Chaired by Lydia A. Hollie, JD/MAED, the Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Task Force, in collaboration with the Long Beach Weed and Seed Program Steering Committee, spearheaded efforts that led to the acquisition of $400,000 for the Long Beach Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Project. This project was designed to address critical unmet community needs necessary to effectively address growing youth andgang violence through a youth-centered, community-wide approach. Project efforts are expected to reduce violent crimes, decrease the number of gang-related offenses, and thereby increase self-esteem and self-worth. In April 2008, the California Governor's Office awarded $400,000 to the city of Long Beach to advance these efforts. In February 2009, the Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Task Force transitioned into the Long Beach CalGRIP Advisory Council with direct oversight of fund allocations and program outcomes.

1. LONG BEACH GANG REDUCTION, INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION:
A YOUTH-CENTERED COMMUNITY-WIDE PROJECT (LONG BEACH PROJECT)
Project Narrative
1. PROBLEM STATEMENT
The Long Beach Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Project (Long Beach Project) will
address critical unmet community needs necessary to effectively address growing youth and
gang violence through a youth-centered, community-wide approach enlisting the expertise and
resources of numerous City departments, community, educational, and regional partners. The
Project can effectively contribute toward gang prevention, intervention, education, job training
and skills development, as well as family and community services in the target area. The
Project is designed to provide youth who are identified as already involved in criminal or gang
activity or are at-risk, with positive alternatives to gang participation in a safe environment,
including job training and skills development. The Project is also intended to promote
community awareness and education via anti-gang messages. Further, the Project will enhance
the coordination of existing efforts and resources related to youth and gang violence prevention
and intervention as well as family and community services to maximize the return on the
investment of limited resources. These Project efforts will reduce the number of violent crimes,
reduce the number of gang-related offenses, and increase the number of activities to positively
impact community crime and increase self-esteem and self-worth.
1

2. Target Area
While gang violence is a citywide problem, this Project specifically targets Police Beats 4 and 5
(target area) located entirely within a designated Enterprise Zone. This area was selected due
to high occurrences of crime and persistent and growing problems with gangs, in comparison to
other Police Beats in Long Beach.
The 2000 Census data derived from Clarita’s Market Place report was used to provide statistical
information located within a one-mile radius of the target area. The Long Beach Police
Department provided criminal statistics for the target area.
To determine the most appropriate and reasonable target area, the City’s Youth and Gang
Violence Prevention Task Force conducted research using Long Beach Police Department data.
This data included the volume and incidence of violent crime, including murders and gang-
related shootings. Based upon an analysis of this data, Police Beats 4 and 5 are impacted by
the highest population of criminal street gangs, which are generally based on neighborhood and
ethnic affiliations. Some gangs in this area are multi-generational, where grandparent, parent,
and siblings are affiliated with some level of gang membership. In 2004 there were 683 juvenile
arrests in Police Beats 4 and 5 and the area immediately surrounding these Beats, for a rate of
9.5 arrests per 1,000 population; this is more than twice as high as the rate for Long Beach as a
whole (4.1 arrests per 1,000). (See Juvenile Arrests Graph in Nature of the Gang Problem
section, page 16).
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3. Geographic Location and Characteristics
The following map illustrates the proposed site that covers Police Beats 4 and 5. It contains
eleven census tracts from the last decennial census. Its perimeter is delineated by the thick
gray line on the map below and its boundaries exist as follows:
North Boundary: Hill Street
South Boundary: Anaheim Street
East Boundary: Cherry Avenue
West Boundary: Los Angeles River
3

4. Police Beats 4 and 5 are located just north of downtown Long Beach and slightly southwest of
the city of Signal Hill. Aside from high levels of crime, residents in these neighborhoods face
other challenges such as poverty and low levels of educational attainment.
Population
The target area contains more than 50,900 residents in a two square mile area. 89 percent of
residents are people of color (55 percent Hispanic/Latino, 17 percent Asian, and 17 percent
African American/Black). 46 percent are Spanish speakers and 34 percent do not have
citizenship in the United States. Close to half of the population is younger than 18 years old and
11 percent are between the ages of 18 and 24.
A recent community assessment survey conducted by the City of Long Beach Department of
Health and Human Services, in conjunction with the City’s Youth and Gang Violence Prevention
Task Force, involving 950 respondents in the Project target area revealed that 33 percent of the
respondents identify themselves as a stakeholder in the community, 83 percent are renters, and
11 percent are owners.
Education and Schools
More than one third (36 percent) of residents in the target area have less than a ninth grade
education. Less than half (41 percent) have a high school diploma and only eight percent have
an associate’s degree or higher (bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, or professional degree).
There are two high schools, two middle schools and five elementary schools in the
target/immediately surrounding area. These schools include: Alvarado Elementary, Burnett
Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Whittier Elementary, Butler Middle
4

