HomeMy WebLinkAbout19D - EPIC ANNUAL REPORTREQUEST FOR
COUNCIL ACTION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE:
JUNE 2, 2008
TITLE:
AUTHORIZE THE COUNCIL TO
RECEIVE AND FILE EPIC 2007
ANNUAL REPORT
~-~' ~ ~
CITY MANAGER
RECOMMENDED ACTION
CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY:
APPROVED
^ As Recommended
^ As Amended
^ Ordinance on 151 Reading
^ Ordinance on 2nd Reading
^ Implementing Resolution
^ Set Public Hearing For
CONTINUED TO
FILE NUMBER
Receive and file the 2007 Early Prevention and Intervention Commission
Annual Report.
DISCUSSION
In response to local and national trends in the youth gang problem, in
February of 2007 the Santa Ana City Council created the Early Prevention
and Intervention Commission (EPIC). Santa Ana is demographically one of the
youngest cities in the United States, and a number of its youth are
involved in gangs. The devastating effect of violent gang crime in our
community, as in others throughout the nation, prompted the City Council to
create the Early Prevention and Intervention Commission to help deal with
the problem in a systematic and strategic manner. The Commission's primary
objective is to provide recommendations to the City Council for early gang
prevention and intervention services and programs based on a coordinated
approach, with a focus on developing a continuum of services based upon
sound public policy. The purpose of this report is to comply with the EPIC
city ordinance requirement that the Commission provide the City Council
with an annual report on its progress and status.
FISCAL IMPACT
e is no fiscal impact with this action.
M falters
Ch of of Police
Police Department
19D-1
CITY OF SANTA ANA
Progress Report to Santa
Ana Citv Council
Early Prevention and Intervention Commission
May, 2008
S, id
"Santa Ana as a safe, healthy and connected community; empowering its youth
and families with trust and dignity to achieve success"
19D-2
FORWARD
The Commission would like to thank the residents of Santa Ana for their support
and contributions to the Commission's activities and deliberations during the past year.
The community's contributions in terms of input and ideas were invaluable in focusing
the Commission's review on the critical aspects of the gang problem. During the
neighborhood meetings and walking tours, commissioners, city staff and community
members were able to see firsthand the conditions that contribute to the gang problem,
and were able to establish lines of communication that will undoubtedly lead to more
effective and sustainable solutions in the future. In addition, the Commission wishes to
thank the Santa Ana City Council and the City Manager for their support in establishing
the Early Prevention and Intervention Commission. Without their foresight and belief in
systemic change, no effort to encourage long-term solutions could be undertaken.
This report will provide the City Council with an outline of the Commission's
progress to date, as well as a set of interim recommendations that begin the process of
encouraging truly systemic changes in how public and private entities view and deal
with the gang problem. The Commission hopes that these efforts will lead to effective,
measurable and sustainable strategies to reduce gang activity and help young people
avoid joining gangs.
Finally, the Commission wishes to acknowledge how difficult and complex the
task of addressing gang activity and violence can be. The quote from federal officials in
the Wyrick and Howell 2004 work illustrates the point, "Although thousands of programs
have been implemented..., the ongoing difficulties with youth gangs make one lesson
very clear.' there are no quick fixes or easy solutions for the problems that youth gangs
create or the problems that create youth gangs." Only by working together with
steadfast focus and determination will we begin to create thriving, empowered and safe
communities.
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008
Page 2
19D-3
2007 EARLY PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION COMMISSIONERS
Council Member
Mayor Pulido
Ward 1 -Councilmember Sarmiento
Ward 2 -Councilmember Martinez
Ward 3 -Councilmember Bustamante
Ward 4 -Councilmember Benavides
Ward 5 -Councilmember Alvarez
Ward 6 -Councilmember Tinajero
Apaointee/Commissioner
Marco Ramirez (Santa Ana College)
Vice-Chair Iliana Welty (Orange County Human
Relations Commission)
Chair Melanie Flores (Private Consultant)
Albert Garcia (Orange County Probation
Department, Retired)
Laura Morfin (Orange County Juvenile Court)
Jessica Amezcua (Community Service
Programs)
Thomas Gordon
At-Large
Non-Voting Members
At-Large
Santa Ana Unified School District
Garden Grove Unified School District
Rancho Santiago Community College District
Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce
Orange County Probation Department
Orange County Social Services
Ava Steaffens (KidWorks)
Santos Chavez (Taller San Jose)
Rosemarie "Rosie" Avila
John Marsh
Alfredo M. Amezcua, Esq.
