No. 1 No. 7 February 2007 June 2012

Bureau of Justice Assistance

U.S. Department of Justice

National Gang Center Bulletin

Street Outreach and the OJJDP 

Comprehensive Gang Model

By: Michelle Arciaga and Victor Gonzalez

Introduction

Since the early 19th century and the emergence of 

street gangs within urban population centers of the 

United States, community members have sought to 

reach out to these disenfranchised and criminally 

involved youth to reengage and redirect them to more 

pro-social activities. Over the years, these efforts have 

yielded mixed results. For instance, the detached gang 

worker programs of the 1950s and ’60s, while wellintentioned, delivered almost uniformly flat results 

and may actually have increased the cohesion of the 

gangs they served, thus accelerating gang offending 

(Klein, 1971). It seems intuitive that social intervention 

directed at gang members is necessary and vital as a 

response to gang violence. However, programmatic 

results, when these programs have been evaluated, 

suggest that street-level outreach, by itself, is not 

sufficient to create a reduction in gang-related crime. 

There are several likely reasons for the lack of evidentiary 

success from many gang outreach programs. First, the 

problem that outreach workers are asked to solve is 

unimaginably large and complex:

By the time 100 boys and girls become affiliated 

with a juvenile gang, they have experienced 

12 to 18 years of formative processes from the 

family, the neighborhood, and the society. They 

continue to be bombarded by the contemporary 

factors of group and social processes, even 

as we work with them . . . Arrayed against 

this veritable army of psychological, social 

and cultural forces is the detached worker 

and the few resources at his disposal . . . How 

conceited are we to expect one worker, however 

reinforced, to overcome substantially the 

combined forces of family, neighborhood, and 

society? (Klein, 2007)

Beyond the size and scope of the problem, Klein noted 

several other factors that hindered gang outreach 

work: a lack of techniques specifically designed to 

prevent/halt delinquent behavior, use of inappropriate 

strategies that had inadvertent negative effects, and a 

lack of allies and leverage from other existing agencies 

(schools, probation, law enforcement, etc.). (Klein, 1971) 

The very “detachment” of these workers from existing 

programs and agencies made their work more difficult. 

In 1987, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention launched the Juvenile Gang Suppression 

and Intervention Research and Development Program, 

led by Dr. Irving Spergel at the University of Chicago. 

Spergel conducted a national assessment of agency 

and community responses to gangs. After reviewing 

multiple program models and existing programmatic 

evaluations, Spergel concluded: “neither a single 

minded suppression nor a single-minded socialintervention approach has demonstrated success in 

reducing gang crime, especially gang violence.” As a 

result of that assessment, Spergel and his colleagues 

created the Comprehensive Community-Wide Gang 

Program Model (Spergel, 1995; Spergel et al., 1992; 

Spergel and Curry, 1993). 

The Spergel Model included a multidisciplinary 

Intervention Team, composed of law enforcement, 

probation, and outreach personnel who worked 

together to case manage gang intervention targets 

within the context of five interrelated strategies: social 

intervention, opportunities provision, community 

mobilization, suppression, and organizational change 

and development. 

This model was initially tested at the Little Village Gang 

Violence Reduction Project in the Little Village section 

of Chicago and significantly reshaped the role of street 

outreach workers based on lessons learned in previous 

decades, creating:

“[a] structural relationship of street workers, 

police, probation, and representatives of other 

community groups...established for purposes of 

integrated suppression and social intervention 

through a team arrangement to address the 

gang-violence problem...(Spergel, 2007)

Street outreach, in the Spergel Model, was not detached. 

Instead, outreach strategies were fully integrated into 

a comprehensive response to gangs, which involved 

other key partners and agencies.

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2

The success of the Little Village Gang Violence 

Reduction Project led to the creation of the OJJDP 

Comprehensive Gang Model (Model). Since the 1990s, 

the Model has been tested in targeted sections of more 

than 20 different communities around the United States, 

from large cities (Los Angeles, California; Houston, 

Texas; Miami, Florida; Milwaukee, Wisconsin) to midsized cities (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Richmond, 

Virginia; North Miami Beach, Florida) to small urban and 

rural communities (East Cleveland, Ohio; Mount Vernon, 

Illinois; Elk City, Oklahoma; Glenn County, California; 

Longview, Washington). (National Gang Center, 2010)

This article provides an overview of best practices 

developed in these sites for street outreach in the 

context of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model.

Street Outreach in the Model

Street outreach in the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang 

Model occurs inside the framework of a cooperative 

relationship with other agencies, including probation, 

law enforcement, social services, and schools. 

Outreach workers in the Model are referred to as 

“street” outreach workers because their work is not 

office-based or even institutional- or school-based, 

but occurs primarily in the targeted neighborhoods, 

at the street and home level. However, outreach work 

in the Model is not “detached” from the work being 

performed by other agencies, and outreach workers are 

not assigned to work only with a single gang.

