Grants to gang prevention programs announced
Ariel Edwards Levy | 7-1-2010 | Comments |
| Print this Page
$7.5 million for 16 new grants to steer at-risk youth away from gangs has been awarded in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday at a press conference at Los Angeles Harbor College.In L.A. County, hundreds of thousands of dollars will go to fund job training and other programs at community groups and schools, including Harbor, L.A. Mission College, and Cerritos College.
At a time when the state is slashing numerous social programs to settle its budget, which today becomes overdue, Schwarzenegger was visibly relieved to deliver some good news.
"I know when I come here that I will get hassled, because this is budget time." he said. 'But you know, I'm a big fan of community college because I myself am a product of community college....So it is natural that I will be always taking care of community college, and also of higher education. Even though we have a $20 billion deficit, we're going to put $1.2 billion more into higher education, into our colleges and universities in California, because that's the future, so we really have to do everything to protect it."
Hear Gov. Schwarzenegger explain why he thinks after school programs are important:
Sheriff Lee Baca, another community college graduate, agreed.
"In order to fight crime, you must invest in kids," he said. "Studies have shown that when you invest in children, for every dollar you put into their education, you'll reap two or three dollars of saving in the aftermath of that investment."
The programs they were espousing aim to keep kids out of gangs by offering them afterschool programs. Gang violence peaks during the summer months, when students are out of school, he said.
Governor’s Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy Director Paul Seave agreed, saying the state needed to focus on providing education and employment as alternatives to crime.
"California cannot arrest its way out of its gang problem," he said. "Enforcement is very important...but so is prevention, intervention, and perhaps most important in the long run, education and job training."
Seave specifically praised a teacher training program that helps troubled youths graduate high school and college while employing them to work at childcare centers in preparation for their teaching careers.
'When I first heard about this strategy several years ago, candidly, I didn't believe it was possible," he said. 'The lesson is, if we have high expections and we provide appropriate support, our kids will soar."
One success story from that program is Robert Jones, who said the program was special to him because it gave him the opportunity to return to his neighborhood in Downey, and to work with children he hoped later to see in his classes.
Before starting the program, he was homeless and failing classes.
"To be completely honest, [this] has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me," he said. "I didn't know what I was going to do, when this opportunity came - I wasn't going to graduate high school, and I just planned on hanging around here just like everybody else. But they gave me a roadmap."
Schwarzenegger praised Jones' accomplishments.
"In this atmosphere, we hear so much bad news...about the oil spill and about the Russian spies sent over here, and the economy's down and people are losing jobs and all of those kinds of things," he said. "And this is a good story. What we are doing here is good, it's unbelievable. And this guy here, he's a real champion."
Tags: ariel edwards-levy gang intervention governor schwarzenegger