C.R.’s Weed and Seed program brings benefits

By Bruce Vander Sanden

Collaboration, coordination, community mobilization and leveraging of resources are the fundamental principles of the Weed and Seed program administered through the Office of Justice Programs. These principles provide the framework for a national model that is present in 300 communities across the nation.

Due to strong local leadership, the Cedar Rapids community was designated a Weed and Seed site approximately five years ago. The key elements that work toward the end goal of a safer community are law enforcement, community policing, neighborhood restoration, prevention/intervention and treatment.

The Central Cedar Rapids Weed and Seed program encompasses the five core neighborhoods wrapped around downtown: Oak Hill Jackson, Wellington, Moundview, Taylor and Time Check.

Weed and Seed is successful because it is a strategy, not a grant program. It aims to “weed” out crime and “seed” in human services.

The collaboration piece of the strategy brings together many agencies that leverage necessary resources to meet common goals.

Since the inception of Weed and Seed in Cedar Rapids in 2005, the following has occurred:

l Became a sponsor of an AmeriCorps VISTA program, administered through the Community Corrections Improvement Association, that has grown to become the second largest in the nation. AmeriCorps VISTA has championed flood recovery efforts by operating the Volunteer Reception Center and matching more than 800 volunteers with more than 1,200 homeowners.

l The creation and administration of a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program that has assisted more than 3,300 filers receiving over $5 million in federal income tax returns.

l The Tiger Cub Club housed in Taylor school has provided after school daycare assistance to more than 500 children,

4 years old and up.

l The 6th Judicial District Department of Correctional Services has placed probation and parole officers in neighborhood centers to allow for place-based supervision and to strengthen neighborhood relations.

l The Cedar Rapids Police Department renewed bike patrols in the neighborhoods.

l Arrests in the Wellington neighborhood decreased 20 percent during the four-year period after Weed and Seed was implemented versus pre-Weed and Seed.

l Neighborhood Resource Centers in Moundview and Oak Hill Jackson neighborhoods were created to assist neighbors with needs, provide information regarding available community resources, and act as a safe place within the neighborhood.

l Central Cedar Rapids Weed and Seed has leveraged over $3.5 million worth of resources that have been infused in the core Cedar Rapids neighborhoods.

Although Central Cedar Rapids Weed and Seed may not be a

household name in the local community, the program has received national attention. The Weed and Seed Coordination Honor Award was granted to the Central Cedar Rapids Weed and Seed Program in July 2009 to recognize the program's outstanding “seeding effort.”

In addition, program staff has presented strategies at national conferences that provide templates to other sites in regard to volunteer coordination, VITA creation and prison re-entry strategies.

The guiding principles and key elements of the program are very important because it is simply not possible to “arrest your way” out of a crime problem.

The Weed and Seed strategy has been a silent champion that has produced results that coincide with the Community Corrections Improvement Association's mission: “Solutions for a Safer Community.”

If you would like to learn more about the program and support its strategy, visit www.cr

weedandseed.com or contact me.

Bruce Vander Sanden, a division manager with the 6th Judicial District Department of Correctional Services, is also the site coordinator for the Central Cedar Rapids Weed and Seed program. Comments: bruce.vander

sanden@iowa.gov