Outreach workers serve gang members within a 

targeted community. These gang members may have a 

history of being difficult to serve and/or engage through 

mainstream agencies. They may also come from areas of 

the community with significant levels of community and 

family disruption and disorganization. Further, these 

gang members are likely to be involved with criminal 

justice agencies such as courts, probation/parole, and 

law enforcement.

Outreach workers build relationships with gang 

members and their families with specific goals in mind: 

to reduce clients’ bonds to gangs, to reduce gangrelated conflict and violence, to support and assist 

gang members and their families in accessing social 

and educational services, and to provide a positive 

adult example and mentoring to the gang members. 

When necessary to promote community safety, outreach 

workers may share information about gang member 

clients with relevant partners. Spergel explained that 

this sort of information sharing requires 

“a shift in the [historic] outreach youth 

worker’s role—to collaborate in a suppression 

approach—and also a shift (albeit limited) in 

law enforcement’s role—to collaborate in some 

form of social intervention and even opportunity 

provision to address the gang problem.” 

(Spergel, 2007, p. 25)

In the OJJDP Model:

•	 Outreach workers use screening criteria derived

from law enforcement and other data to identify

appropriate gang members and make referrals to

the Intervention Team.

•	 Outreach workers work closely with other agencies

on a multidisciplinary Intervention Team, sharing

information about gang-involved clients and their

families with partnering agencies.

Roles and Responsibilities 

of Outreach Workers

Outreach workers should be willing to help gang 

members, including advocating on their behalf, ensuring 

they have access to services and opportunities, 

and acting as their link to community institutions. 

The majority of an outreach worker’s time is spent 

working directly with gang-involved clients, identifying 

their needs and goals, and reporting back to the 

Intervention Team. 

The outreach worker should:

•	 Build relationships with clients and other

gang members

The outreach worker is a mentor, life coach, 

positive role model, advocate, and mediator for 

gang-involved clients. Through consistent oneon-one contacts with gang-involved clients, the 

outreach worker encourages them to make positive 

behavioral changes, detach from gang activity, and 

transition into mainstream society. 

•	 Recruit gang members

The outreach worker should spend time interacting 

with gang members who are not involved with 

the Intervention Team and encouraging their 

participation. He should engage the friends and 

associates of clients who are already participating 

with the team. Client recruitment may occur at 

known gang hangouts, parks, or schools. Outreach 

workers should build relationships with staff 

members from probation, parole, and other agencies 

for recruitment and case management purposes. 

Some outreach workers use general community 

gang awareness trainings as an opportunity to 

generate referrals.

•	 Serve as the Intervention Team’s eyes, ears,

hands, and feet on the street

Outreach workers provide first-hand information 

that helps the entire team better understand the 

clients and the target area. These workers are also 

sources of information about historical and current 

gang issues that may affect the Intervention Team’s 

strategies to prevent gang violence. Although 

outreach workers spend many hours each week 
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interacting with gang clients on behalf of the team, 

they cannot and should not be expected to perform 

all intervention tasks for the targeted clients.

•	 Link clients to necessary services and support

their participation

Through their interactions with clients, outreach 

workers identify social intervention needs, such as 

substance abuse addiction, anger/impulse control/

mental health issues, and family problems. It is 

the role of the outreach worker to report to the 

team on these needs, and to follow up the Team’s 

intervention plan recommendations by providing 

clients with transportation assistance, support for 

the client’s participation in services, and support 

of the client’s positive behavioral changes. The 

outreach worker also should be prepared to report 

to the team if the situation changes, and/or if the 

client or family stops participating in services.

In addition to identifying services needed by 

clients, the outreach worker should identify and 

discuss the client’s talents, hobbies, interests and 

long-term goals and present these to the team.

•	 Provide quality interaction with clients

Every interaction with gang-involved clients is an 

opportunity for intervention and should be seen 

as such. For instance, providing transportation 

to a social services program is an opportunity 

for the outreach worker to discuss the client’s 

life, concerns, choices, hopes, goals, and dreams. 

Stopping by to check on the client at home provides 

the outreach worker with a chance to observe his 

home life and build a relationship with parent(s) 

and/or sibling(s). Visits to the client’s home, 

school, or a place of incarceration/detention 

provide the outreach worker with the opportunity 

to demonstrate caring, openness, and acceptance 

of the client’s circumstances and issues. The 

outreach worker should seek out opportunities 

to build a stronger relationship with each client. 

Engaging this population may require going the 

extra mile to provide assistance. For example, 

outreach workers have been known to drive a client 

to work on a new job every day for several weeks, 

to ensure punctuality and develop the work ethic. 

The outreach worker may also create or coordinate 

alternative activities and/or group educational 

components for groups of clients to allow for 

informal interaction and relationship building.