Thomas Linnert
Valerie Amezcua
Christine Smith
Karla Roberts-Acosta
Faith Based Organizations Guadalupe Aguilar-Ramirez (OCCCO -Orange
County Congregation Community Organization)
Downtown Business Community Arturo Lomeli
2007 EARLY PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION COMMISSION WORK GROUPS
Assessment (Alfredo Amezcua, Conveners)
Community Mobilization (Thomas Gordon/Laura Morfin, Conveners)
Intervention (Marco Ramirez/Santos Chavez)
Prevention (Ava Steaffens, Convener)
Suppression (Valerie Amezcua, Convener)
Funding and Resources (Albert Garcia, Convener)
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 3
19D-4
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................5
Introduction and Methodology ........................................................ 10
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Model ........... 10
Commission Vision ........................................................................... 12
Goals and Responsibilities ................................................................ 12
Commission Activities ...................................................................... 14
Comprehensive Assessment ............................................................ 14
Workflow Diagram ........................................................................... 16
Working Groups ............................................................................... 17
Meetings and Neighborhood Walks .................................................. 18
Presentations ................................................................................... 18
Strategic Planning ............................................................................ 19
lessons learned ............................................................................... 20
Major Focus Areas for 2008 .............................................................. 22
Criteria for Program Evaluation and Long-Term Success .................... 22
Interim Recommendations ............................................................... 24
Conclusion ....................................................................................... 25
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 4
19D-5
SANTA ANA EARLY PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION
COMMISSION
ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In response to local and national trends in the youth gang problem, in February
of 2007 the Santa Ana City Council created the Early Prevention and Intervention
Commission (EPIC)'. Santa Ana is demographically one of the youngest cities in the
United States, and a number of its youth are involved in gangs. The devastating effect
of violent gang crime in our community, as in others throughout the nation, prompted
the City Council to create the Early Prevention and Intervention Commission to help
deal with the problem in a systematic and strategic manner. The Commission's primary
objective is to provide recommendations to the City Council for early gang prevention
and intervention services and programs based on a coordinated approach, with a focus
on developing a continuum of services based upon sound public policy. The purpose of
this report is to comply with the EPIC city ordinance requirement that the Commission
provide the City Council with an annual report on its progress and status.
During the last year, the Commission held nine monthly public community
meetings four of which were held in neighborhood venues, participated in
neighborhood walking tours, reviewed existing youth programs and services and
brought in experts to conduct presentations to the Commission to expand their
knowledge about the scope and nature of the youth gang problem. In consultation with
staff and the community, the Commission adopted the following vision to guide it in its
long-term view of the community:
Santa Ana as a safe, healthy and connected community, empowering
its youth and families with trust and dignity to achieve success.
In addition, the Commission held a number of strategic planning meetings and an
all day working retreat to develop a strategic agenda and map the way forward. The five
commission working groups met at feast monthly in addition to the full commission
meetings in order to work on specific youth issues. Throughout its work and
deliberations, the Commission sought out community input and heard from
The Commission held its first official meeting on April 25, 2007
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 5
19D-6
neighborhood-based organizations. This approach resulted in a number of lessons
learned (listed later in this report), and in the Commission adopting a set of principles to
guide its future work. In brief, these principles are:
• The youth gang problem is a public health issue that must be viewed and
addressed systemically and strategically, with the community as the principal
partner.
• This systematic approach must include a firm and enduring commitment from
the City Council and other government agencies, as well as the private
sector.
• Initiatives must be evidence-based, sustainable and carefully coordinated to
ensure there is no duplication of efforts.
WORKING GROUPS
The Commission formed six Working Groups to assign key tasks and objectives
while retaining overall responsibility for its primary mission. The working groups consist
of commissioners and other community members who may be interested in volunteering
to help on specific projects, and who may have special interests or skills. These
working groups are Prevention, Intervention, Assessment, Suppression, Community
Mobilization and Funding and Resources. Please see the Working Groups section of
this report for further information.
COMPREHENSIVE GANG MODEL AND ASSESSMENT
The Commission adopted the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Modell as its overarching framework to help
accomplish its objectives. This model identifies a mix of strategies that were found to
have a positive impact on gang problems, including mobilizing the community, providing
opportunities to youth and parents, and other strategies that are part of a
comprehensive system. The OJJDP Gang Model also prescribes that in order to fully
understand the gang problem in a particular community and to determine the best long-
term strategies and programs, a jurisdiction should conduct a comprehensive
assessment. This assessment is usually conducted with a research or educational
partner that has the resources and expertise to ensure the results are valid and
accurate, thus helping guide decisions going forward. Consequently, EPIC
z The OJJDP model, partly based on the "Sperger" model, was created in 2002 and has been
implemented in several jurisdictions, including Riverside, California.
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008
Page 6
19D-7
recommends the City of Santa Ana conduct a comprehensive assessment, based on
the OJJDP model.
The Commission will prepare a recommended strategic plan based on the
results of the assessment. The final assessment report is intended to answer the
following questions:
• How do youth in Santa Ana become involved in gangs?
• What social, economic and cultural factors in Santa Ana contribute to an
environment conducive to youth gangs and youth gang violence?
