrest and incarceration. NCST employs six (6) High Risk Interventionists and has responded to over 550 Dispatches YTD. The High Risk Intervention team has grown tremendously, increasing our capacity from 6 trained public safety professionals to now 24 Public safety professionals.The High-risk Interventionist involves mediating conflicts and resolving disputes peacefully. The team continues to play a crucial role in mitigating tensions and preventing escalation in the city of Newark. The High Risk Interventionist has been actively engaged in high-risk interventionist initiatives aimed at addressing and mitigating potential challenges within the community. Focusing on targeted outreach and support, NCST HRI now supports the entire city of Newark. Hospital Based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP)NCST's Hospital Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) is a hospital based approach to intervene, prevent and set the victim of violence on a different path from retaliation and/or revictimization. NCST has three (5) Community Health Workers (CHW) , one (1), one (1) Social Worker High Risk Interventionist (HRI) and one (1) Project Manager (PM) that engages individuals that have been hospitalized, offering wraparound services (Trauma recovery, relocation, case management and victim assistance). This year, there have been 137 consents into Newark's HVIP. NCST recently launched the Southward Hospital Violence Intervention Program, a collaborative effort with Beth Israel Hospital. This initiative marks a significant expansion of our commitment to community well-being and violence reduction.Our ongoing partnership with University Hospital still exists. We have forged a learning partnership with Beth Israel Hospital to implement the Southward Hospital Violence Intervention Program. This collaborative effort allows us to extend our services beyond the hospital walls and directly into the community. This year we spent a lot of dedicated time informing BI leadership team about the Hospital Alliance for Violence Intervention and community lead strategies to address violence. This was intentional as we needed to establish a trusted working relationship with BI. Our program operates exclusively outside the hospital, demonstrating our dedication to reaching individuals within their neighborhoods. By doing so, we aim to address the root causes of violence and healthcare disparities at the community level.Safe PassageNCST provides Safe Passage at schools in areas with hot spots of violence. Outreach Workers are deployed in teams at key exit and entry points of the school, bus stops, stores and intersections where youth congregate in and around the school. NCST's Safe Passage currently serves 20 schools in Newark. The Safe Passage Team also leads weekly community walks in different neighborhoods that may have struggles with violence, and the team has led 160 Community Walks. Safe passage workers also have a caseload of youth and young adults supporting them to reach short term safety goals that allows students to go to school safely and return home safely without incidents amongst their school and community peers. Safe passage facilitates conflict resolution and mediation efforts to address disputes within the community, aiming to prevent escalation and contribute to a peaceful neighborhood environment.Victim ServicesThrough NCST's Victim Services Department, skilled Outreach Workers work individually and as a team to prevent community-based violence. We help residents with Hardship Assistance, Life Management Skills, Social Service Assistance, Wellness Support, Legal Support, Crime Survivor Support Services, Employment/Education Referrals and more. NCST employs four (4) Case Managers who supported 256 mentees from August 2021-2022 and assisted victims in the amount of $65,739.45 through 50 applications to the Victims of Crime Compensation Office.Trauma Recovery CenterNCST's TRC expands delivery of clinical services to underserved traumatized populations. We have created a safe space in our community for crime survivors to receive mental health treatment, advocacy, and victim services. The TRC presently has 7 clinicians, 2 outreach workers, and 1 intern, totaling 11 staff members. Given our history as a strong community-based organization, NCST is uniquely positioned to navigate the nuances of service delivery to a population that has been or currently overlooked and underserved by traditional institutional agencies. NCST staff is adept at helping victims through these processes. There have been 202 TRC clients served by YTD since its inception two years ago.Overdose Response TeamNCST's overdose response team improves opioid use disorder care and reduces overdose mortality in Newark. Each engagement ORT staff has with patients and community members encourages harm reduction practices, often including distribution of harm reduction materials. So in addition to literally saving lives during an overdose response, the education and access to harm reduction supplies and services allows for capacity building with the community. NCST ORT hosts a monthly stakeholder meeting in order to elevate systemic barriers for people living with OUD and, ideally, collectively resolve them. YTD NCST has coordinated 85 dispatch calls with University Hospital , reversed 44 overdoses and distributed 873 Harm reduction kits.