•	 Act as a liaison between project clients and

service providers

Outreach workers should recognize that ganginvolved clients may have safety and social 

concerns about participating with service providers 

and programs. Will the client be safe attending 

a particular school? How will the client handle 

discussing substance addictions with peers? Some 

clients have had negative experiences interacting 

with systems of all kinds, from schools to the courts. 

The outreach worker can facilitate participation 

by explaining the client’s perspective to service 

providers. He can also assist clients by explaining 

the process of receiving services, participating 

in counseling sessions to provide moral support, 

attending meetings with clients to help alleviate 

fears, and personally introducing the clients to 

service providers.

•	 Work with clients on employability skills

The outreach worker can discuss employability 

issues such as appropriate work attire, handling 

conflict on the job, filling out job applications 

(and providing opportunities for practice with 

applications and resumes), and dealing with 

authority. Outreach workers should also assist 

clients by practicing interviewing skills, candidly 

addressing behavioral and/or substance issues 

that may cause employment difficulties, and taking 

clients to job fairs and to meet with employment 

specialists.

•	 Recognize and reinforce positive behavior

The outreach worker should recognize and reward 

clients’ efforts to change. For instance, outreach 

workers may identify clients who are now attending 

school regularly and work with the Intervention 

Team to select an appropriate reward, such as 

a letter of commendation, attendance at a local 

sporting event, or restaurant gift certificate. 

Providing recognition and praise for the clients, 

particularly at an event, function, group, or family 

gathering, can also be helpful. In many cases, 

gang-involved clients have been starved for 

positive attention.

•	 Resolve difficulties between clients,their families,

other youth, and/or agencies

Problems and conflicts should be expected with this 

difficult-to-serve population. Child/family conflicts, 

peer conflicts, and issues between clients and other 

agency personnel are likely. The outreach worker 

should be prepared through training to mediate 

disputes, help resolve conflicts, and assist with 

appropriate recommendations. 

•	 Provide appropriate crisis responses inconjunction

with other agencies following a violent incident

Because of his strong relationship with ganginvolved clients, the outreach worker is in an 

ideal position to help with crisis response. The 

outreach worker can assist clients and families that 

have been victimized, work to head off retaliation, 

serve as a liaison to engage these families and 

clients with criminal justice and victim advocacy 

organizations, and alert other Intervention Team 

members to possible repercussions from violent 

incidents in the community. 

However, the outreach worker also needs to 

understand boundaries on information sharing 

when dealing with other agencies after a violent 
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incident. For instance, the gang outreach worker 

is not a public information officer and should not 

be issuing press releases to the media. In most 

cases, the outreach worker should not be present 

at the scene of the incident while the investigation 

is occurring. The outreach worker should not make 

statements to victims or their families about how 

the case is being investigated, possible suspects 

in the case, or motives in the crime, even if he has 

access to this information. Providing this kind of 

information can have volatile and possibly violent 

repercussions.

Police, criminal justice agencies, and schools need 

to receive training on the role of the outreach worker 

prior to a crisis scenario so that the outreach worker 

is not viewed as an interloper. During this training, 

the outreach worker should explain the work that he 

will be doing in the community with gang members 

and their families after an incident and the types 

of help that he can provide. 

Outreach workers must also familiarize themselves 

with the rules and procedures of related agencies. 

For instance, if a victim or family is seeking victim 

assistance funds, the outreach worker must not only 

be able to help the family fill out an application for 

funds, but also should know whether the family is 

likely to be eligible to receive assistance. In some 

states, for instance, the victim(s) may be ruled 

ineligible for compensation if the incident is gangrelated or the victim is a known gang member. The 

outreach worker also must be able to explain to 

family members, friends, and members of the gang 

how the victim assistance process works and how 

decisions are made.

In one situation, based upon the advice of the 

outreach workers, after a gang member was shot 

and killed, family members applied for victim 

assistance funds to pay for the funeral. The 

application for funds was declined because the 

crime was gang-related. The family was upset 

by the situation and shared their distress with 

members of their son’s gang. This caused long-term 

difficulties between the outreach worker and the 

gang, as well as financial difficulties for the family. 

If the outreach worker had been aware of existing 

laws, he could have avoided this problem.

•	 Assist families in distress

The families of gang members youth are often 

involved in pre-existing and significant crises 

and conflicts. Many are low-income and may face 

emergency situations involving safety, housing, 

food, clothing, power, and living conditions. 

Outreach workers should try to facilitate immediate 

services, if necessary. It is important to explain to 

the family and client how these services work and 

to discuss available possibilities. The outreach 

worker should never make promises to clients and 

his family that he is unable to fulfill, particularly 

when relying on other agencies for services.

•	 Document their activities

Documentation of their work is a crucial role 

of outreach workers, and training on proper 

documentation of all sorts of information should 

be provided.