5. School, Washington Middle School, Educational Partnership High School, Long Beach
Polytechnic High School, and Polytechnic Academy for Accelerated Learning (PAAL).
Dropout Rates
Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) is the third largest school district in the state of
California. According to the Youth Education and Labor Market Outcomes in California in 2000
report, 21 percent of 16-24 year old youth were noted as high school dropouts in Long Beach as
compared to 16.9 percent statewide (Dr. Paul Harrington, Center for Labor Market Studies,
Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts). Newer data from the California Department
of Education concludes that during the 2005-2006 school year, the Four Year Derived Dropout
Rate for Long Beach Unified School District is 21.4 percent, as compared to 14.1 percent
statewide (see graph below).
Dropout Rate (4 Ye ar De rive d Rate )
Dis trict, County and State Com paris on, 2005-2006
25.0%
20.0% 21.4%
LBUS D
17.3%
15.0%
14.1%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
Long Beach Unified S chool District (LBUS D) Los Angeles County California
California Department of Education, http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/
5

6. Dropout rates climb as students near their senior year of high school. The percentage of 12th
grade students who dropped out of Long Beach Unified School District in 2005-2006 is almost
double that for the state (14.3 percent verse 7.8 percent) (see graph below).
P ercentage of 12th Grade Dropouts
District, County and S tate Comparison, 2005-2006
15.0%
14.3%
10.0%
9.6%
7.8%
5.0%
0.0%
Long Beach Uni f i ed School Los Angel es County Cal i f or ni a
Di str i ct
California Department of Education, http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/
The number of grade 9-12 dropouts from Polytechnic High School, the high school located in
the target area, is at the second highest point (173 dropouts) that it has risen to in the last ten
years (see graph below).
California Department of Education, http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/
6

7. Truancy
Over the last several school years, truancy has decreased citywide, but continues to be high in
comparison to other cities. This may be a factor in the high dropout rate in Long Beach.
According to the Long Beach Unified School District Truancy Center, the following numbers of
students, district-wide have been cited and received tickets between 2003 and 2006:
Long Beach Unified School District Students, 2003-2006
School Year Detentions Tickets
2003-2004 1,350 1,258
2004-2005 1,216 1,096
2005-2006 1,047 949
Data courtesy of the Long Beach Police Department
Over half of Long Beach Unified School District’s students live in the Polytechnic High School
area (55 percent). A recent review of this highly impacted area evidenced that approximately 95
percent of students suspended by the Truancy Counseling Center, suspended to home, ticketed
for daytime loitering, or those given referrals for immediate action and requested expulsions or
transfers to another school, were people of color. During Academic Year 2003-2004, 678
students were suspended and six students were expelled from the High School and Middle
Schools located in the target area. In the 2006-2007 school year, 77 percent of Polytechnic
High School students were considered truant, whereas Long Beach Unified School District’s
truancy rate was at 58 percent, and California’s rate was much lower at 28 percent (see below
graph).
7

8. Truancy Rate: Target Area High S chool,
District, County and S tate Comparison, 2006-2007
100.00%
77.42%
P olytechnic High
58.11% 3,642 S tudents
50.00% LBUS D
52,361 S tudents
31.03%
28.31%
Los Angeles
California
County
0.00%
Truancy Rate
California Department of Education, http://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/
Income
The median household income for the target area is $21,728. In comparison, the median
household income citywide was $37,270 in 1999. According to Census 2000, more than half
(52 percent) of target area residents earn less than $15,000 a year. Only 19 percent of the
population is employed and there are 3,236 welfare recipients. This makes up seven percent of
the total population on welfare or public assistance. Approximately 43 percent of area residents
live at or below the national poverty level compared to 22 percent for all of Long Beach. Of
those living in poverty, nearly half are under age 17 (over one-third are under the age of 11).
Further, the unemployment rate in the target area is six percent compared to four percent
countywide. In households where the gender of the head of household is identified, 44 percent
are female-headed households in Beats 4 and 5. This is slightly higher than the citywide
percentage of 41.
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9. Teen Pregnancy
The teen birth rate in Long Beach has risen from 49.3 in 2003 to 51.9 in 2004. These are rates
per 1,000 females age 15-19. While the state rate has declined to 38.1 births for every 1,000
females ages 15-19, Long Beach’s rate has continued to rise. This rise exacerbates already
difficult quality of life concerns in the target area.
Housing Code Violations
According to the Long Beach Department of Community Development, Code Enforcement
Bureau, there were 2,480 code violations in 2006 in the target area; 1,899 cases had been
resolved at the time of reporting with 278 still active. Of the 12,883 households in the target
area, over 80 percent (10,373) are renter-occupied. This reality manifests into quality of life
concerns as well as neighborhood neglect, gang activity and high dropout rates in this area—all
symptoms of poverty and crime.
Adult/Juvenile Crime
In 2005, adults (18 years of age and over) accounted for 88.8 percent of all persons arrested
and 84.2 percent of violent crime arrests in California. In addition, adults were arrested most
often for drug abuse violations than any other offense in California.
In 2005, persons under 25 years of age comprised 44.3 percent of all those arrested in
California. Juveniles were most often arrested for larceny-theft offenses in California. In Long
Beach, the number of arrests for juveniles (under 18 years of age) continues to grow each year.
In 2004, 2,266 juveniles were arrested. In 2005, that number increased to 2,437.
Arrest statistics have been used as the main barometer of juvenile delinquent activity over the
past decades. Unfortunately many juvenile offenses go unreported and thus do not become a
9

