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Friday, July 30,
2004 (SF Chronicle)
Anti-violence program gets kudos, grant
Rachel Gordon
The San Francisco Sheriff Department's Resolve to Stop the
Violence
Project, or RSVP, was honored this week with an Innovations
in American
Government Award, a prestigious prize that comes with a
$100,000 grant.
There were five winners in the national competition, which
is run by the
Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at
Harvard
University and the Council for Excellence in Government.
The San Francisco
project targets male inmates incarcerated for violent offenses,
including
domestic violence, with the goal of helping them become
productive members
of society upon their release.
A 2002 study found that 80 percent of the
men enrolled in the program for
at least four months are 80 percent less likely to be rearrested
for a
violent crime than those who don't go through RSVP.
The intensive program, started by Sheriff
Michael Hennessey seven years
ago, requires participants to engage in anti-violence training,
and make
use of meditation, the arts and acupuncture to help with
the
transformation. They hear from survivors of violent crimes
and are
required to perform community service when they are freed
from jail.
Getting a job after doing time is a priority.
"RSVP takes a holistic and creative
approach to dealing with violent
offenders in the San Francisco area and works to not only
address their
behavior, but also the root of that behavior, most notably
attitudes and
beliefs," said Gowher Rizvi, director of the Harvard
institute that gives
the awards. "It goes way beyond the traditional criminal
justice model
with truly remarkable results."
E-mail Rachel Gordon at rgordon@sfchronicle.com.
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Copyright 2004 SF Chronicle
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