Information Sharing Issues

Intervention Team members and outreach workers need 

to clearly understand each other’s roles so that they do 

not violate information sharing boundaries. Information 

obtained from outreach workers should be carefully 

protected by other team members. 

There are several types of information sharing issues that 

may arise during both street outreach and Intervention 

Team work. First, outreach workers in many U.S. states 

fall into the category of mandated reporters. This means 

that they have a legal obligation to make a report to the 

proper authorities when they observe or suspect abuse, 

neglect, or maltreatment of children, the disabled, 

elderly persons, or other vulnerable populations. For 

this reason, outreach workers need regular training on 

issues of mandatory reporting and relevant state laws.

Second, outreach workers may encounter scenarios 

that pose a risk to the safety of clients, their peers, 

community members, or Intervention Team members 

(and their participating agencies). In these cases, 

outreach workers may need training and assistance 

to help them identify the best way in which this 

information can be shared while protecting themselves 

and their families.

Outreach workers are not:

•	 Snitches/confidential informants

•	 Extensions of law enforcement activities or 

personnel 

•	 Detached workers assigned to work only with 

specific gangs 

•	 Licensed therapists

It is very important that community members, 

Intervention Team members, and the gang members 

themselves see the outreach workers as interventionfocused, and not as law enforcement adjuncts. So, while 

some members of the team may be able to work closely 

in public, street outreach workers should be cautious 

about accompanying police or probation on joint law 

enforcement activities and/or events.

The outreach worker is not required to report to the 

Intervention Team on all criminal activities by clients. 

If information is provided to law enforcement or 

criminal justice agencies, the officers involved need to 

be extremely careful to protect the outreach worker’s 

anonymity.

However, outreach workers must share any information 
5

about safety threats to clients, other gang members, 

community members, or the team. It is important 

that the outreach worker explain to every client that 

sharing information about criminal behavior could have 

possible negative outcomes, including the requirement 

that the outreach workers inform law enforcement, 

child protection agencies, or others, depending on the 

type of information and mandatory reporting laws. An 

outreach worker may even be subpoenaed to testify in 

court if prosecutors become aware that the outreach 

worker has knowledge of a client’s criminal activities. 

It is recommended that outreach personnel brief all new 

clients with a statement of this sort: 

“If you tell me about (a shooting, possession of a 

weapon, etc.), I will have to tell law enforcement. 

So, if you tell me about these kinds of activities, 

I am going to assume that you want me to take 

action to keep you and others safe. Do you 

understand?”

In cases in which it is imperative (and may be required 

by law) that outreach personnel report information to 

law enforcement, they may want to act through an 

intermediary such as the Intervention Team coordinator. 

In these cases, criminal justice agencies on the team 

should act appropriately, but with caution, to protect 

the safety and reputation of the outreach staff in the 

community.

Intervention Team coordinators and members should 

help the outreach workers distinguish the types of 

information that should be reported, as well as other 

areas in which outreach workers should exercise 

personal discretion. 

Team members need to work hard to protect each other’s 

safety. As part of their role on the Intervention Team, 

police and probation have covertly backed up outreach 

workers who were in dangerous situations. Outreach 

workers may also need information on potentially 

dangerous situations, areas, or individuals; warning 

about planned police activities that may put outreach 

workers in harm’s way (without revealing specific 

intelligence, addresses, or individuals); and notification 

of simple things such as court dates, charges, status of 

investigations, or information that outreach workers can 

use to dispel rumors about incidents and individuals. 

Hiring, Supervising, and Training 

Outreach Workers

Ideal Characteristics of Outreach Workers

An outreach worker must have a thorough understanding 

of the community that he serves. The best outreach 

workers have strong ties to the local community and 

existing relationships with community members. 

Additionally, the outreach worker must be familiar with 

gangs/gang activity in the target community and have 

the skills to work effectively with high-risk teenagers 

and young adults. Outreach workers should be adept 

at accomodating the culture of the target community, 

and should speak the language(s) most likely to be used 

by gang clients and their families.

Outreach work is not a 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. desk job 

in a comfortable office. The majority of the outreach 

worker’s time is spent in homes, schools, local agencies, 

and on the street, working with gang-involved clients. 

The outreach worker must be comfortable and willing to 

work in high-risk community settings at nontraditional 

hours. The outreach worker must be able to think 

quickly on his feet and make quick decisions when 

working with gang members who may make a rash 

decision to act out violently over the slightest issue.

If a candidate for outreach work has a criminal history, 

law enforcement and other criminal justice partners 

must ensure that this individual is no longer involved 

in gangs, crime, or other questionable behaviors. It 

also helps if an outreach worker has a limited number 

of stressors in his life. Finances, relationship issues, 

child support, outstanding tickets, and poor problemsolving skills can cause issues on the job. Because of 

the outreach worker’s role as a mentor and role model to 

gang-involved youth, it is important that his behavior be 

beyond reproach. The outreach worker must be stable 

enough to allow youth and families to trust the outreach 

worker to guide them in the right direction. One 

outreach worker puts it plainly: “You shouldn’t clean 

up someone else’s house until your house is clean.”