• What research-based, proven solutions have been used in similar
communities to develop effective short, medium, and long-term strategies to
prevent gang recruitment and gang violence in Santa Ana?
INTERIM RECOMMENDATIONS
While the bulk of the Commission's recommendations will come after the
assessment is completed, the Commission felt it was imperative to make interim
recommendations to help facilitate its work in 2008 and beyond. These
recommendations are contained elsewhere in this report and they are summarized as
follows:
1. The Commission recommends that the City of Santa Ana conduct a
comprehensive community assessment. A comprehensive assessment will
allow the Commission, the community and its partners to make sound, practical
and achievable recommendations to the City Council.
2. The City should seek opportunities to improve communications and
coordination of all youth-related issues and grant applications. The size of
the city and the scope of youth-based delinquency warrant consideration for a
centralized point in the City organization to coordinate and direct youth-related
efforts citywide. The Commission would like to work with the City Council to
develop either a position or a clearly designated point of coordination within the
existing City structure to ensure it is properly defined and aligned with City
Council priorities.
3. The City Council should require that EPIC be informed of all new City at-
risk youth and gang-related initiatives and planned programs to ensure
consistency and alignment with EPIC focus, goals and objectives. EPIC
would merely review the initiative or program to ensure an opportunity to
comment, alert the City to any potential conflicts or redundancies, and provide
alternative views as appropriate. The review would be handled promptly so as
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 7
19D-8
not to delay any process, and would take place at the Commission's monthly
meetings. The Commission would ensure that all initiatives and programs be
documented to the City in quarterly reports or Commission minutes. The
Commission believes that its perspective would add value to any new youth-
related initiative or issue.
4. The City Council should adopt a resolution which clearly identifies youth
and youth-related issues as a top priority for the City. The Commission
recognizes that the City's Vision Statement incorporates the importance of youth
and youth-related issues to the City, and that the City Council fully supports a
Youth Master Plan. The Commission also recognizes the City has a number of
priorities, but at-risk youth issues should be a priority and merit a resolution
supporting early prevention and intervention efforts specifically. The resolution
should be clear that youth gang violence is a public health issue and will be
treated accordingly. The council resolution must make the close coordination of
early prevention and intervention efforts one of their priorities. The City of Santa
Ana and other government organizations must approach the youth gang issue as
a public health problem that must be dealt with in a carefully coordinated
strategic and systemic long-term approach with evidenced based solutions with
short, mid and long-term milestones.
5. The City Council should increase the number of commissioners to 18 with
the addition of one young adult to the block of voting members. The
Commission needs the perspective of young people to truly understand the
issues and develop sound recommendations. At least one young adult should be
a voting member of the Commission. The Commission would ask the Santa Ana
Youth Commission to make the recommendation of the new EPIC member.
Report Continued
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 8
19D-9
EPIC PROGRESS REPORT 2008
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 9
19D-10
INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY
In 2007 the City Council established the Early Prevention and Intervention
Commission (EPIC) to help develop a more strategic, coordinated, and collaborative
effort between the City of Santa Ana, private industry, public entities, law enforcement
agencies, social services, and the general public. The Commission consists of nine
appointed commissioners and eight representatives from organizations that are
stakeholders in the City of Santa Ana's future. EPIC's mission is to recommend
strategies and policies to enhance opportunities for youth in the city and to help develop
strategies that will significantly reduce gang involvement and its negative impact in the
community. The primary objective of the Commission is to provide recommendations to
the City Council for early gang prevention and intervention services and programs
based on a coordinated approach, with a focus on developing a continuum of services
based upon sound public policy3.
While the Commission will make its recommendations to the City Council, the
impact and scope of those recommendations will undoubtedly have broad implications
on government, non-governmental organizations, the school district and the private
sector. In effect, EPIC seeks to review the systems affecting youth and gang activity in
Santa Ana specifically, but also in Orange County and statewide to the extent these
systems affect local services and programs. In addition, EPIC will make
recommendations for policies and strategies that will help increase coordination among
all agencies, fill gaps in program and service delivery, and ultimately improve the
community's capacity to empower its residents and reduce gang involvement and
activity. The approach described above is consistent with the Santa Ana Police
Department's well established Community Policing philosophy and Problem-Solving
strategies.
From its inception, the Commission adopted the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) Comprehensive Gang Model4 as its overarching
framework to help accomplish its objectives. This model identifies a mix of strategies
that were found to have a positive impact on gang problems, including mobilizing the
community, providing opportunities for youth and parents, and other strategies that are
part of a comprehensive system. The OJJDP Gang Model also prescribes that in order
to fully understand the gang problem in a particular community and to determine the
best long-term strategies and programs, a jurisdiction should conduct a comprehensive
assessment. This assessment is usually conducted with a research or educational
s City Ordinance NS-2732
a The OJJDP model, partly based on the "Sperger" model, was created in 2002 and has been
implemented in several jurisdictions, including Riverside, California.
