Establishing a G.R.E.A.T. Program

Implementing a G.R.E.A.T. Program in a community requires careful consideration and planning. The success is founded on the mutual commitment of law enforcement and educational agencies, united in a common goal to:

  • Provide youth with the skills necessary to combat the stresses that set the stage for gang involvement.
  • Provide youth with accurate knowledge about gang involvement.
  • Help youth understand the need to set realistic goals.

Here are three important considerations and requirements for establishing the G.R.E.A.T. Program in your community:

  • Officer Selection
  • Agency Commitment
  • Law Enforcement and Educational Agency Agreement

Officer Selection

The selection of your G.R.E.A.T. instructor is an important part of your program’s success. The Program is very intensive, and great care must be exercised in the selection of your officer.

  • Personal characteristics
    • Enthusiastic
    • Dependable
    • Enjoys working with children
    • Flexible
    • Positive
    • Comfortable talking with a group of children from diverse backgrounds
  • Desired background
    • Exemplary work record
    • Positive role model
    • Well respected by others
    • Well respected by agency management
  • Skills
    • Able to grasp concepts and effectively communicate them, both to children and adults
    • Able to relate well to people, both children and adults
    • Able to respond well to impromptu questions
  • Commitment
    • Program involves a great deal of personal commitment
    • Requires out-of-classroom preparation

Agency Commitment

An essential ingredient to the Program’s success is the law enforcement agency’s commitment to allow the officer to take time for teaching the G.R.E.A.T. curricula.

  • Following the training
    • The agency must allow the officer to begin instructing the curricula during the current or next school semester. If the skills are not utilized shortly following the training experience, they will be lost.
    • Assignment of the certified G.R.E.A.T. instructor to teach the G.R.E.A.T. curricula must happen within 12 months of the training, or certification will be withdrawn.
    • Your officer is about to embark on a rewarding assignment. It will demand a great deal of physical and emotional energy.

Law Enforcement and Educational Agency Agreement

The success of the G.R.E.A.T. Program largely depends on the commitment of the local law enforcement agency and the local school/school district working together to combat the gang problem through prevention. It is strongly recommended that a formal agreement, which outlines the roles and responsibilities of the school and the law enforcement agency, be in place between the agency and the educational institution prior to sending an officer(s) to training to ensure that the newly certified instructor will be able to teach as soon as possible.

The Law Enforcement and Educational Agency Agreement is a commitment to work together to provide the G.R.E.A.T. curricula to the youth of your community.

The Cost to Have a G.R.E.A.T. Program

Success of the program is founded in a mutual commitment of law enforcement and educational agencies in a district as well as potential public and private partners to support Program implementation costs. The following is a breakdown of potential costs for Program implementation.

Training

Completion of the G.R.E.A.T. Officer Training (GOT) is required to teach the G.R.E.A.T. curricula to youth. G.R.E.A.T. training in the United States is arranged through fee-based services with the G.R.E.A.T. Program Office. Every effort is made to keep costs for training to certify G.R.E.A.T. instructors as affordable as possible. Training fees do not include travel, lodging, or meal expenses for classroom-based courses. For more information on fees, see the descriptions for the G.R.E.A.T. Officer Training (GOT), G.R.E.A.T. Families Training (GFT), and G.R.E.A.T. Officer In-Service Training (GOI).

For the G.R.E.A.T. Program in Central America, funding is provided through the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with the national government of each participating country.

Curriculum Materials

Once certified, G.R.E.A.T. instructors can access all materials necessary to teach the G.R.E.A.T. Program in their password-protected G.R.E.A.T. Instructor Resource Account. These materials include instructor curricula outlines and resource guides, and digital files and print specification files for all student curricula and supporting materials. In the U.S., if printed student handbooks and associated materials are the chosen option for the classroom setting, printing costs are incurred by the implementing agencies, the school, or other sponsorship. In Central America, funding is provided for student curricula materials.

Optional Incentive Items

Motivational items—such as T-shirts, water bottles, pencils, and pens imprinted with the G.R.E.A.T. logo—are used to encourage students to participate in the lessons and help them develop a positive identity with the G.R.E.A.T. Program. These items are optional. In the U.S., these items can be ordered from G.R.E.A.T.-authorized vendors by the G.R.E.A.T. instructor’s agency.

Personnel

As with most projects, personnel costs are often the biggest obstacle. Since the G.R.E.A.T. Program is law enforcement officer-instructed, an officer (or officers) must be made available to teach the lessons. Because being in the classroom and school setting may take the officer away from other duties, it may be necessary to add personnel or use overtime to cover the G.R.E.A.T. instructor’s other responsibilities while he or she is in the classroom. Many communities have minimized staffing problems by utilizing school resource officers to deliver the G.R.E.A.T. lessons in their assigned schools. Depending on their duty assignments, they may be able to work the classes into their existing schedules without the need for additional coverage. Some agencies may seek federal grants or other state and local resources to cover additional personnel costs.

Optional Non-Classroom Components

The other components of the Program, the G.R.E.A.T. Families and G.R.E.A.T. Summer Components, are likely to entail additional costs for items such as food and transportation. Both the families and summer components are optional, and it is not necessary to offer either of these components in order to implement the school-based curricula. Agencies that do utilize them often do so in partnership with other community agencies, such as Boys & Girls Clubs, which help to share both the responsibilities and the expenses.