MBK Omaha, the journey to impact
Through strategic city-wide partnerships and leadership from the local organization The African American Empowerment Network (Empowerment Network), MBK Omaha has become a Model Community for showing a population-level impact on Milestone 6, all youth remain safe from violent crimes by demonstrating a 30 percent decrease in homicides from 2011 to 2022.
MBK Model Communities, an initiative of the Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance (MBK), aims to extend evidence-based practices and positive outcomes for boys and young men of color (BYMOC) nationwide. The MBK Alliance has identified four MBK communities that have demonstrated impact in at least one of the six MBK Milestones by instituting programming and initiatives that have positively shifted outcomes for BYMOC in the educational or violence reduction systems throughout their municipal areas. Through strategic city-wide partnerships and leadership from the local organization The African American Empowerment Network (Empowerment Network), MBK Omaha has become a Model Community for showing a population-level impact on Milestone 6, all youth remain safe from violent crimes by demonstrating a 30 percent decrease in homicides from 2011 to 2022.
Empowerment Network’s response to challenges
Studies show that increased graduation rates are frequently associated with positive public safety outcomes and lower crime rates for communities. Before the 2006 inception of Empowerment Network’s initiatives, North Omaha faced alarming statistics: a 50 percent graduation rate, 21 percent unemployment rate, 243 non-fatal gun violence incidents, 43 homicides, and a 32 percent clearance rate for homicide cases. Leading with the nationally recognized violence prevention and intervention model, Omaha 360, Empowerment Network founder and CEO Willie Barney took proactive steps to address these issues. As part of that plan, a leadership team of fewer than 10 people mobilized 80-plus local system leaders, community members, and youth to attend weekly meetings to share relevant data and provide updates on emerging practices that were deployed. The staggering statistics that were true in Omaha represent the type of Challenges that MBK was created to dismantle.
Building trust through community engagement
Empowerment Network’s Omaha 360 Violence Intervention Prevention (VIP) Collaborative addresses immediate threats of gun violence and the underlying issues that contribute to it. A big focus of Omaha 360 was to engage the community and youth impacted; this was an innovative approach for this community, which was not the norm in the city. This innovative approach allowed the engagement with the community together with police and systems leaders. Through weekly one-hour community meetings, Omaha 360 successfully brought together several diverse stakeholders, including community and faith leaders, city officials, youth, families, police departments, and those involved in gang intervention. The practice of bringing key stakeholders together was unheard of but proved to be extremely powerful. The core elements of these meetings include valuing input from every speaker and sharing real-time data. These meetings fostered open conversations and created a platform for problem-solving, data analysis, and proactive planning.
The Omaha 360 model has proven to be successful. However, building trust between communities, law enforcement, and systems leaders took years of persistence and dedication. Initially, there was skepticism about effectiveness and longevity from some law enforcement officials. Historically, there is a lack of trust between communities of color and law enforcement. Traditionally, law enforcement has not been designed to collaborate with communities, which can lead to a skewed understanding of community needs. After three years of persistent convenings, trust was established, and stakeholders have worked together, providing a positive avenue for addressing justice-related concerns collectively.
Strategic partnership and impact
The Omaha 360 VIP Collaborative developed goals and strategies for making an impact. The goals consisted of 1) reducing homicides city-wide and in targeted areas, 2) reducing gun violence (gun assaults), 3) reducing youth violence and gang violence, 4) providing positive alternatives and activities, 5) creating stronger relationships between police and the community, and 6) implementing police accountability and justice reform recommendations. To accomplish this, Omaha 360 executed the following strategies: Collaboration, Prevention, Intervention, Enforcement, Recovery and Reentry, Support Services, and Sustainable Funding & Support. Additionally, Empowerment Network’s programs provided career exploration, internships, and entrepreneurship training, emphasizing education's foundational role in achieving success. The collaboration between community leaders and law enforcement increased graduation rates to 81 percent, decreased the unemployment rate to seven percent, and resulted in significant reductions in homicides and non-fatal gun incidents. The clearance rate for solved homicides soared to 90 percent, showcasing the transformative impact. More recently in 2023 the clearance rate was 100 percent, which shows the continued success of the collective efforts.
Sustaining success
MBK Omaha and the broader Empowerment Network in Omaha is committed to sustaining and accelerating success for BYMOC with the support of My Brother’s Keeper Alliance. Strengthening relationships with the various community stakeholders, conducting regular check-ins, committing to data-sharing, and fostering community involvement is crucial to the program’s sustainability. The community, including parents, youth, and the police department, remains actively invested in ensuring safer streets for the City of Omaha.
Learn about the other model communities
- MBK Alliance
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- MBK Alliance
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