The FBI’s Community Outreach Program supports the Bureau’s investigative mission by working to address multiple interrelated societal problems—including crime, drugs, gangs, terrorism, and violence. Linking community service, prevention, and law enforcement is a national trend spurred by grass roots efforts around the country, and FBI employees have joined this movement, volunteering in a wide variety of community-related efforts.
Outreach Specialist
JoAnn Benson
CTOutreach@fbi.govSocial Media Outreach
Community Relations (Facebook)
@FBINewHaven (Twitter)
@FBI (Instagram)
The Citizens Academy is an engaging six-to-eight-week program that gives business, religious, civic, and community leaders an inside look at the FBI. Classes meet in the evening at the FBI field office. The mission of the FBI Citizens Academy is to foster a greater understanding of the role of federal law enforcement in the community through frank discussion and education.
Candidates are nominated by FBI employees, former Citizens Academy graduates, and community leaders. Participants are selected by the special agent in charge of the local FBI field office.
To Apply
FBI New Haven isn't currently accepting Citizens Academy applications.
Since 1990, the Director’s Community Leadership Awards has been the principal means for the FBI to publicly recognize achievements of individuals and organizations that make extraordinary contributions to education and the prevention of crime and violence in their communities. Each field office nominates an individual or organization for the award, and, once selected, the recipients are invited to a ceremony and reception at FBI Headquarters.
Program
In July 2023, FBI New Haven, in partnership with Yale University Police Department, will be offering a youth program called Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy (FLEYA). The program will run July 16 to July 22, 2023.
The program is an overnight camp at Yale University. FLEYA will give 30 Connecticut high school students between the ages of 16 and 18, an inside look at today’s FBI, while simultaneously exposing them to various local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and practices.
Classroom training will be provided on various subjects including: cyber technology, investigative forensics, domestic and international terrorism, civil rights (hate crimes) and more. Information on the FBI Honors Internship Program will also be provided. Law enforcement professionals from the FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and State and local agencies will provide instruction for this unique youth program.
Application
FLEYA Eligibility Criteria
- Student is a United States Citizen residing in the state of Connecticut
- Student is currently enrolled in a Connecticut High School
- Student must be 16 to 18 years old at the time of the Future Law Enforcement Youth Academy (FLEYA), which will be held July 16-22
- This program is only for current high school students (students graduating high school in the spring 2023, are not eligible)
- Student minimum GPA of 2.8
- Student must complete the entire application
- Student understands they must be present each day of the FLEYA program; no absences during FLEYA
- Completed application and essay must be emailed in PDF form to FLEYAprogram@fbi.gov (Note: No Google Docs or applications requiring a password to access will be accepted)
- Please direct questions about the FLEYA program to FLEYAprogram@fbi.gov
The Child ID app—the first mobile application created by the FBI—provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your children on your smartphone (note: no information is stored or collected by the FBI). In the event your child goes missing, users can show the pictures and provide physical identifiers such as height and weight to security or police officers on the spot. Using a special tab on the app, users can also quickly and easily e-mail the information to authorities.
The app also includes tips on keeping children safe, as well as specific guidance on what to do in those first few crucial hours after a child goes missing.
The FBI, in partnership with the DEA, created a short documentary focusing on the crisis of prescription drug and opioid abuse. The film, Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, outlines the dangerous cycle of opioid and prescription drug abuse—how the problem starts, how the addiction takes hold, and how that addiction damages one’s life and body. High school students and all ages above are the target audience for this video and the curriculum/facilitated discussion that accompanies it.
FBI-SOS is a free, fun, and informative program that promotes cyber citizenship by educating students in third to eighth grades on the essentials of online security. For teachers, the site provides a ready-made curriculum that meets state and federal Internet safety mandates, complete with online testing and a national competition to encourage learning and participation. A secure online system enables teachers to register their schools, manage their classes, automatically grade their students’ exams, and request the test scores.
Anyone—young or old, in the U.S. or worldwide—can complete the activities on the FBI-SOS website. The testing and competition, however, are only open to students in grades 3-8 at public, private, or home schools in the U.S. or its territories.