Outreach workers should also have: 

•	 Maturity and good judgment. 

•	 Ability to work independently and manage time 

effectively. 

•	 Ability to work as part of a team.

•	 Good communication skills.

•	 Ability to interact with personnel from a variety 

of agencies, including schools, law enforcement, 

probation, religious organizations, and grassroots 

community organizations.

•	 An understanding of how these different agencies 

work and how to utilize them to help gang members 

and their families.

•	 Basic computer and writing skills, including the 

ability to write descriptions of client interactions 

for project record-keeping. 

•	 Mediation and/or problem-solving skills. 

Outreach is intense, demanding work, and people 

who work in the field of outreach may have less 

professional experience and polish than those in 

other fields. For these reasons, supervising outreach 

workers can be challenging. Some outreach programs 

have encountered difficulties, ranging from outreach 

workers carrying weapons on the job to engaging in 
6

sexual relationships with clients. Agencies should 

develop written policies and procedures before hiring 

outreach workers. These policies should explain the 

outreach worker’s responsibilities in case management, 

gang outreach duties, goals of the project, information 

sharing protocols, proper equipment usage, time, leave, 

attendance, dealing with the media, program meetings, 

speaker request inquiries, working with outside 

agencies, and writing reports. These procedures set 

the foundation for outreach work and can be used to 

hold staff accountable during their employment.

Hiring Versus Contracting

Communities that have implemented the OJJDP 

Comprehensive Gang Model have handled staffing the 

outreach component in a variety of ways. Some lead 

agencies have hired new outreach staff specifically to 

work with the Intervention Team. Other communities 

have opted to utilize or contract for outreach services 

from an existing agency with strong ties to the 

community. In general, the decision to hire new 

outreach workers or to contract for outreach services 

from an existing agency depends mainly upon three 

factors: the type of lead agency, the availability of 

reputable outreach contractors in the community, and 

the structure of the project.

Type of lead agency: The Steering Committee1 should 

examine the hiring policies of the lead agency. The 

lead agency2 must have sufficient flexibility to be able 

to select appropriate personnel for this role. Local 

units of government may have strict hiring policies, 

particularly in hiring individuals with a previous 

criminal history. Schools and criminal justice agencies 

may be legally forbidden from hiring anyone with a 

criminal record, which would rule out many possible 

outreach candidates. 

The Steering Committee also must determine whether 

a specific type of lead agency would put limitations 

on outreach work that would not be conducive to 

the project. For instance, being too closely identified 

with law enforcement can limit the effectiveness of 

outreach workers and may even put them in danger. If 

the lead agency is a law enforcement entity, protocols 

must be created to protect the safety and autonomy 

of outreach personnel in performing their duties. 

Outreach personnel should not colocate and/or share 

office space with law enforcement officers or criminal 

justice personnel.

If a lead agency is going to be severely restricted 

in hiring, or the lead agency is a law enforcement 

or criminal justice agency, contracting for outreach 

services may be the best option.

Available Outreach Agencies: Are there viable 

organizations in the community that already perform 

an outreach role? Steering Committees must determine 

how closely the existing outreach agencies adhere to 

the protocols of outreach in the Model, particularly in the 

area of information sharing. What sort of reputation does 

each organization have? Will law enforcement agencies 

be able to work effectively with the organization, or is 

there a track record of financial difficulties, a taint of 

possible association with criminal activity, or a history of 

turf battles? In some cases, community-based agencies, 

in spite of their good intentions and connection to 

the community, do not have the credibility with other 

agencies to contract for outreach services.

Any agency that is considered must meet the following 

conditions:

•	 Must have the administrative capacity to fulfill 

reporting and documentation requirements 

necessary for case management activities.

•	 Must have a reputation for professionalism 

sufficient to be respected by the agencies that will 

be working as peers on the Intervention Team.

•	 Must be willing to work with and share information 

with law enforcement and other criminal justice 

personnel to address safety and violence risks in 

the community.

•	 Must have the capacity and willingness to credibly 

supervise the outreach workers, including providing 

regular and appropriate training, addressing work 

deficits or issues, and overseeing their daily 

activities.

If outreach services are contracted, how will this 

contract be negotiated? Reporting and staffing 

requirements should be clearly and explicitly described 

in the contract, and the reporting should occur on a 

regularly scheduled basis (weekly/monthly) versus 

extended over a longer period of time. There also 

should be an escape clause in the contract in case the 

contracted agency is not a good fit for the Intervention 

Team.

