09-17-2023 GAR - Flipbook - Page 12
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A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Sunday, September 17, 2023
Intervening to Assist Young Men
Roca Baltimore Aims to Break the Cycle of Incarceration
By Carol Sorgen, Contributing Writer
B
altimore’s young men are in
danger. Every three years,
1,000 of them are lost to
violence, while another 3,000 are
victims of non-fatal shootings.
Almost all of them are young
men of color. In the past five
years, however, Roca (Spanish for
“rock”) Baltimore has given many
of them the opportunity and the
skills needed to break that cycle of
violence.
Roca Inc, was founded in 1988 in
Chelsea, Massachusetts, as part of
North Suffolk Mental Health, but soon
became an independent organization,
focusing on teen pregnancy prevention
and targeting high-risk young men out
of schools, gang members, and highrisk young mothers.
Through the ensuing years, Roca
has expanded its programming and
partnered with such organizations as
Photo above: Adobe stock
Massachusetts General Hospital and
United Way. It has opened additional centers throughout Massachusetts,
and in 2018 launched Roca Baltimore,
its first replication of its Intervention
Model outside Massachusetts.
“One of the reasons Baltimore was
selected was because of the city’s
commitment to our four-year model,”
says Kurtis Palermo, executive vice
president of Roca Maryland.
Palermo explains that the young
men with whom Roca works have often lost all trust and hope for the future as a result of the trauma and urban violence they have suffered. “But
we never give up on them,” says Palermo. “We want them to know that we’ll
keep knocking on their door. That
we’re judgment-free. And that they’re
safe with us.”
That is the fundamental mission of
Roca – to build trust over the four
years a young man is involved with the
program, and to give him the tools and
support to change the trajectory not
only of his life, but even the lives of
those around him.
Roca’s Intervention Model is based
on four components:
1. Starting with the heart by providing safety and stability.
2. Rewiring the brain through Roca’s cognitive behavioral theory,
which teaches the skills needed to
heal trauma.
3. Practicing relentless patience by
supporting its young men through
temporary failures.
4. Rewiring the system by engaging
police and other partners to test
new strategies, share information
and coordinate case management,
all of which benefit not only the
young people involved but the
community at large as well.
The program’s statistics point to
its success: At the end of its first four
years in operation in Baltimore, 95%
of the young men who had completed
the first two years of Roca were not
re-incarcerated.
“By showing them trust and consistency and engaging with them fully,
we can show them that they haven’t
been left behind or forgotten,” says
Palermo.
Sheldon was one of Roca Baltimore’s
first referrals. He had been in and out
of jails and was a “big name” on the
streets. “He was very hard-headed and
just going through the motions during
his first year here,” says Palermo. Then
there was yet another arrest, but instead of turning their back on Sheldon,
the staff continued to see him and encourage him. “We told him that this
was his crossroads and he had to make
a decision,” Palermo says. “We were
there to help him, but he had to decide
in which direction he wanted to go.”
Fast forward and today Sheldon is a
full-time Roca youth worker. “People
now see him as Sheldon, not the guy
Assisting young men
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