Presented by: Dr. Lydia A. Hollie, J.D., M.A.Ed. Chair City of Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

1. Efforts to Effectively Reduce Youth and Gang Violence in the City of Long Beach Association of Criminal Justice ResearchCaliforniaOctober 2006 Presented by: Dr. Lydia A. Hollie, J.D., M.A.Ed. Chair City of Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

2. Learning from the Past • On November 4, 2003, the City of Long Beach Human Relations Commission (HRC) presented an Interim Report and Re-examination of the Problems of Youth and Gang Violence in the City of Long Beach. The report reflected the impacts that youth violence has on the quality of life for youth and human relations in the city. It was approved by the community leadership, the Long Beach Police Department, unanimously adopted by the City Council, and implemented. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

3. Key HRC Recommendations • Convene a task force representative of the major leadership sectors of the community to develop a citywide comprehensive approach to implement recommendations from the HRC report over a three-year period. • Train gang conflict mediators as a resource to the Human Dignity Program’s Hate Crimes Response and Intergroup Conflict Resolution Teams. • Develop a public awareness campaign to communicate relevant anti-gang messages. • Strengthen relationships with ethnic specific community based organizations. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

4. Living in the Present with HopeYouth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force “Reducing Violence…Saving Lives” captures the essence of the Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force and reflects its ultimate goal. It is a 40-member group charged with pursuing solutions to wide-ranging issues that significantly affect the quality of life for our youth. It represents every major leadership sector of the community as well as reflects the demographic diversity of the community. Members were selected specifically for their expertise and interest in youth and youth violence prevention. • Mission: The Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force envisions a community where youth are highly valued, well educated, skilled for the 21st century workplace, healthy, law abiding, and contributing members of society who respect the rights of others and themselves. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

5. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force • Purpose: To inform, consult, and work in collaboration with civic leadership, city agencies, and educational and youth leaders as to the appropriate preventative measures, responses and strategies related to issues of delinquency, conflict, violence, and gang-related activity. • The Task Force identifies the overarching objectives from the Human Relations Commission (HRC) report, identifies possible approaches, ensures alignment of the strategic direction and recommends strategies to implement the recommendations from the HRC Report. All participants have agreed to keep the Task Force’s work public and measurable. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

6. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force • Specific duties of the Task Force include: • Needs assessment of at-risk youth and young adults, evaluate available resources and propose ways to address unmet needs. • Increase public awareness of the resources available to combat youth violence and gang involvement, and of strategies to reduce the problem. • Research and report to the civic leadership, educational leaders and/or community partners funding the appropriate risk assessment instruments to respond to and treat the juveniles and young adults at risk of violence and/or vulnerable to gang involvement. • Conduct performance evaluation of services and programs in the community, e.g., the evaluation of each funded program for sustainability of efforts. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

7. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force • Areas of focus: • Media and Community Awareness Subcommittee • Enough is Enough Community Dialogue, 41-hour telethon • Youth Engagement and Violence Prevention Subcommittee • $70,000 Pilot Gang Divergence Project – targeted youth with light gang affiliations received intensive intervention services • Early Childhood Education Subcommittee • Kindergarten Festivals • Support state and federal legislation regarding early childhood issues • Workforce Development Subcommittee • Co-host Summer Opportunities Fair as a large community event to provide youth productive activities over their summer vacations • $2 million in Workforce grant dollars acquired City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

8. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force A centerpiece of the Task Force’s efforts are highlighted by the following statistics from L.B. Workforce Development: • More than 5,000 youth accessed services or referral information through the Youth Opportunity Center. • More than 1,000 youth were placed in training, internships or employment. • More than 300 youth were placed in part-time or full-time employment. • 93% of participating youth successfully completed their planned services. • 86% of the 14-18 year olds in academic-based programs increased skill levels in math and/or reading by at least one grade level. • 70% of those same youth were found to still be employed, in training, or continuing with higher education 9 months after program completion. • 70% of the 19-21 year olds served were placed in employment. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

9. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force • Executive Committee: The Executive Committee, composed of the highest leadership of the city to reflect the diverse interests impacted by youth violence, provides oversight of the implementation process, as well as direct support for resource allocation. • Resource Team: The Resource Team, composed of City and Long Beach Unified School District staff, is responsible for providing staff support, reviewing the City’s current youth-serving policies and programs, identifying programs by goals and targeted population and activities, and benchmarking programs from other cities. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

10. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force • The Task Force meets on a monthly basis, the second Monday of each month. Meetings include reports on recent youth and gang violence, presentations by subject matter experts, information sharing on local and national best practices, breakout sessions, and facilitated discussions. The meetings are open to the public. • Guest presenters included Professor Diego Vigil of UCSD, and Father Boyle of Homeboy Industries, Inc. • Community forums held on education, conflict mediation, and juvenile delinquency, and sponsored related workshops. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

11. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force • Completed citywide criminal activity analysis and identified specific Police beats as the initial point of focus: • LBPD and Department of Parks Recreations and Marine worked together collaboratively to place Mobile Rec. sites within the targeted area. • 3-year Delinquency Plan for the City of Long Beach developed as part of a grant application to the Board of Corrections. • CSU Long Beach Community Issues Forum partner • CSU Long Beach Center for Community Engagement partner City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

12. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force • Partnered closely with the City's Workforce Development Board Youth Council to strengthen outreach and programming for city's most at-risk youth. • Youth cohort worked with a facilitator to design a youth-driven outreach campaign for the Youth Opportunity Center's services. • That campaign resulted in those same youth appearing on billboards, bus shelter ads, and posters widely distributed throughout the community. • Focus placed on "2nd chance" opportunities: programming to connect older, out-of-school youth with vocational career paths such as entrance in the construction trades. • More than 200 young adults and residents have accessed those programs in the last 18 months. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

13. Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force Recognition of Efforts • City of Long Working Together to Serve Management Conference Award in the category of Best Effort to keep Long Beach Safe • City of Long Beach Human Dignity Program Award, shared with Charter Communications, Press Telegram, and Leadership Long Beach • 100 Best Cities Award, Pacific Region City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

14. Envisioning a Promising Future • The Task Force will intensify its efforts in the following areas: • Identify and incorporate youth stakeholders and other CBOs from the target area for inclusion in the overall effort. • Encourage community input and improve communication networks to increase awareness of the Task Force’s efforts in the target area and citywide. • Enhance/continue current curricular efforts within both the Long Beach Unified School District and City Parks programs, e.g., comprehensive health education, use of research validated curricula, and the use of supplemental programs as appropriate for the community (anger management, violence prevention). • Explore and implement ways to involve past and active gang members in a meaningful way. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

15. Envisioning a Promising Future • The Task Force is the designated Weed and Seed Strategic Violence Prevention Oversight Entity • The Weed & Seed Grant Application Steering Sub-Committee consists of Task Force Members, Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (grant writer), the local U.S. Attorney General’s Office, CBOs, and local community members. • The grant is a community based, comprehensive multi-agency collaboration to address law enforcement, crime prevention, ex-offender reentry, and neighborhood restoration through the redeployment of existing public and private resources. • The grant is for 5-year period, totaling $1 million. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

16. Envisioning a Promising Future Media and Community Awareness Subcommittee • Enough is Enough Community Dialogue, Part 2, will follow up with the community from the first dialogue to ascertain changes in perception about crime reduction, neighborhood restoration, and violence prevention. Early Childhood Education Subcommittee • Efforts involve ongoing coordination between both City, LBUSD, and CBO’s to track program investment and success as well as identify promising programming approaches appropriate for the target area. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

17. Envisioning a Promising Future Youth Engagement and Violence Prevention Subcommittee • Identify successful models for implementation: Primary Prevention – Classroom training targeting all students, i.e., K-12 curriculum, DARE, etc. Secondary Prevention – Emphasis on “at-risk” kids through teaching, mentoring, etc. Tertiary Prevention (and Intervention) – Targeting kids already exposed to criminal justice system, e.g., Shortstop, etc. • Diligently seek to obtain feedback from youth on which prevention efforts they believe are the most promising and effective. Workforce Development Subcommittee • Continue to collaborate with the Workforce Development Board’s Youth Council to implement strategies to increase youth employment services through grant and program development, and through increased outreach of services available to youth through the Youth Opportunities Council and other youth-serving organizations. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

18. Parting Vision The day will come when the local newspaper headlines read, “News Alert! Among Our Youth: Death, Injury, and Incarceration Declines to Zero. Peaceful Co-Existence is Steadily on the Rise.” City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

19. References • Long Beach Human Relations Commission. (2003). An interim report on the problem of youth and gang violence in the city of long beach. CA: City of Long Beach. Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services website:http://www.ci.long-beach.ca.us/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=1677. • Long Beach Workforce Development Bureau. (2006). Bureau statistics. CA: City of Long Beach. • Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force. (2005). Annual report. CA: City of Long Beach. • Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force. (2006). Policies and procedures. CA: City of Long Beach. City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force

20. For further information, please contact: Anita Dempsey, Human Dignity Officer City of Long Beach Human Dignity Program Dr. Lydia A. Hollie, Chair City of Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force 333 West Ocean Boulevard 13th Floor Long Beach, California 90802 (562) 570-6958 Ms. Dempsey’s email: Anitra_Dempsey@longbeach.gov Dr. Hollie’s email: cbg2010@earthlink.net City of Long Beach Youth & Gang Violence Prevention Task Force