10. part of the national statistical picture. Many minor offenses committed by juveniles are
considered part of growing up and are handled informally rather than by arrest and adjudication.
The most severe sanction that a juvenile court can impose entails the restrictions of a juvenile’s
freedom through placement in a residential facility. Youth who are released from institutional
confinement are more likely to succeed if they have access to services that can help them thrive
in a non-institutional environment. According to the 2003 City of Long Beach Human Relations
Commission Report on Youth and Gang Violence, 85 percent of juvenile offenders citywide are
illiterate.
Part I Crimes
Part I crimes consist of murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, residential
and commercial burglary, auto burglary, grand theft, petty theft, bicycle and auto theft, and
arson. In the year 2004, there were 1,992 such crimes. In 2005, there were 1,911. From
January to June 2006, there were 950 Part I Crimes in the target area. Evidence of serious
violent crimes makes up the greater number of Part I crimes in Police Beats 4 and 5 (see below
chart).
10

11. Part I Crimes, 2004-2006
Police Beats 4 and 5
Year 2004 2005 January-June 2006
Homicide 7 13 2
Rape 16 21 12
Robberies 313 229 124
Aggravated Assault 399 387 153
BURGLARIES:
Residential 129 120 68
Garage 33 43 29
Commercial 72 75 37
Auto 188 228 123
THEFT:
Grand 73 62 30
Petty <50 79 75 46
Petty >50 129 133 54
Bicycle 51 35 17
Auto 476 479 251
Arson 27 11 4
TOTAL 1,992 1,911 950
Data courtesy of the Long Beach Police Department
Part II Crimes
Available data for 2006 provides a snapshot for one month of 332 arrests in the target area.
Between 2004 and 2005, adult arrests citywide increased from 17,292 to 19,452. A January
2006 snapshot of arrests for a period of one month totaled 3,040. From January to June 2006,
there were 1,098 Part II Crimes in the target area (see below chart).
Part II Crimes, 2004-2006
Police Beats 4 and 5
Year 2004 2005 January-June 2006
Other Assault 533 497 256
Forgery 96 145 39
Fraud/Embezzlement 51 55 32
Receive Stolen Property 8 11 5
Sex Offenses 54 66 36
Offense vs. Family 8 10 15
Narcotics 302 259 153
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12. All Other 743 802 562
TOTAL 1,795 1,845 1,098
Data courtesy of the Long Beach Police Department
Crimes by Repeat Offenders
According to the Los Angeles County Probation Department, there are 1,221 juveniles and
1,133 adult probationers returning to Long Beach annually. It is estimated that 11,770
probationers and parolees will return to Long Beach within the next five years. Nationally, the
recidivism rate for this population is 67 percent to commit new crimes according to FBI arrests
statistics. This means that Long Beach can expect nearly 1,600 new crimes by repeat offenders
alone per year.
State parole expects to return over 120,000 parolees annually to the streets of California for the
next 5 years. For the six-month period from January to June 2006, there were 31,728 male felon
parole violations returned to custody or pending parole revocation, 3,376 more than the Spring
2006 projections for the state. There were 2,812 female felon parole violators in the state for the
same period of January to June 2006, 183 more than projected in the Spring 2006 projections.
The average time served for parole violations was about 3.4 months.
Impact of the Gang Problem
Current estimates indicate that 100 active gangs exist throughout Long Beach, 55 gangs have
twelve or more members, and there are about 35 significant gangs in the area. There are
approximately 7,000 members citywide. Police Beats 4 and 5 are home to about 65 gangs.
The largest gang in Long Beach is the Insane Crips Gang (ICG). There has been an increase in
both the 18th Street Gang and new cliques of the East Side Longos (ESL). The divide between
Hispanic, Black, Asian and White gangs has fueled racial tensions among the broader
12

13. community. Gangs also contribute to drug use and the drug trade, graffiti, and other criminal
activity in Long Beach. (See Appendix for articles relating to gang injunctions in Long Beach).
The aforementioned community survey in the Project target area reveals that many residents
live in fear. Almost half (47 percent) of respondents feel that their neighborhood is unsafe. In
addition, 14 percent feel that neighborhood crime has increased while one fifth believe that gang
activity has gone up. Almost one third identified gang violence and graffiti as two of the most
pressing issues in their community.
Participants in a recent Focus Group meeting of adult residents, held by the City’s Youth and
Gang Violence Prevention Task Force, expressed that the problem of gang violence and crime
in their neighborhoods results in shared feelings of hopelessness and despair—especially for
their children, destroyed community pride, a disconnection from and distrust of police officers,
the breakup of families, residential flight from Long Beach, and a negative impact on local
businesses.
While the rate of violent crimes citywide has dropped in the past several years, murders are on
the rise. There has also been a citywide increase in commercial burglary, residential burglary
and robbery in 2007. Over half of citywide homicides (57 percent) are gang related. Though
total crimes in Beat 5 are down for 2007, crimes in Police Beat 4 have increased 2.5 percent.
Beat 5 also has one of the highest murder rates in Long Beach in 2007, year-to-date (see below
graph).
13

