Intensive outreach program saves lives, targets at-risk young people in Baltimore

BALTIMORE -- More than 20 young people have been shot in Baltimore this year.

One program that aims to stop the violence and make a difference in their lives is Roca. 

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren first reported on this immersive program almost five years ago when it came to Baltimore. 

Now, he is checking back in to see the difference it has made. 

"I got involved in Roca after some run-ins with the law," Deandre Chase said.

Chase credits the outreach with saving his life.

"I'm from West Baltimore, the Freddie Gray neighborhood," Chase said. "I wouldn't even be able to tell you where I would be today without Roca. They grab ahold of you and hold you till the end of it."

Roca relies on intensive outreach with a current caseload of around 250 people—the most at-risk youth in the city. Many of them are between the ages of 16 and 24.

It provides them with job training, a way to get their high school equivalency diplomas, even basic things like getting identification and safe shelter.

They may have made a mistake, but that doesn't mean they have to suffer forever for that one mistake," Jamal West, the assistant director of youth programs, said. "You can't be like everybody else in their life where as soon as they want to quit, you give up on them, just like they have."

West is involved in just about every case and said he does not don't take "no" for an answer.

"We have relentless outreach, so if we knock on the door today and you slam the door in our face, we'll be right back again tomorrow," West said. "It took me 89 tries to get through to this one young man. The first time I knocked on the door, he ran out the back. …Building that trust goes a long way. If this is just a regular job to you, these guys see through the façade."

Kurt Palermo, Roca's vice president in Maryland, told Hellgren his organization gets information on shootings daily and goes to neighborhoods to track down young survivors.

"Within 48 to 72 hours, we're running lists, checking names. We're offering services to the young people and their families," Palermo said. "The level of violence in Baltimore is much higher than any other city that we work in currently, but the reality is a young person with a gun who is at any moment going to use it or potentially be the victim of gun violence is no different."

Roca's data shows that its members are making a difference. Those involved in the program are less likely to be arrested and incarcerated than their peers, according to the data.

Of the 445 people served in almost five years, the latest annual report shows that while 98% have had a traumatic experience, after 18 months,  94 percent made improvements in behavioral health. After 24 months, 79 percent had no new arrests and 98 percent had no new incarcerations.

In the first 24 months of enrollment, young men who sought help from Roca Baltimore were arrested 16% less than their comparable Baltimore peers, according to Roca's statistics. 

After 24 months with Roca, 79% were not arrested, and 98 percent were not incarcerated for new charges, the statistics show.

"The change I see is the belief in them," West said. "They don't normally have people in their corner who believe in them to do the right thing."

Chase told WJZ that he is in it for the long haul. 

"I couldn't say it would make a big difference for everyone who does it, but it made a big difference for me—an outstanding difference," he said.

Roca is soon expanding into Baltimore County. The organization will soon begin helping young people in the Essex area.