Structure oftheProgram: Is there a full-time coordinator 

overseeing the implementation of the Model? Will that 

person have the time and skills necessary to supervise 

outreach workers on a daily basis? Will the Model be 

implemented by a lead agency with space for multiple 

personnel, or will agency personnel be dispersed in the 

community in their own agencies’ offices? Examining 

the structure of the planned project will provide 

important insights into whether it would be preferable 

to hire or contract for outreach services.

1

Implementation of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model 

is facilitated by a Steering Committee composed of agency 

heads, policymakers, and community leaders.

2 The lead agency in the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model 

is the agency that assumes administrative responsibility for 

personnel, contracting, and other functions. However, the 

Steering Committee members share policymaking power over 

the Intervention Team and related programs. 
7

Allocating Time Effectively

Outreach workers have a demanding list of activities 

during most weeks: 

•	 Contacts with existing clients (with varying 

numbers of contacts required per client in any 

given week)

•	 Recruitment of new clients

•	 Assisting clients with skill development, finding 

employment, resolving family problems, and other 

advocacy work

While case load sizes have varied, a caseload of 25 

clients or less per outreach worker is recommended. 

In most cases, the average intervention team has used 

three to four full-time outreach workers to serve 75 to 

100 clients. In addition to providing direct services and 

contacts to clients, outreach workers need to be able 

to spend time in the community making contacts with 

possible client referrals, service providers, and families. 

The level of service provided to each client by outreach 

workers should be determined by the Intervention Team 

on an individualized basis. Supervisors can assist 

outreach workers in prioritizing contacts with clients on 

the basis of the Intervention Team’s recommendations.

Outreach programs should either develop forms 

for time reporting or use the forms provided in the 

“Planning for Implementation” manual, available at 

(http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/

Documents/Implementation-Manual/ImplementationManual-Chapter-9.pdf) to track outreach worker activity 

levels.

Ideally, supervisors should meet weekly or biweekly 

with outreach workers to create activity plans. Some 

outreach workers may not have extensive work 

histories and may have some confusion about how 

work schedules should be handled. Supervisors should 

clearly explain the number of hours to be worked 

and how those hours should be spent, as well as 

provide accountability for outreach workers’ activities. 

Supervisors should also clearly explain what outreach 

workers should not do during work time, such as work 

at other jobs or participate in athletic activities (e.g., 

coaching) or religious activities.

Supervisors should conduct regular training on 

professional topics such as public speaking (so 

that outreach workers can be involved in providing 

training and participating in community meetings), 

working out conflicts on the job, counseling with 

youth, professional writing, and behavior management 

issues. The goal should be to provide outreach workers 

with many opportunities for personal and professional 

development.

Supervisors should help outreach workers set personal 

boundaries with clients. For instance:

•	 Outreach workers should not borrow money or 

accept gifts from clients or their families. 

•	 Outreach workers should not give personal 

information about gang members to community 

members. 

•	 Outreach workers should not take personal disputes 

with coworkers or Intervention Team members into 

the community.

•	 Outreach workers should be careful to identify 

and avoid any risks for being compromised 

professionally, whether sexually, physically, or 

personally. 

Dealing With the Emotional Aspects of

Outreach Work

Outreach workers, who deal with a violent population 

in a community with a high level of violence, may be 

exposed to a great deal of trauma. Secondary posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can result. The 

longer and more intensely outreach workers deal with 

traumatic circumstances, both personally and through 

their clients, the greater the odds that they may 

experience PTSD or compassion fatigue.

Supervisors should be prepared for this and should be 

trained on the warning signs of compassion fatigue/

PTSD. They also should create a therapeutic setting 

designed to prevent the development of negative 

symptoms. This might include regular group/team 

meetings where outreach staff can safely discuss 

traumatic and emotionally draining experiences, 

support one another, and address their feelings about 

these experiences openly with people who understand. 

It may be necessary to have these meetings coordinated 

by a professional with experience in PTSD. If required, 

outreach workers should be referred to professionals 

for support and/or therapeutic intervention, without 

being stigmatized. 

Documenting Outreach Work

Documentation of outreach contacts and other activities 

is an important aspect of the outreach worker’s 

role in team-based case management. The team 

needs to know how much time outreach workers are 

spending with individual clients, what issues are being 

discussed, what needs should be addressed by other 

team members, and the dosage of services that each 

client is receiving. 

Every contact and/or interaction with a gang-involved 

client needs to be documented. If information about 

client contacts is not recorded, as far as the team is 

concerned the work did not occur. Outreach workers 

should document every contact by answering the 

following questions:

•	 Who did you contact?

•	 Where did you contact him?

•	 Why did you contact him?
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•	 What was the goal of the contact?

•	 What was accomplished by the contact?

•	 What are the next steps for the client?

•	 What follow-up actions are needed by you or other 

team members?

Answers to these questions add to the client history 

and provide direction for future planning activities. 

Supervisors and Intervention Team members should 

coach outreach staff on contact goals, next steps, and 

follow-up actions required.