14. 2007 Gang-Related Shootings (Long Beach, CA)
YTD 1 /26/07
1
25
25
22
20
20
16
13 14
15
Number of Shootings
9 9
10
8
5 5
4
5
1 1 1
0
Police Beats 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Shoot ings 5 8 20 22 13 25 5 4 1 1 1 9 9 14 16
Long Beach Police Department-Gang Enforcement Section Data YTD 11/26/07
The perception of gang violence in these areas is based on real problems, as statistics show: in
2005 and 2006, 28 percent of violent crimes and 14 percent of all property crimes in the city
occurred in Beats 4 and 5. Together, these Beats have the highest numbers in Long Beach for
firearm assaults, including murders and attempted murders. Year-to-date in 2007, there have
been over 40 shootings in Beats 4 and 5 (see below graph).
14

15. Gang-Re late d Shootings and M urde rs
Police Be ats 4 and 5 and Cityw ide , 2002-2007
200
176 175
175 164 162 157
150
150
125
100
55
75 (31% of citywide 55
42
shootings) (31%)
(27%)
50
31 27
19 23 22
25 14
0
Shootings (Beats 4 and 5) Total Shootings (Citywide) Total Gang Murders (Citywide)
2002 unavailable 150 31
2003 unavailable 164 27
2004 unavailable 162 19
2005 55 176 14
2006 55 175 23
58.11%
31.03%
LBUSD 2007 42 157 22
Los Angeles
28.31%
52,361 Students
California
County
Long Beach Police Department-Gang Enforcement Section Data YTD 11/26/07
Nature of the Gang Problem
According to Census 2000, Long Beach is a “young” city with 29 percent (134,019) of residents
under the age of 18. In Police Beats 4 and 5, 41 percent of the residents are under the age of
18. In this target area, juvenile arrests increased to 427 in 2007 (year-to-date) from 239 in 2006.
Citations of juveniles also increased to 396 from 234 between those two years (see graph
below).
15

16. Juvenile Arrests
Long Beach, 2004-2007
3,000
2,437
2,266
2,048
2,000 1,863
1,000
683
427 396
365
234
0 239
Arre s ts in Police
Cityw ide Arre s ts Cite s
Be ats 4 and 5
2004 2,266 683 unk now n
2005 2,437 365 unk now n
2006 2,048 239 234
2007 1,863 427 396
2004 2005 2006 2007
Data courtesy of the Long Beach Police Department
Increasingly, the most common crime that youth commit in Long Beach is assault against
another youth—most of which occurs on school campuses and surrounding neighborhoods. In
Long Beach between 2006-2007, one youth under the age of 18 was murdered, on average,
every-other-month (12 youth since the beginning of 2006). In total, 26 people under the age of
23 have been victims of homicide since the beginning of 2006.
Long Beach has been categorized as “the most diverse city in the nation,” a title supported by
2000 Census data. While this is a characteristic that the community values highly, diversity has
also led to increased tensions between different racial groups. Many violent crimes are racially
16

17. motivated with members of an ethnic gang attacking people of other backgrounds. Tensions
continue to grow particularly between the African American and Hispanic populations—not only
in our city, but also in cities that share our border. This is evidenced in the 2006 Hate Crime
Report by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations that states, “racial conflict
between African Americans and Latinos remained the most serious and troubling feature of
intergroup relations in Los Angeles County.” According to this report, 69 percent of anti-Black
hate crimes had Latino suspects and 81 percent of anti-Latino hate crimes had Black suspects.
While the City of Long Beach seeks to honor cultural and racial diversity, feelings of prejudice,
bias, fear and mistrust create endless challenges in our schools and neighborhoods.
Further, common themes expressed by Focus Group participants regarding contributing factors
that lead to gang violence were: the glamorization of violence in the media and among youth,
the common existence of racial stereotypes, a perceived lack of education and resources for
low income parents and guardians regarding drug use/abuse, violence and gang activities, the
trend that youth are conditioned to have distrust in police (based off of a negative first-hand
experience, or an attitude passed-down between generations in a family), lack of vocational
education opportunities, overcrowded classrooms, city budget cuts that limit the offering of
youth programs, and limited summer jobs or accessible City-sponsored summer programs for
youth.
Unmet Community Needs
The unmet needs impacting the community’s ability to effectively address the gang problem are
exemplified in the Focus Group observations noted above. Included among these are: the lack
of a formalized, coordinated gang reduction program; resources necessary to de-glamorize
gangs and the violence associated with them; education and resources for parents/guardians in
17

