Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions

The Center for NuLeadership offers fee for service professional development aimed at increasing the core competencies of individuals associated with organizations providing criminal justice prevention and intervention services.  As a result of our technical assistance and capacity building services, they will realize a measurable increase in the quality, quantity, or cost effectiveness of intervention activities and /or the sustainability of infrastructural systems that support these activities. The knowledge and skills acquired after receiving capacity building allows staff to focus on increasing their ability to support infrastructure development and design, implementation, and effective evaluation of the programs and services they offer.

Infrastructural systems maintain the structural integrity of an informal or formal organization to efficiently and effectively plan implement, support and evaluate program services.  These systems include but are not limited to:  program management, fiscal management, governance; information management, personnel management (including volunteer management), resource development, coalition or network development, community mobilization, and leadership development.

Program services refer to activities and interventions implemented by formal or informal organization to initiate, support, or maintain behavior change that is predictable and leads to risk reduction and increased public health and safety.  These activities and interventions may include service integration, individual-level interventions (i.e., prevention case management or criminal justice group-level interventions (peer support groups, group counseling, testing and referral), community-level interventions, and street and community outreach interventions.

Community Capacity-building for Criminal Justice Prevention.  This professional development service is designed to increase the core competencies of community stakeholders who want to be mobilized in support of criminal justice prevention goals. Community stakeholders and individuals who have an interest in preventing criminal justice in a community and are potential and actual agents of change generally include opinion leaders or representatives from community-based organizations, health departments, faith institutions, civic organizations, businesses, local government, school systems, media and community members at large.  The core competencies of community stake holders are a set of specific skills that contribute to an increase in community awareness, development of community leadership, development of collaborative partnerships, identifying and securing resources for criminal justice prevention, changes in public policies that impact on criminal justice prevention, and changes in community norms around risk reduction behaviors.

Organizational Infrastructure Development and Assessment This services provides expert training in organizational assessment; fiscal management; resources development (including staff recruitment, retention, and training); human resources management (including staff recruitment, retention, and training); board development; organizational quality assurance; program marketing and public relation; program policy development; personnel policy development; volunteer management; information management; strategic planning; leadership development and team building; collaboration development; cross-cultural communication; and agency incorporation (acquiring 501 ©3 nonprofit status).

Intervention Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation This service provides expert training in developing cultural competence and linguistic appropriateness of interventions; service integration; curricula development; intervention adaptation or replication; use of behavioral science to increase intervention effectiveness (including development of behavioral risk assessments); developing effective communication messages; conducting population-based needs assessments (including but not limited to the use of epidemiology and social marketing); setting priorities for interventions and target populations; developing or identifying effective and appropriate interventions (including the incorporation of intervention procedures and policies); developing effective staff training; developing staff competencies in effecting risk reduction; developing and maintaining quality assurance and improvement; training in new theories, methods, and information related to effective criminal justice prevention; developing information tracking systems for monitoring, reporting, and evaluating; and evaluation planning implementation.

Community Capacity-Building for Criminal Justice Prevention   This service provides expert training in community leadership development; developing networks partnerships and coalition building and maintenance, developing community mobilization strategies, developing implementing strategies for community needs assessments, conducting community resources inventory, developing and implementing strategies for community infrastructure development, policy development and analyses, developing and implementing strategies fro services integration and linkages, and developing communication networks.

Developing Effective Criminal Justice Skills This service provides expertise in acquiring skills in conflict resolution and mediation, crisis management and negotiation; increasing cultural sensitivity; leadership development; understanding the community planning guidance and process, use of public speaking and persuasion; acquiring skills in assertiveness prioritization strategies; acquiring skills in; acquiring skills in parliamentary procedures and meeting processes; requiring skills in group and meeting facilitation; learning about service delivery systems.

For further information contact:
Divine Pryor, Deputy Executive Director
Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions
School of Professional and Community Development
Medgar Evers College of The City University of New York
1637 Bedford Avenue, SBSS 220-32
Brooklyn, New York 11225
718-270-5136 office
dpryor@mec.cuny.edu