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 10
19D-11
partner that has the resources and expertise to ensure the results are valid and
accurate, thus helping guide decisions going forward.
In essence, the assessment is akin to the medical model, in which a physician
seeks to truly understand each patient's specific symptoms and circumstances before
developing a treatment and prevention protocol that is tailored to the patient and
systemic in nature. The assessment will be discussed in more detail later in this report.
However, the OJJDP model advocates five primary strategies, also known as the
Sperger Model:
Community Mobilization: Developing and maintaining an interacting set of
public and private agencies, groups, and residents to organize a
comprehensive program responsive specifically to the gang problem.
Social Intervention: Developing outreach contacts with gang members and
those at higher risk of gang membership. Most typically, this refers to the use of
street workers who both counsel targeted youth and provide useful bridges
between them and the schools, social services, and criminal justice agencies.
Outreach can also be provided by probation, police, and treatment workers.
Opportunities Provision: Providing gang members access to employment, job
training, educational, and cultural opportunities as alternatives to gang activity.
Organizational Change and Development: Bringing about changes in the
policies and practices of public and private agencies to reduce their tendency
not to respond positively to gang-involved youth, to help them adopt strategies
that will enhance their responsiveness, and to increase interagency
collaboration.
Suppression: The use of police, probation, parole, and the courts to hold youth
and adults accountable for their criminal activities. This goes beyond the
"normal" criminal justice operations to include special anti-gang practices, such
as police gang units, the use of gang court injunctions, and specialized gang
intelligence operations. Other agencies and outreach workers can also become
involved in suppression activities.
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 11
19D-12
THE VISION OF THE EARLY PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION COMMISSION
The Commission has developed a vision that will guide and focus its efforts on
systemic chance. That vision is:
"Santa Ana as a safe, healthy and connected community; empowering
its youth and families with trust and dignity to achieve success"
This vision represents a specific view of how a community becomes healthy and
effective by being empowered to help itself. This also represents a departure from the
belief that programs and services must be provided to needy neighborhoods without
building the capacity of a community to develop and manage resources in effective and
creative ways. The Commission believes that only by building community capacity will
early prevention and intervention strategies work. Thus, the Commission views
community building as a critical component of any effort aimed at improving
neighborhood conditions in a sustainable way.
As stated by the Community Building Exchange, "fundamentally, community
building involves strengthening the capacity of neighborhood residents, associations,
and organizations to identify priorities and opportunities for change and to work
individually and collectively to foster and sustain community improvements. Community
capacity building involves a number of components, including leadership development,
community organizing, organizational development, and fostering collaboration among
organizations." The City's Neighborhood Association network serves as an example of
capacity building, which could be tapped to help achieve future youth-related objectives.
The vision of the Commission succinctly embodies these principles. In addition, the
Commission believes that the gang problem must be viewed as a public health matter
and treated accordingly.
COMMISSION GOALS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The mission, primary objectives and responsibilities of the Early Prevention and
Intervention Commission are outlined in City Ordinance NS-2732 and the Commission's
bylaws. In summary they are:
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 12
19D-13
Missions: The Commission's mission shall be to develop a more strategic,
coordinated, and collaborative effort between the City, law enforcement
agencies, social services, and the general public with the objective of
enhancing opportunities for youth in Santa Ana to significantly reduce gang
involvement, and its negative impact in the community.
Primary Obiectivess: The primary objective of the Commission will be to
provide recommendations to the City Council for early gang prevention and
intervention services and programs based on a coordinated approach with a
focus on developing a continuum of services based upon sound public policy.
Responsibilities':
• Promote a strong sense of community through advocacy and
recommendation of proactive policies, ordinances, and guidelines for early
prevention and intervention of youth exposure to the influence of gangs.
• Identify gang prevention solutions that are part of a comprehensive plan and
do not require funding.
• Make policy recommendations to City Council on gang prevention,
intervention, diversion and suppression methods.
• Identify local, state, and federal funding sources for front line law
enforcement intervention and prevention. They shall also collaborate with
boards, agencies, and residents on gang issues.
• Consider all matters that may be referred to it by the City Council or the city
manager and shall render its recommendations, counsel and advice in
regards thereto.
• Provide an annual written report to the Mayor and City Council on the status
of the Commission and its activities.
s City Ordinance Section 1 (E)
e City Ordinance Section 2-550
~ City Ordinance Section 2-554 (a-f)
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 13
19D-14
SUMMARY OF COMMISSION ACTIVITIES
COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT
In keeping with the OJJDP Gang Model, the Commission recommends that
the City of Santa Ana conduct a comprehensive community assessment. The
assessment process in Santa Ana would be a significant undertaking given the
complexity of the problem, as well as the labor-intensive nature of conducting detailed
data collection that will produce objective and helpful results. In the end, however, only
a comprehensive assessment will allow the Commission, the community and its
partners to make sound, practical and achievable recommendations to the City Council.