18. addition to youth drug and alcohol education and treatment; and vocational/work experience
and job opportunities that create positive alternatives to gang participation in a safe
environment.
A major, focused initiative began in 2006 to better serve the community in Police Beats 4 and 5.
The City formed a grant proposal committee in order to understand the community’s concerns
for their most relevant and pressing issues, as well as to have the community assist with
implementation strategies fitting to their community. As a result, hundreds of surveys were
dispersed to ensure responses reflective of the diversity in the population of Beats 4 and 5. A
great sample size of the larger population strongly returned over 950 surveys consisting of
responses from: schools, childcare facilities, youth service agencies such as parks and
recreation, churches, elderly care agencies and private residents. Further, the established
committee reflected the diversity of the community, consisting of: residents, faith-based
community, and government representatives at the local, state and federal level, along with
private and non-profit representatives. The purpose of the committee was to convene a group
of people involved and concerned with the issues in the community. These committee
members met for four months to assess the needs of their community and to create a blueprint
for the successful implementation of programming befitting their specific community. Many of
the findings are reflected in this proposal.
Social Services
Although some resources do exist in the target area, they do not adequately address the
community’s problems. The population levels, culture differences, geographical facts regarding
housing stock and age, single family homes and apartments, public housing and
homeownership, transient rate and unfunded projects are main factors related to the crime,
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19. social factors and needs of the area. The following service gaps were expressed as the top six
resource needs by residents of the target area via a community assessment survey:
• After-school programs (28 percent)
• Adult Employment (24 percent)
• Affordable Health Care (23 percent)
• Youth Employment/ Sports and Recreation Programs/Teen Center (20 percent)
• Reading Programs for Youth (13 percent)
• Parent Resource Center (13 percent)
The recent 2007 award of the federal Weed and Seed Grant Initiative to the City of Long Beach
provides funding over five years for initial prevention and intervention efforts in Police Beats 4
and 5. However, this program is unable to address the breadth and depth of the problem on its
own. Further, budget cuts and other resource limitations have impacted the City’s ability to
support the coordination and enhancement of existing youth and gang violence prevention and
intervention efforts.
With so many young people living in Long Beach, there is an urgent and critical need to employ
more resources in the target area to further develop a strong support structure, including a staff
dedicated to focusing solely on networking, promoting and delivering prevention initiatives in
Long Beach that will positively impact the community. In addition, resources are needed to
expand comprehensive and multifaceted intervention and suppression efforts on a regional
basis, resulting in decreasing youth violence, crime, and gang-related deaths.
19

20. 2. PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION
Project Plan and Focus
The Long Beach Project will focus on the key areas of gang prevention, intervention, education,
job training and skills development. It will also include elements of family and community
services. Specifically, the Long Beach Project will focus on providing positive alternatives to
gang participation, community awareness and education, and coordination of existing efforts
and resources.
Addressing the Problem
Many roots of the gang problem expressed earlier in this document will be addressed in the
target area by the Long Beach Project. These consist of: a large youth population with un-
addressed needs (including alarming rates of youth violence), a need for vocational
opportunities, citywide budget cuts in youth programming, media glamorization of violence,
strained police/community relations, perceived lack of resources for low-income families, and
intergroup community tensions.
A) Positive Alternatives to Gang Participation
Given that close to one-third of Long Beach’s population is under the age of 18 and that almost
half of the residents in Police Beats 4 and 5 are also under age 18, the educational, conflict
resolution, leisure-time, employment, and other needs of youth are of serious concern to
community members and leaders. The Long Beach Project will:
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21. 1. Enhance capabilities at City youth Safe Haven sites located at the California
Recreation Center and the Central Facilities Center at Martin Luther King Park, both in
Police Beats 4 and 5, in order to provide expanded services for the youth accessing
the existing Weed and Seed programs. This will include:
o Hiring a part-time Department of Health and Human Services Community Health
Worker to support the department’s Weed and Seed Grant Coordinator.
o Coaching community agencies and City departments to actively refer youth and their
families to City youth Safe Havens. (For example, the Community Development
Department will refer their family contacts from Community Police Centers to Safe
Havens. Long Beach Public Library staff will do the same with families they come
into contact with from the target area).
o Purchasing additional computers, software, and internet connectivity for Safe
Havens.
o Funding staffing for computer classes and staffing for tutorial and after school
activities conducted in Safe Havens.
o Purchasing school supplies, books and activities to strengthen learning (reading,
math, memory, etc.), enhance drug prevention, and deliver youth and gang violence
prevention activities.
o Collaborating with the Long Beach Public Library to pursue the establishment of an
additional Safe Haven at the Mark Twain Library.
[Focus: Prevention]
2. Enroll target area youth in the City’s Workforce Investment Network (Network) and
Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) programs that provide access to a menu
of programs and services designed to aid in the acquisition of educational and
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22. training support in preparation for success in the workforce of the 21st Century.
These programs and services will include workforce preparation, work experience, job
training, and exposure to postsecondary education.
o Workforce Preparation - With support from the Network’s Youth Opportunity
Center, Career Transition Center, one-stop partner agencies and Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) subcontracted organizations, youth may engage in varied
activities designed to support completion of secondary education, obtain a GED,
prepare for advance training/postsecondary education, and entry into the labor force.
Services provided to younger (ages 14-18) and older (ages 19+) youth will be based
upon their individual circumstances and needs and may include access to any of the
following:
• Resource Centers, which provide access to internet connected computers,
telephone and fax machines, photocopiers, and resource postings;
• Academic counseling, tutoring, homework assistance, and training in test
taking and note taking skills;
• Work-Readiness/Soft Skills Training, including interviewing techniques,
resume development, application completion, work-place ethics and
behavior, financial literacy, communication skills, and team building;
• Labor market information, including industry and occupational demand,
working conditions, and wage expectations;
• Occupational skills training, including training opportunities in high-wage,
high-growth industries (i.e., Health Care, Construction, Energy and Utilities,
and Transportation/Logistics);
• Hire-A-Youth Program, which includes unpaid internships, paid work
experience, placement in unsubsidized employment and job coaching; and
22

