The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), the umbrella association for the nation's 120 historically and predominately black colleges and universities (HBCUs) will establish a program of Technology Driven Multi Systemic Support Interventions (T.D.M.S.S.I.) to provide male youth at risk of incarceration, with interventions to inspire and prepare them for college and/or career success. The disproportionate numbers of black males in the juvenile justice system, their subsequent incarceration and recidivism, are critical issues that threaten African American progress and ethos. Thousands of black male juveniles enter juvenile detention, correctional, and treatment programs. They represent 41 percent of detained youth. They are incarcerated at rates three times their representation in the population.
T.S.M.S.S.I is designed to help young males become community-conscious and goal-oriented, thereby reducing their likelihood of incarceration. The project is a collaboration of HBCUs, learning communities (high schools/alternative schools), and churches surrounding the sponsoring HBCUs.
The project will provide interventions for a cohort of in-school, males ages 14-18, who are identified by high schools surrounding targeted HBCUs, as borderline for suspension, expulsion, or who have had some contact with the criminal justice system and are at risk of incarceration.
The project will use technology to structure individualized development plans to raise the education and technology skills of the cohort. The proposed model will employ a web-based portal that will provide mentoring, other psycho-social and academic supports, using personal computers, and technology skills transfer. The technology delivery will rely upon a broadband network, desktop videoconferencing, and extensive web services. HBCUs, learning communities, churches, and business partners will configure resources to work in concert with one another. This synergistic model will not only be replicable, but also cost efficient.
There will be two demonstration sites for the pilot. Phase one of the project will include the Hampton Roads community surrounding Norfolk State University and Hampton University. The second phase of the pilot (year two) will include the communities surrounding LeMoyne Owens College in Memphis, Tennessee and Virginia State University in Petersburg, Virginia. Working collaboratively, these institutions will roll-out the T.D.M.S.S.I and document lessons learned for replication by other NAFEO institutions.