Outreach workers should ensure that client records 

focus primarily on service delivery, the needs of 

the client, participation in services, contacts by 

outreach workers, and the outcomes of these contacts. 

These client records, while confidential, are subject 

to subpoena.

Outreach workers should receive regular training on 

contact documentation, and their contact logs should 

be reviewed regularly. It is important to maximize 

every contact. For example, the goal of a contact might 

be to transport a client to a job interview, but the time 

spent driving to and from the interview provides an 

opportunity to discuss that client’s living circumstances, 

coach the client on behavioral issues, or talk about 

future goals. These discussions should be captured 

in writing and reported during the Intervention Team 

meetings.

Most outreach workers enjoy working in the community 

with clients but find that staying up to date on 

documentation, including progress notes and service 

plans, can be a challenge. Developing a policy for this 

area can be very helpful in holding workers accountable 

to ensure that youth and families are receiving adequate 

contacts and services. For example, the team can 

decide that outreach workers should spend three to 

four days per week in the field with clients and one 

or two days in the office handling documentation and 

follow-up. Proper documentation is essential to ensure 

that outreach programs and workers are protected in 

the event that they are accused of improper behavior.

Safety Issues for Outreach 

Workers

Performing gang outreach is a dangerous job. Gang 

members have poor impulse control and may be armed, 

and their homes and neighborhoods are frequently 

violent. Regular safety training and brainstorming 

sessions among the project coordinator, outreach 

supervisors, and outreach workers are essential to 

minimize risks. In some cases, law enforcement and/or 

other criminal justice personnel should be involved in 

these safety trainings. Issues that should be discussed 

include:

Gang Neutrality

In the past, detached workers were assigned specifically 

to individual street gangs. Evaluations of these 

programs found that the presence of detached workers, 

along with associated group programming, actually 

increased the cohesion of these gangs and increased 

their level of criminal offending (Klein, 1971). In addition 

to this negative impact, being too closely identified 

with any particular gang can be dangerous and can 

compromise the effectiveness of overall outreach efforts.

Clothing

Outreach workers must be careful to avoid wearing 

the colors, letters, sports paraphernalia, and symbols 

of local gangs. It is recommended that outreach 

workers dress in attire that is business-casual to 

distinguish themselves from local gang members. In 

some communities, outreach workers have been issued 

identifying shirts, employee identification badges, or 

jackets with the name of their program clearly labeled. 

Outreach workers must realize that the biggest threat 

to their safety may not come from the gang members 

who are their clients, but from rival gang members who 

do not recognize them, or distinguish them as being 

separate from the gang during an incident. Avoiding 

gang colors and symbols also helps to ensure that 

outreach workers are seen as neutral parties and are 

not associated with one specific gang. 

Wearing professional attire can also help outreach 

workers bridge the gap between schools, community 

residents, and other agencies whose members may 

not understand the role of outreach workers and the 

agencies they represent.

Weapons

Outreach workers should not carry weapons on the 

job. Not only is there a significant risk that a weapon 

might be used against an outreach worker, but many 

schools, offices, and other locations prohibit weapons. 

Instead, outreach workers should always carry a cell 

phone, direct connect phone, or radio in order to access 

immediate assistance. 

Signs of Drug/Alcohol Abuse

Outreach workers should avoid the company of clients 

who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These 

individuals may act out in unpredictable ways and 

may pose a safety risk. Further, outreach workers 

need to avoid being seen in public with people who are 

obviously impaired and should personally avoid public 

intoxication and use of illegal drugs. Regular use of 

drugs and alcohol by clients should be reported to the 

Intervention Team for intervention purposes.

Visual Survey

Outreach workers should be familiar with the colors 

and other identifiers of gang members in local and 
9

surrounding communities, gang rivalries, and any 

recent acts of violence between these groups. Watching 

the news, reading the newspapers and keeping in 

close contact with clients also will help to ensure that 

outreach workers are aware of possible concerns. 

Outreach workers should pay careful attention to graffiti 

that may include threats or challenges between gangs 

in the area. 

Outreach workers should carefully observe the home of 

a client before entering. Is there evidence of criminal or 

illicit activity? If so, the outreach worker must contact 

the client by phone first, before approaching the house, 

or reschedule the visit. Is there suspicious activity in 

the vicinity? Law enforcement may need to be notified. 

While working outdoors or on the street, outreach 

workers should pay careful attention to events in the 

neighborhood, watch for suspicious vehicles, and 

identify safe locations in the event of a problem. Driveby shootings and other acts of violence may occur in 

areas frequented by gang members or near their homes. 

Outreach workers should be aware of possible threats 

and also should consider that they may be caught in 

the line of fire if a shooting occurs, whether that line of 

fire comes from a suspicious vehicle or is an exchange 

of fire involving the individuals they are working with.