23. opportunities to focus on career opportunities of interest to participating
youth, including city-wide work experience programs;
• Volunteer opportunities to earn Service Learning credit and gain further
exposure to potential career opportunities;
• Leadership Development, including opportunities to development leadership
skills and engage in the community by participating in youth-led projects
• Mentoring relationships with positive, successful role models;
• Supportive services and incentives as needed to ensure successful
completion of planned activities
• Assistance completing college applications and researching scholarship and
financial aid opportunities.
In addition, older youth (18+) enrolled in the project will receive priority enrollment
into WIA subcontractor’s programs for even more intensive services.
Further, enrollment into a program tailored for juvenile offenders, camp returnees,
consistent truants, and/or credit-deficient disciplinary transfer students will provide 12
youth each year with GED preparation, coupled with workforce development and job
or internship placement. Network staff will work with the Long Beach Unified School
District Truancy Office, the District School for Adults, and Probation Officers to recruit
and monitor participants. The program will span 40 hours per week over the course
of the three-year Long Beach Project.
o Work Experience - Under the direction of the Workforce Investment Network, 18-24
year old youth who reside in the target area will participate in paid work experience
23

24. and structured workforce development through a Community Beautification/
Neighborhood Enhancement Project component a total of 450 hours. Each 15-week
cycle will consist of 300 hours of paid work experience and 150 hours of workforce
development activities (30 hours per week combined). The Neighborhood
Enhancement Project will be available three times per year to 13 youth per cycle.
o Under the supervision of the Employment Specialist, youth will be engaged in
clean-up efforts and varied beautification projects in key corridors within
Police Beats 4 and 5 a total of 20 hours per week. Activities will include
removal of weeds, sweeping, removal of small debris, and limited tree
trimming. Through coordination with the City’s Community Development
Block Grant-funded Neighborhood Resource center, youth will also be
engaged in various neighborhood beautification projects in connection with
neighborhood associations throughout the target area. Associations will
propose projects for their neighborhoods, which can complement with the
overall project objectives. Each youth will be paid $8.00 per hour for each
hour worked.
o During each 15-week cycle, youth will participate in structured workforce
development and preparation activities 10 hours per week. Activities will
include life skills, work-readiness/soft skills training, leadership development,
and educational support activities.
o Job Training - Long Beach Unified School District’s Regional Occupation Program
(ROP) will provide priority enrollment for students to participate in job training classes
offered to both 11th and 12th grade and adult students who reside in or attend school
in the target area. Training opportunities will focus on high-wage, high-growth
24

25. industry sectors involved with Business and Marketing, Health and Medical,
Consumer and Human Services, and Industry and Technology.
o Training will be provided free to high school students, and target area adult
fees will be waived. Course completion will result in increased eligibility for
employment or preparation for advanced training.
o Classes include: Business Career Internship, Clerical Office Occupations,
Computer Business Applications, Small Business Management, Hospital Health
Services, Medical occupations, Medical Billing, Medical Clerical, Medical Core,
Medical Terminology, Careers with Children, Culinary Arts, Law Enforcement,
Animal Care, Auto Collision, Construction, Graphic Design, and Landscape
Railroad Technology.
o The school district will also offer training necessary to properly prepare
students for internships and employment, sponsor career fairs and job fairs
for target area youth to attend, and will provide informational workshops and
recruitment services to students and community members in the target area.
o Exposure to Postsecondary Education - The School District will coordinate a
program in conjunction with California State University Long Beach (CSULB) to
recruit traditionally underrepresented students to visit CSULB two Saturdays per
month, with a different cohort of students each month. The goal is to have students
become familiar with the college atmosphere, and understand the various support
programs available to students. Students will be recruited primarily from Polytechnic
High School, located in the target area, and other High Schools serving students
from the target area.
[Focus: Job Training and Skills Development]
25

