City Issues Progress Report on Curbing Gang Violence

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

October 3 -- Nearly five months after State and local leaders vowed to take action to stop the gang violence that for years has cut short the lives of dozens of Santa Monica youths, a City report published Thursday shows some progress has been made, but much of the unprecedented plan still remains on paper.

Forged after two community workshops headed by State Senator Sheila Kuehl that were interrupted by a grizzly gang-related double murder in March, the plan calls for nearly a dozen “action partners” to bring better educational and job opportunities to local kids who everyday face the pressures of joining gangs or selling drugs to survive.

Community leaders welcomed the efforts over the past few months made by the City, School District, College, business community, police and various County and State agencies to pool resources and bring about new work and educational programs.

The report is a start, said Oscar de la Torre, a vocal community activist from the gang-prone Pico Neighborhood, but he cautioned that much work remains.

“My feeling is that progress is being made, but that some areas are doing better than others,” said de la Torre, a member of the School Board and director of the Pico Youth and Family Center.

Accomplishments made in the last four months include the creation of two intern positions in the City’s Maintenance Division, stepped up efforts to beautify the Pico Neighborhood -- including better lighting and boosting anti-graffiti efforts -- and an evaluation of school-based mental health services to increase grant funding.

The biggest step forward, however, may have been taken by the School District with the opening September 7 of a day school in Memorial Park to help youths who have been expelled or served time in jail reenter school and society.

“We hope that the day school will provide a new learning environment to help students who have not been successful in the traditional classroom setting,” said de la Torre.

“There’s more one-on-one support, counseling, vocational training and a curriculum that will hopefully connect what they’re learning in the classroom to real life. Really, we want to them to be inspired.”

To date, six students have been enrolled, although the program is looking to increase that number to 30 students per year.

To educate families about the program, the Pico Youth and Family Center will hold a block party October 8, while ongoing outreach efforts will take place at the soon-to-be-reopened Virginia Avenue Park, which is scheduled to be finished November 12.

Organizers hope the Pico Neighborhood park’s reopening will also help set other efforts in motion, serving as a base of operations for several programs aimed at curbing youth violence.

“The park has traditionally been the heart of public activity and support for the neighborhood,” de la Torre said.

The Chamber of Commerce – whose members in May vowed to help 100 at risk youths in Santa Monica -- are working with the City to establish a program at the park with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters mentoring program, which would visit two or three times every week.

The park will also act as a sort of clearing house, providing kids with information on college opportunities, according to the report,

Despite the accomplishments in education and some movement on job training, much of the plan is still being laid out.

City officials said they have contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Probation to organize training and increase communication for youth supervisors in the police and social services departments.

City officials are also continuing to work on better coordinating release and re-entry programs with the probation department, according to the report.

On another front, City officials report that they are training staff to better link families with resources and make sure the lowest income families receive financial assistance. The report, however, did not outline exactly how this will will be achieved or the type of training that has been undertaken.

When it comes to education, the Santa Monica College Pico Partnership met late this spring with the principal at John Adams Middle School to launch a program aimed at preparing at-risk youths for college, the report said.

In addition, school officials visited Inglewood to assess “Gear Up,” a “talent search” program to help middle and high school students graduate and continue on to college. Officials hope to secure federal funding to help establish a similar program in Santa Monica.

District officials are also busy instituting a local version of the national “Valued Youth at Work Program,” which would offer tutoring and career planning for 30 students at John Adams.

A two-day college introduction class for middle school, taught by Santa Monica instructors is also in the works, while City officials have begun meeting with the School District to increase physical security around Edison Elementary, which was the site of a shooting late last year.

No one was injured, but the incident helped ignite the current campaign to combat youth violence in Santa Monica.

Religious organizations are lending a hand by increasing literature and art programs in the district and sponsoring community talks to encourage civic involvement.

Increasing jobs remains a key piece of the plan, proponents said.

City, School District and College officials met with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) and the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC) to establish programs that offer apprenticeships and help local youth build careers.

Pico Youth and Family Center officials met in June with SBCTC to discuss possible opportunities, although de la Torre said the effort is still in the planning stages.

“We definitely need to increase job opportunities in Santa Monica for the youth, especially for those that have a criminal record,” de la Torre said. “There’s a lot of building and development around Santa Monica, and we should work to connect kids to those jobs.”

Law Enforcement appears to be a critical component of the plan, although the report states that the Police Department would boost interactions with the community, but not fundamentally change its philosophy, known as “community policing.”