Working Alone

Outreach work often entails working alone in dangerous 

neighborhoods during evening hours. Outreach workers 

should be briefed on scenarios in which working alone 

can be dangerous. For instance, when working with a 

client of the opposite sex, it is advisable that an outreach 

worker partner with another team member or outreach 

worker. In some cases, it is advisable that the outreach 

worker bring a team member to meet with parents of 

his client. 

Outreach workers also need to take normal and 

appropriate safety precautions. Outreach workers 

and their supervisors should work together to plan for 

safety during home visits and community work. Always 

encourage outreach workers to do safety checks with 

each other by phone when entering or leaving an area or 

conducting a home visit. If there is a good relationship 

with law enforcement, an outreach worker should 

advise officers of his presence in a neighborhood where 

there are safety concerns so that the officers can visibly 

patrol the area while the outreach worker conducts the 

client visit. However, there should be no visible contact 

between outreach workers and police officers. 

Emergency Scenarios

Outreach workers, other Intervention Team members, 

outreach supervisors, and project coordinators should 

brainstorm how reporting will be handled in the case of 

an emergency. Who should outreach workers contact 

first? Should they contact a watch commander or 

gang unit officer directly? When should they dial 911? 

They may even need to be briefed in some emergency 

medical protocols in the event of a shooting or other 

violent/traumatic injury. Exploring and discussing 

these worst-case scenarios can greatly improve the 

odds that outreach workers will be safe and will respond 

appropriately. 

If outreach workers are working as a team, it is helpful 

to assign roles and develop safety strategies for making 

visits to parks, schools, apartments, housing units, or 

any other public places frequented by gangs where 

outreach workers may wish to make contacts and 

recruit clients. Dangerous situations can occur, and 

the team needs to have a clear strategy for how it will 

react immediately. It helps to have a point person who 

initiates contact with the gang, youth, or family, a second 

person who supports and assists with conversation as 

needed, and a third member of the team who works 

as a “spotter.” This team member should survey the 

local area while the client meeting is occurring. One 

team member should be assigned to serve as “crisis 

response” to any emergency by contacting 911 and the 

police department, and informing team members that 

they need to leave the area. 

Conclusion

The outreach worker plays a critical role in the 

community’s gang intervention activities and on 

the Intervention Team. Creating a functional street 

outreach component is one of the most challenging 

and worthwhile aspects of implementing the OJJDP 

Comprehensive Gang Model. Potential pitfalls and 

problems must be thoroughly addressed in planning 

to ensure that outreach personnel attain maximum 

effectiveness. Community leaders should carefully 

consider the hiring, training, supervision, and ongoing 

development of these important staff members.

Resources:

OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model Online Overview: http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/ComprehensiveGang-Model/Online-Overview

National Gang Center (2009). OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model: Planning for Implementation. Office of Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC. 

http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Content/Documents/Implementation-Manual/Implementation-Manual.pdf

National Gang Center (2010). Best Practices to Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP’s Comprehensive 

Gang Model. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department 

of Justice, Washington, DC. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/231200.pdf
10

This project was supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2011-MU-MU-K001, awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice 

and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations 

in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Copyright © May 2012 by the Institute of Intergovernmental Research® on behalf of the National Gang Center. All rights 

reserved. No copies or extractions may be made without express permission.

The National Gang Center (NGC) is a collaborative effort between 

the Office of Justice Programs’ (OJP) Office of Juvenile Justice and 

Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).

This partnership works to provide professionals in the field of gangs 

with tools that can be used in a comprehensive range of strategies to 

respond to street gangs, from prevention and intervention to criminal 

justice strategies such as suppression, prosecution, and reentry.

Michelle Arciaga is a senior research associate with the National Gang 

Center operated by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) 

in Tallahassee, Florida.

Victor Gonzalez is the director of Prevention and Interventions 

Services, Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office, Houston, Texas.

References:

Klein, Malcolm W. (1971). Street Gangs and Street Workers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

National Gang Center. (2010). Best Practices to Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP’s Comprehensive 

Gang Model. Tallahasssee, FL: National Gang Center.

Spergel, I. A. (2007). Reducing Youth Violence: The Little Village Gang Project in Chicago. Lanham, MD: 

AltaMira Press.

Spergel, I. A. (1995). The Youth Gang Problem: A Community Approach. New York, NY: Oxford University 

Press.

Spergel, I. A., Chance, R., Ehrensaft, C., Regulus, T., Kane, C., and Laseter, R. (1992). Technical Assistance 

Manuals: National Gang Suppression and Intervention Program. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, School of 

Social Service Administration.

Spergel, I. A., and Curry, G. D. (1993). The National Youth Gang Survey: A Research and Development Process.

In A. Goldstein and C. R. Huff (eds.), The Gang Intervention Handbook (pp. 359–400). Champaign, IL: Research 

Press.