26. 3. Encourage young adults to participate in programs like the City’s Midnight Basketball
Program. This free program is a winter and spring basketball league and mentoring
program for men and women ages 17-25. Programs run twice a week from 9:00 pm - 12:00
midnight, and participant workshops are offered in job training, volunteering, and counseling
areas. To many, this program serves as an intervention approach for ex-offenders, truants
and other at-risk young adults.
[Focus: Intervention]
4. Support the Long Beach City College Women and Men’s Resource Center’s efforts to
develop a publicity campaign to actively recruit high school youth to participate in its
annual “It’s My Future” Youth Anti-Violence Conference.” Students who attend high
school in the target area (Polytechnic High) and those who live in Police Beats 4 and 5 will
be targeted to participate in this educational, youth-led conference. Long Beach Project
funds will also be used to support programmatic elements of the anti-violence conference.
[Focus: Education]
5. Assist with coordinating truant youth participation in education, job development and
intervention as well as violence prevention programs. The Long Beach Police
Department Intervention/Prevention Officer will specifically focus on this effort.
[Focus: Intervention]
6. Provide conflict resolution workshops in the target area and surrounding community.
Workshops will be catered toward youth and/or adult audience needs and may be offered in
partnership with a community based organization.
[Focus: Education]
26

27. B) Community Awareness and Education
The Long Beach Project will express anti-gang messages and support anti-gang efforts in order
to promote community awareness and education. The Project will:
1. Develop and launch a dynamic, multimedia, citywide Public Educational
Awareness Campaign to de-glorify and de-glamorize youth and gang violence. A
team of community agencies, educational entities, City departments, and local television
stations, led by the Long Beach Project Coordinator, will share resources (including
middle, high school and college student participation) to create this campaign intended
for child, youth and adult audiences.
[Focus: Prevention and Education]
2. Expand the delivery of the Department of Health and Human Services’
Parents/Grandparents of Youth support groups/educational meetings. This project
will provide adults who are raising youth an opportunity to have their specific concerns
and needs addressed by professional resources. The part-time Community Health
Worker will be responsible for this element.
[Focus: Family and Community Services]
3. Enhance the Long Beach Police Department Intervention/Prevention Program.
o An Intervention/Prevention Officer will be hired to work on a time-and-a-half schedule
to assist with the coordination of the Police Department’s Intervention/Prevention
Program.
27

28. o Partnerships between the targeted community and Police Department will be
enhanced via police/youth dialogues.
o Target area residents will be referred to existing Police Department/Community
Relations monthly education forums, and encouraged to participate in the Police
Department Citizens’ Academy.
o The Police Department will monitor crime statistics for Police Beats 4 and 5 in order
to provide regular reports to the Long Beach Project Coordinator, Coordinating and
Advisory Council, and the City’s Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force.
[Focus: Prevention and Intervention]
C) Coordination of Efforts and Resources
The Long Beach Project will enhance the coordination of existing efforts and resources related
to youth and gang violence prevention and intervention, as well as family and community
services. The Project will:
1. Hire a Violence Prevention Coordinator to oversee the Long Beach Project. The
Coordinator position will be housed in the Office of the City Manager’s Human Dignity
Program and will be categorized as a contract employee. This keystone position will:
• Provide staff services and coordinate the efforts for the Long Beach Project Coordinating
and Advisory Council and its subcommittees;
• Coordinate efforts with other City departments;
• Serve as liaison between public and private agencies as well as build regional coalitions
with County and city agencies for a more regional approach to the problem;
28

29. • Recruit volunteers or interns to provide support for projects (College interns from the
target area will serve to support Project communications, marketing needs and assist in
Project administration); and
• Maintain grant compliance and reporting.
The Coordinator will also manage prevention, education and response efforts by fulfilling the
following responsibilities:
Prevention
o Serve as the lead staff person for the City’s Youth and Gang Violence Prevention
Task Force, which includes members, a City-staffed Resource Team, and an
Executive Committee.
o Develop, implement and sustain a Violence Prevention Plan for the City.
o Serve as a liaison to the City’s Human Relations Commission on the City’s Violence
Prevention Plan.
o Support the delivery of prevention programs focused specifically in Police Beats 4
and 5. This includes collaboration with community-based organization efforts,
school-based prevention programs, and the Weed and Seed Coordinator’s projects.
o Explore long-term sustainability of violence prevention efforts by pursuing
opportunities for additional funding.
o Develop a calendar of safe, supervised and fun activities to be distributed to families
in the target area, with a focus on after-school and weekend options for youth
(including evenings and holidays).
o Reconvene the City’s Youth Services Network (formerly coordinated by the
Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine).
29