The assessment will gather and analyze in-depth information to describe the
social, economic, and cultural characteristics of youth gangs in several distinct
neighborhoods of the city. Rather than attempt an entire city-wide assessment the
choosing of several distinct neighborhoods to assess would help establish a
representative sample of city-wide gang issues. The assessment will seek to answer
three primary questions regarding youth gangs and gang violence:
• How do youth in Santa Ana become involved in gangs?
• What social, economic and cultural factors contribute to an
environment conducive to youth gangs and youth gang violence in
Santa Ana?
• What research-based, proven solutions have been used in similar
communities to develop effective short, medium, and long-term
strategies to prevent gang recruitment and gang violence?
The assessment will provide EPIC, the City of Santa Ana, the City Council and
the community with knowledge regarding three areas:
• Knowledge of Gang Involvement and Ganq Crimes: While much is known
generally about why youth join gangs, and the types of crimes most often
committed by gangs, communities must also have knowledge of specific trends,
patterns, and factors within their jurisdictions to make best practice decisions
regarding intervention and suppression.
• Knowledge of Available Community and Organizational Resources: While
suppression and effective community policing are part of the overall OJJDP
model, the model also calls for the identification of "relevant services and
activities" to better collaborate responses to youth gangs. This assessment will
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 14
19D-15
identify agencies and resources that impact youth gang activities, as well as
agencies and organizations that provide alternatives for youth in gangs or youth
susceptible to joining gangs, particularly agencies and programs identified as
best able to provide solutions to problems identified in the assessment as
primary contributors to gang recruitment and gang violence.
• Knowledge of Effective, Research-Driven Intervention Approaches: Regardless
of what strategies are undertaken by communities to curb gang membership and
crime, these strategies should be based in proven research. Many strategies in
the past have had a "common sense" appeal, but upon further investigation have
been shown to have little or no effect on gang membership and crime. A
comprehensive assessment must provide a full range of applicable intervention
strategies that have been tested and have been shown to be effective.
Furthermore, the assessment itself will provide the City of Santa Ana with
detailed data that describes each of the neighborhood's social characteristics. The
assessment will go beyond the typical compilation of statistics by using demographic
data as the infrastructure on which the interview, survey and ethnographic8 findings are
grounded and elaborated. This "mixed-method" approach will result in a product that the
City can use to assess unique neighborhood characteristics related to youth gang
recruitment and gang violence, as well as to identify commonalities between
neighborhoods. This data will be oriented towards the identification of social, economic
and cultural characteristics within the neighborhoods the City can use for purposes of
policy decisions, as well as for the application of outside funding from public and private
institutions and organizations.
Ultimately, the assessment will allow the Commission to recommend a strategic
plan to the City Council that has short, medium and long-term goals and objectives to
achieve systemic change in how the gang issue is viewed and addressed. The
strategic plan will be a highly dynamic document that will change as conditions and
resources change. The strategic plan will be reviewed and modified on a yearly basis to
account for changes in key assumptions, partners, resources and community
conditions. The strategic plan will become the road map for systemic and sustainable
change and is a key component of the Commission's efforts.
s Ethnography as a method seeks to answer central anthropological questions concerning
the ways of life of living human beings. Ethnographic questions generally concern the link
between culture and behavior and/or how cultural processes develop over time.
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 15
19D-16
The diagram below represents the workflow as envisioned by Commission
members.
Report Continued
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 16
19D-17
COMMISSION WORKING GROUPS
The Commission formed six Working Groups to assign key tasks and objectives
while retaining overall responsibility for its primary mission. The Working Groups
consist of commissioners and other community members who may be interested in
volunteering to help on specific projects, and who may have special interests or skills.
A commissioner is appointed as the "convener" of the group for administrative,
accountability and leadership purposes. The groups meet as often as necessary and
must bring back to the full Commission the product of their work for review and
decisions. These Working Groups are:
* To uiocdinate a commpaehero~iva Sena of the
probaem that identit snd exau»ines the n~wa aid
rasxt caws of ~t activity, who is and. why they are
ie~wahred In ~,tn~, snd wltiere in the raAenrr+ur~ty pmt
acthrity is rcrrrtrated.
'S~: ~+1t youth most. vu~raerable to fiinet
grsvtntion n~sources. p~rids aitfn~a~thias t+
a~liation, videna~ and dcupc.
• to hdip identity, proer~ast+e and n+cdme»~end ~c
pt~ aupprouian praatiurs and aspies to isw e~tia~ement
spnciesand partners.
,: To inoenatne Iby workt~, wlith t~urrae~ WK rnore~b~es to
da~ormirwry snd nuom the 6we:t practk~ to r~~e
tine nedimttion of fir tne~r into peen ~ dek.
