Gangs: A Bridge Between Public Health and Police: The Edison Case Study
The Edison Township Department of Health and Human Services through its Municipal Alliance program has worked on gang prevention programming for over 10 years in cooperation with the Edison Police Department. This seminar is a case study that tracks the development of Edison's gang prevention programs within the community. The presenter will take the participants from initial discussions on low level gang activity, to documenting the progression of more aggressive gang activity. Participants will be given thorough survey data and the steps taken culminating in program development, expansion and entrenchment in the community. They will also be given information regarding the barriers faced in development and issues of implementation. They will also be presented with advantages of coalition-based programming housed within a public health department with cooperative implementation by a police department.
Speaker, Lisa Gulla is the Assistant Health Officer for the Department of Health and Human Services for the Municipality of Edison, New Jersey. There she oversees the Divisions of Nursing, Municipal Alliance, and Health Education. She develops researches, develops, and designs programs and resource projects for residents of the city. She is also responsible for the research, writing and implementation of new grant opportunities, as well as administrative labor, fiscal records, and the establishment of innovative fund raising programs. Lisa's past experiences include being a Program Coordinator for the Middle Township Health Department where she developed complete prevention, education and counseling programs form conception. She has also been a Senior Counselor for the John F. Kennedy Medical Center of Woodbridge where she was responsible for all adolescent and children’s services, as well as, a liaison between county organizations, the court system and schools. She has also provided staff services early on in her career for UMDNJ-University Behavioral Health Care; the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (NCADD) of Middlesex County; the Center for Prevention and counseling; and NCADD if New Jersey. Lisa received a Masters in Public Health from the UMDNJ-RWJMS and Rutgers University and a Masters of Art in Education from Seton Hall University. Her undergraduate education was completed at Montclair University where she earned a Bachelor of Art in Psychology. She is a Licensed Health Officer by the State of New Jersey, complete studies at the UMDNJ/Community Mental Health Center's Institute for Chemical Dependency, Chemical Dependency Lectures & Case Consultation; and Clinical Practicuum: Individual & Family Approaches; is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society, and has numerous memberships and certifications in prevention, addiction, and employee assistance.
