Youth and adults address youth violence prevention, school improvement

by Jim Keddy
Director, PICO California

On Feb. 24 and 25, more than 130 youth leaders and 100 adults from throughout the state gathered in Sacramento to discuss strategies on youth violence prevention and school improvement, and to build relationships with some of the state's highest-ranking public officials. Young people and adults from the Meadowview Partnership, a REACH-funded initiative, participated and played key leadership roles in the two-day event.

On the first evening, youth and adult leaders came together to learn from one another regarding their efforts to reduce youth violence and to win the policies and resources necessary for long-term change. In Union City, for example, community leaders are urging their city council to set aside $1 million from a proposed $5 million public safety measure for youth prevention and intervention services. In Oakland, grassroots leaders are working with city officials to develop the Oakland Strategy, modeled after a successful effort in Boston in which outreach workers visit young people involved in gangs and violence and seek to help them create a way out through jobs and other services.

In addition to violence prevention, the gathering focused on efforts to raise high school graduation rates. In San Diego, parent and student leaders are challenging their local school district to raise graduation and college-going rates at Lincoln High. In Sacramento, leaders are working with educators to carry out home visits to students at the middle and high school levels whose attendance and grades suggest they are at risk of dropping out. This dropout prevention work is moving forward quickly in the Meadowview community through REACH support.

After an evening of learning and community building, the participants met the next morning with the following public officials:

- State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell
- Paul Seave, State Director of the Gang and Youth Violence Policy Office of the Governor
- California Secretary of Education Dave Long
- State Senator Darrell Steinberg, chair of the Select Committee on High School Graduation

In each meeting, youth gave testimony about their experience and concerns, and asked questions of the public officials regarding their current plans. The officials left the meeting impressed by the energy and focus of the participants.

PICO California, a statewide network of community organizing efforts, coordinated the event. The gathering was a step forward in a campaign led by youth and adults affiliated with PICO to win a greater investment of public resources in youth development and education. The PICO affiliate in Sacramento is Area Congregations Together (ACT). For more information, contact Jim Keddy at jim@picocalifornia.org.