7o ider~y, davaigip snd roc+ommsnd poi~s, activitlies,
ane! strat+~fos to tntpew~tr the coparnunty Za reduice ii~K
r+~rnbershipand activity in their nei;h6ofioads.
Ta identify and recommend funeUns so+wrc+es, and
#enm sustainebifi#y strs~eaies„ from bot#t #~ewennenertt and
peke o~iza~c~nsc ~ add~ss t~+p and ya~h-refaaeei
it~ts.
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 17
19D-18
COMMUNITY MEETINGS AND NEIGHBORHOOD WALKS
In general, Commission meetings were held on the last Wednesday of each
month in the Santa Ana Police Department community room. However, four meetings
were held annually at a community location. Each community meeting included a
neighborhood walk with local residents and leaders, as well as non-government
organizations (NGOs) to discuss neighborhood issues. These neighborhood walks
have proven to be a key factor in understanding the issues first-hand, and have served
to crystallize the nature and scope of the problem in the minds of the commissioners. In
2007 the community meetings included:
• May 30t" at KidWorks
• June 27t" at the Boys and Girls Club
• September 26t" at the Delhi Community Center
• October 24t" at EI Salvador Park
During the remaining regular meetings of the Commission, a number of
presentations were made on a wide variety of topics. Given that this was the founding
year of the Commission, these presentations were aimed at educating commissioners
as to the extent and intricacies of the gang issue, as well as what programs and
resources are already available. Presentations included, but were not limited to, the
following:
• Orange County Gangs -Orange County District Attorney
• Santa Ana Gangs -Santa Ana Police Department
• Eight Percent Solution -Orange County Probation Department
• Right Trak program
• Learning for Life -Michael Gonzalez
• Art of Living
• Police Athletic and Activities League -Santa Ana Police Department
• Brown Act training -Santa Ana City Attorney
• Bridges program -Orange County Human Relations
• Community Change Concepts - Iliana Welty
• The Advancement Project -Connie Rice Group
• Parent and Schools Program -Santa Ana Unified School District
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 18
19D-19
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Since its inception, the Commission sought to think strategically with respect to
its work. While mindful that tactical efforts are clearly needed to accomplish goals and
objectives, the Commission's work must focus on achieving and sustaining systemic
change. Therefore, throughout 2007 the Commission held several strategic planning
workshops and one all-day retreat. The workshops focused on developing goals and
objectives and strengthening EPIC's mission and purpose. The all-day retreat focused
on a number of areas, including:
• Defining the Commission's vision
• Reviewing and analyzing the lessons learned from 2007
• Developing the major focus areas for 2008
• Defining what "success" will look like in five or ten years
• Discussing how to increase community involvement in EPIC
• Improving the effectiveness of commissioners
• Brainstorming on addressing Santa Ana's graffiti problem
The result of the strategic planning process has not only helped focus the
Commission's work, but has laid the groundwork for the assessment process. The
following diagram illustrates, in brief, the strategic planning model that commissioners
have used in their working groups.
• CC
• ~ ~'
• T1~n ,:
Resources
~(~bjectlves
Goals
EPIC Progress Report to City Council - 2008 Page 19
19D-20
LESSONS LEARNED
During 2007 commissioners had an opportunity to interact extensively with
community members and leaders, staff, presenters, NGOs and others. Based on these
interactions and conversations, the Commission was able to make observations and
conclusions with respect to the lessons it learned. The following is a select list of those
conclusions, which will help facilitate the assessment and move forward in a focused
and systemic approach.
• EPIC's focus must be on community-based solutions and on the community's
vision. The key to making sound recommendations is getting the community
involved at all levels in identifying and prioritizing the issues that affect them.
• There is a lack of neighborhood communication and coordination in some areas.
EPIC will seek to recommend tactical and strategic solutions that build
community and neighborhood capacity to communicate amongst neighbors,
NGOs and with government. In addition, EPIC will recommend measures to
increase and foster neighborhood leadership.
• There is a serious lack of mentoring programs at the neighborhood level.
Clearly, nearly all available research points to the need for role models and
mentoring programs for youth and especially at-risk youth.
• There appears to be a lack of a coordinated approach between the City of Santa
Ana and the Santa Ana Unified School District. Although these entities work
together from time-to-time, it appears as though regular, coordinated and
collaborative efforts to improve community health are not undertaken regularly or
often.
• The Commission must work to increase trust between some neighborhoods and
government. The Commission found that in a number of neighborhoods there
exist a distrust of government in general, thus contributing to a lack of
communication.
• EPIC must consider the political spectrum and encourage bridge-building to be
effective. The Commission recognizes the political process is critical in getting
things done and it pledges to work with government at all levels to accomplish its
goals and objectives.
• The private sector must be connected to community needs and more job
opportunities must be created. Once again, nearly all research efforts have
identified employment opportunities for youth and families as one key step in
reducing gang membership and violence.
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• Strengthening the family unit must be high on the priority list. The Commission
heard from community members who emphasized the importance of the family in
reducing delinquency and increasing the likelihood of graduation from high
school.
