The PanZOu Project is accepting donations to assist the relief efforts in Haiti. Your donation is fully tax deductible. We have chose to raise money for QIFD (Quisqueya International Organization for Freedom & Development), a non profit organizationthats has been working in Haiti on the grassroots level to advance political, economic and social rights and support development initiatives.

For more information please contact Laura Kallus at 305-956-2524 or lkallus@panzouproject.org.

NEW!! Get your Ladies Tanks or Tshirt for donating!

Donate $20 and get your Hearts for Haiti T-Shirt now! Click here for t shirt specs.

OR DONATE ANY AMOUNT TO HELP HAITI - NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL!

Special thanks to Whole Foods and NBCChannel 6! See the news clip here!

PanZOu staff held workshops on bullying to 7 classes of 2nd

graders at Greynolds Park Elementary in March!

PanZOu Project, Inc. is generously funded by:

The Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention

The Children's Trust

PanZOu Project, Inc. would like to thank the Governor's Office ofDrug Control, the City ofNorth Miami Beach, and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justicefor their past & continued sponsorship and agency over our program, without which we would not have been able to provide freeservices to over 4000youth and families.

Become a Fan on FaceBook!

Become a friend of PanZOu on Myspace

And Ms. Laura on Myspace!

PanZOu Project, Inc. has been implementing the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP’s) Gang Reduction Program (GRP) since 2004.  PanZou works with Haitian gangs and other Miami gangs to reduce youth violence. A key strategy of this comprehensive gang model is intervention.  Active haitian gang members, miami gang members returning to the community from confinement, and youth closely associated with active gang members often have committed one or more serious offenses and are at high risk of further delinquency. These youth typically range in age from the early teens to the early twenties and are often on probation or parole. Some are not involved with the justice system, and most are resistant to traditional services. The comprehensive gang reduction model incorporates aggressive street outreach and recruitment efforts to ensure that these high-risk individuals and their families receive needed services.

As part of PanZOu, miami gang-involved youth and youth at high risk for gang involvement are identified and referred to a multidisciplinary Intervention Team that includes a small group of front-line workers from a variety of Miami agencies.  As needs are identified, the team may also include employment agency staff, community development/mobilization staff, specialized social service providers, parole officers, and others.  The core staff, however, includes those who are expected to have almost daily contact with targeted youth.  PanZOu Project, Inc. currently operates two Intervention Teams that meet regularly.  One is in North Miami Beach and the other is in North Miami/Little Haiti.  As a team, weidentify and provide services and/or links to services, opportunities, and supervision for high-risk and gang-involved youth and their families.  Referrals are made to the PanZOu Project, Inc. from any member of the Miami community. Primary referrals come from probation and community control, schools, the North Miami Beach Police Department and North Miami Police Department, churches, and parents.  A large majority of referrals come from youth themselves who encourage their peers to join. 

Once a referral is made, PanZOu’s street outreach workers identify and connect to these youth to determine their risk and openness to services. If the referred youth is a juvenile, consent is obtained from the parents.  An intake is done with the family or young adult (if over 18 years).  Gang intervention activities include individualized services and case management, including outreach to family members over extended periods of time. The team ensures conditions of probation, such as community service or substance abuse treatment, are met and educational and occupational opportunities are provided.  The Intervention Team determines the risk level of each PanZOu client which then determines the intensity of case management.  For example, if a client is high risk he or she shall receive a minimum of three contacts a week by the street outreach staff.  The contacts include home visits and school visits.  If a client is not attending school, a component of the intervention plan shall include education or vocation goals. 

A PanZOu client is kept active in the program until he or she achieves their intervention goals effectively moving them from level three (high risk) to level one (low risk) and then closing their case once services are no longer necessary.  For some Miami youth this is only a few months.  For others, it may take over a year to move them from active gang members into productive, law abiding citizens.  If at any time it is determined that a PanZOu client has resumed gang or criminal activity, the Intervention Team may raise their level of risk (or reopen their case) and intensify their case management and services.

One of the PanZOu Project, Inc.’s primary focus is on developing the employability of our clients.  A job developer teaches a Job Skills Development (JSD) class that clients must complete.  If clients are successful in the JSD program they receive a certificate and then are placed on job interviews with local businesses.  Our job developer works to develop relationships with Miami Dade employers who have agreed to hire the graduates. Many of the clients have a criminal histoory which makes it very difficult to obtain employment on their own. In the summer of 2009, PanZOu opened a screen printing and embroidery shop, PanZOu Productions, which provides On The Job Training and employment for up to 7 transitioning gang members at a time.

Key Points

·         Gang Intervention activities are directed to the target youth individually and not primarily to the gang as a unit, although understanding and sensitivity to gang structure and “system” are essential to influencing individual gang youth and providing effective intervention.

·         Services and activities are provided to Miami gang members returning to the community after confinement.

·         All key organizations located in the target area are encouraged to make needed services and facilities available to gang youth, with proper consideration given to working with this population. Haitian gang members and their families receive services in Creole.

·         Intervention Team members are allowed to contact Haitian gang members in prison or detention centers to plan for services to be provided to these youth upon release into the community.

·         Targeted youth (and their families) are provided with a variety of services that assist them to adopt nondeviant values and to access programs and organizations that will meet their social, educational, vocational, and sometimes health, housing, and income needs.

·         Street outreach is established to focus on core gang youth, with special capacity to reach youth, both nonadjudicated and adjudicated, in the local community setting.

·         The primary focus of street outreach services is ensuring safety while remaining aware of and linking youth and families to educational preparation, prevocational or vocational training, job development, job referral, parent training, mentoring, family counseling, drug treatment, tattoo removal, and other services in ways that are age-appropriate.

·         Outreach activities such as recreation and arts are carefully arranged so as not to become a primary focus, but rather a means to establish prosocial interpersonal relationships and provide access to essential resources or services.

"Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul,"
"Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul,"
"Serving Time, Serving Others,"
“Serving Productive Time”