• Community-based infrastructure must become a priority with government at all
levels, including streets, lighting and general maintenance. There is frustration in
some neighborhoods with regard to police services, having a clean community,
public maintenance, education and job training.
• Graffiti continues to be a critical problem in many parts of the City. This is a
critical issue that can lead to more serious violations.
• The private sector needs to get more involved in early prevention and
intervention efforts by working with the Commission and other organizations,
both public and private.
• The Commission has to become better connected to other groups, government
and the community in order to be successful. Efforts must be made during 2008
to provide better coordination of programs and services and avoid duplication of
effort.
• Youth must be set as a highly important priority by the City and the Council, as
well as all other government organizations.
• The Commission has diverse and dynamic representation from varied groups
and organizations.
• Some commissioners have expressed a lack of mission clarity, especially early
on, due to the Commission's structure and somewhat contradictory ordinance
language. The Commission will review the ordinance in 2008 and will make
recommendations for any needed changes.
• Awareness and visibility regarding the Commission's efforts need to be increased
through media exposure and attendance at meetings of other organizations.
• The community wants to build better and more productive relationships with law
enforcement agencies and other government agencies that can address at-risk
youth.
• The commission studied ten gang related areas and determined four specific
areas were a representative sample of city-wide gang problems for an
assessment.
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MAJOR FOCUS AREAS FOR 2008
In addition to conducting the assessment and based on the strategic planning
process, the Commission believes the areas listed below should constitute its focus
during 2008. While the Commission will be integrally involved in the conduct of a
comprehensive assessment, it will also work on issues and projects that are vital to the
wellness of the community. These include:
• Develop a comprehensive Community Asset Map that will include content and
location for government, private and non-government organization assets.
• Engage the community, particularly parents, in youth-related problem solving
efforts and initiatives.
• Explore job and economic development opportunities and resources for youth
and families. Determine what and where these opportunities exist and how EPIC
can help connect these opportunities and resources with those in need.
• Reduce the incidence of graffiti and associated costs.
• Help improve police-community relations as they affect youth and gangs.
• Help improve coordination efforts between the City of Santa Ana and the Santa
Ana Unified School District.
• Organize and conduct a Santa Ana community-wide conference on youth and
gangs with City Council approval and support.
CRITERIA FOR PROGRAM EVALUATION AND LONG-TERM SUCCESS
The Commission determined early on that in order to make sound
recommendations for programs and initiatives, it had to adopt rigorous criteria for
evaluating effectiveness and efficiency. Too often government and many non-
government organizations have spent money on programs that were neither designed
properly nor measured appropriately to determine their effectiveness. There are many
examples in California of programs that misused grant funds or did not meet
expectations for success. While remaining open to innovative and groundbreaking
ideas, the Commission is determined to ensure that its recommendations reflect
evidence-based initiatives and strategies to ensure that money is spent on programs
that have a reasonable likelihood of success.
The comprehensive assessment will include a review of research-based, proven
solutions that have been used in similar communities to develop effective short,
medium, and long-term strategies to prevent gang recruitment and gang violence.
There are a number of publications and organizations that track and review the success
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or failure of initiatives aimed at reducing youth and gang crime as well as early
prevention and intervention efforts. These organizations and their work product will be
utilized not only during the assessment process, but on an ongoing basis. In addition,
the Commission will carefully review the report from the City of Los Angeles9 on how to
evaluate the efficacy of programs and what criteria can be used to measure success.
This report, along with the assessment results, will assist EPIC in making
recommendations that are grounded in reality and have a clear potential for
accomplishing their goals and objectives.
The Commission believes that any initiative must have well articulated and
measurable objectives. During its strategic planning retreat, the Commission developed
a series of potential benchmarks that can be used to determine whether its work and
strategies have helped create healthier and more successful communities for youth and
their families. These benchmarks will be expressed in specific, measurable
percentages over years (i.e. a 25% decrease in gang violence in 2 years), and include:
• Increased community involvement and new EPIC members
• Reduction in gang crime
• Increased and sustained support by government officials, as well as private and
public agencies
• A significant decrease in the number of Santa Ana youth who are in the criminal
justice system/institutions
• Significant reduction in gang membership
• Increase in the number of Santa Ana youth who are gainfully employed
• Increased community satisfaction in neighborhoods as related to gang activity
• Improved parental awareness of gang issues and activity
• Increase in student participation in mentoring programs
• Identify specific numbers of at-risk youth and ensure they are involved in positive
programs and activities (i.e. EPIC, Youth Commission, etc.)
• Reduce graffiti so that the cost of removal is significantly lower
• Increase the number of Santa Ana neighborhoods that have an action plan for
graffiti.
s Los Angeles Controller Laura Chick released a comprehensive report on anti-gang initiatives and how to
evaluate community-based and government programs to ensure the wise spending of public and private
funds. The report is available at http://www.lacity.org/ctr/audits/Final_Report_2-14-08.pdf.
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INTERIM RECOMMENDATIONS
While the Commission recognizes the comprehensive assessment will provide
the basis for its strategic plan recommendations to the City Council in late 2008 or early
2009, it also believes that it has enough information and experience with the issues to
make interim recommendations in addition to the comprehensive assessment that will
help facilitate its work moving forward.
1. The Commission recommends that the City of Santa Ana conduct a
comprehensive community assessment. A comprehensive assessment will
allow the Commission, the community and its partners to make sound, practical
and achievable recommendations to the City Council.
2. The City should seek opportunities to improve communications and
coordination of all youth-related issues and grant applications. The size of
the city and the scope of youth-based delinquency warrant consideration for a
centralized point in the City organization to coordinate and direct youth-related
efforts citywide. The Commission would like to work with the City Council to
develop either a position or a clearly designated point of coordination within the
existing City structure to ensure it is properly defined and aligned with City
Council priorities.
3. The City Council should require that EPIC be informed of all new City at-
risk youth and gang-related initiatives and planned programs to ensure
consistency and alignment with EPIC focus goals and objectives. EPIC
would merely review the initiative or program to ensure an opportunity to
comment, alert the City to any potential conflicts or redundancies, and provide
alternative views as appropriate. The review would be handled promptly so as
not to delay any process, and would take place at the Commission's monthly
meetings. The Commission would ensure all initiatives and programs be
documented to the City in quarterly reports or Commission minutes. The
Commission believes that its perspective would add value to any new youth-
related initiative or issue.
4. The City Council should adopt a resolution which clearly identifies youth
and youth-related issues as a top priority for the City. The Commission
recognizes the City's Vision Statement incorporates the importance of youth and
youth-related issues to the City, and the City Council fully supports a Youth
Master Plan. The Commission also recognizes the City has a number of
priorities, but at-risk youth issues should be a priority and merit a resolution
supporting early prevention and intervention efforts specifically. The resolution
should be clear that youth gang violence is a public health issue and will be
treated accordingly. The council resolution must make the close coordination of
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early prevention and intervention efforts one of their priorities. The City of Santa
Ana and other government organizations must approach the youth gang issue as
a public health problem that must be dealt with in a carefully coordinated
strategic and systemic long-term approach.
5. The City Council should increase the number of commissioners to 18 with
the addition of one young adult to the block of voting members. The
Commission needs the perspective of young people to truly understand the
issues and develop sound recommendations. At least one young adult should be
a voting member of the Commission. The Commission would ask the Santa Ana
Youth Commission to make the recommendation of the new EPIC member.
CONCLUSION
During its founding year the Commission spent a significant amount of time
reviewing the nature and scope of the gang problem in the City and the county. It also
sought to become familiar with the initiatives, programs and resources that constitute
the current approach to reducing youth gang membership and violence. Through
careful research and collaboration, the Commission established its strategic direction in
compliance with the ordinance and the wishes of the City Council. The Commission
also developed a roadmap that will lead to sound recommendations for effective and
sustainable initiatives and programs.
The Commission sought to meet with community members and organizations
both formally and informally, to truly understand how the community feels about the
youth gang problem and, more importantly, to make their feelings and opinions the
hallmark of the Commission's work. After all, it is the residents and businesses of Santa
Ana who know and understand the problem best, as they experience it every day.
Thus, any solutions will only work if they are included from the start in the Commission's
work and deliberations. The community meetings and the walking tours are a prime
example of how the Commission has and will continue to make the community a true
partner in its work.
The comprehensive assessment will provide the Commission with a clear picture
of the community with respect to neighborhood and family wellness, the factors that
contribute to youth gang membership and what successful resources and programs can
be deployed in Santa Ana to improve conditions. The assessment will also outline what
key concepts and components must be contained in any initiative that is recommended
to the City Council. Thus, the assessment is a critical and paramount component of the
Commission's work.
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Lastly, the Commission strongly believes that in order for any of its work to be
truly meaningful, the following principles must be adopted and engrained in all the
thinking and practices of the Commission and its partners:
• The youth gang problem is a public health issue that must be viewed and
addressed systemically and strategically, rather than piece-meal and in short
isolated efforts.
• This systematic approach must include a firm and enduring commitment from
the City Council and other government and non-profit agencies as well as the
private sector at all levels.
• Resources, programs and initiatives must be carefully coordinated to ensure
there is no duplication of efforts.
• Initiatives must be sustainable.
• The community must be the central point upon which all the solutions are
based, and it must be a full partner at the table.
The Commission understands how difficult its work will be going forward, and
how the youth gang problem cannot be solved easily nor in the short term. However, it
also understands that leadership and hard work can and will result in incremental
progress that will begin to create more resilient and healthy communities in Santa Ana.
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