30. o Assist with the update of youth and community resource lists on City web pages,
including www.savinglives.longbeach.gov.
[Focus: Prevention]
Education
o Conduct a citywide public educational awareness campaign that expresses an anti-
gang violence message. This campaign will communicate anti-gang messages
which de-glorify and de-glamorize violence through the promotion of positive
character and community and social values (i.e., integrity, responsibility,
accountability and respect). The Coordinator will work with community-based
organizations that serve groups most affected by violence to develop messages that
are culturally and linguistically sensitive to the diverse population in the city (i.e.,
multi-lingual brochures, billboards, bus stop ads, multi-ethnic events, web site, TV
ads, etc.).
o Promote the citywide Season for Nonviolence campaign (January 30-April 4,
annually) with the Human Dignity Officer.
o Collaborate with existing agencies to connect ex-offenders with educational, mental
health and/or life skills programs and services.
[Focus: Education]
Response
o Provide assistance to families who seek resources to prevent gang involvement with
their children.
o Address community concerns regarding gang violence via community forums.
30

31. o Conduct outreach to community members following youth violence and gang
violence incidents to de-escalate community tension.
o Develop, train and deploy the City’s first Youth and Gang Violence Crisis Response
Team (Crisis Response Team), discussed in further detail below.
o Seek additional funding sources to expand the Crisis Response Team to offer
services to mediate racialized, inter-cultural or intra-cultural gang violence. An
enhanced team would serve as intercessors to resolve confrontations between
groups and to prevent confrontations from escalating or becoming destructive. (This
concept is based on an initial recommendation by the City’s Human Relations
Commission in its 2003 Report on Youth and Gang Violence to City Council).
[Focus: Family and Community Services]
2. Provide opportunities for the Long Beach Police Department to engage youth and
families in programs that prevent crime. The Police Department will connect youth and
families to resources, including: the Police Athletic League, job skills programs, education
programs, parent education trainings, family counseling and recreational activities. The
Police Department will also take part in drug and gang prevention and education programs
at Safe Havens, churches, schools and other organizations. These efforts will be supported
by the Intervention/Prevention Officer.
[Focus: Prevention]
3. Network community resources through the implementation of varied approaches in
order to maximize outreach to diverse communities.
31

32. o The Long Beach Public Library will determine best practices to connect community
resource information on www.lbpl.org with the City’s Youth and Gang Violence
Prevention Task Force Web Site and the Youth Services Network web site.
o A Youth Services Guide Directory will be created by a collaborative team including the
City of Long Beach Department of Parks and Recreation, the Long Beach Public Library,
the Community Development Department and the Long Beach Project Coordinator.
o The City’s Youth Services Network web site will be maintained with member
submissions by the Department of Parks and Recreation. This online Youth Services
database provides access to a list of organizations that serve youth and children. The
data was collected and organized jointly by the Department of Parks and Recreation and
the Long Beach Unified School District, Office of Alternative Education and Student
Support Services.
o Coordination of the City’s Youth Services Network will transition from the Department of
Parks and Recreation to the Long Beach Project Coordinator. Network meetings will be
held quarterly.
[Focus: Prevention]
4. Respond to incidents of youth and gang violence through the implementation of the
City’s Youth and Gang Violence Crisis Response Team (Crisis Response Team). The
Long Beach Project Coordinator will spearhead the creation of this specialized team. The
Crisis Response Team will respond specifically to youth violence and gang violence in order
to provide assistance, intervention and prevention to victims, their families, and witnesses of
such violent acts. This program will bring to life a needed citywide response to gang
violence and will be instrumental in de-escalating community tension, bringing about
mediation opportunities, and encouraging dialogue. The Crisis Response Team will be
32

33. trained in a multi-day skill development program and will meet monthly to further develop
their victim response skills. This initiative will include the establishment of a City Youth and
Gang Violence Crisis Response Procedure in partnership with the Long Beach Police
Department. The Crisis Response Team will be part of the Human Dignity Program
Community Assistance Team, and will be modeled after the Los Angeles Crisis Response
Team.
[Focus: Intervention, Prevention, and Family and Community Services]
5. De-escalate tensions between different racial groups in Long Beach and address
issues of stereotyping and bias via efforts by the Violence Prevention Coordinator in
collaboration with the Human Dignity Officer. Specialized neighborhood dialogue
programs may be delivered by the Long Beach Project as a result of Youth and Gang
Violence Crisis Response Team activations to address related concerns in the target
community.
[Focus: Prevention]
6. Build valuable alliances in the community and region.
o The Long Beach Project Coordinator will communicate regularly with the Long Beach City
College Women and Men’s Resource Center about programs and services geared toward
ex-offender reentry.
o The Long Beach Project Coordinator will attend monthly Los Angeles County
Interagency Gang Task Force meetings with the Long Beach Police Department.
Together, they will pursue additional ways to enhance a lasting and continued
relationship with state and local law enforcement, probation, parole, and other potential
regional partners.
33

34. o The Long Beach Project Coordinator and Police Department will also participate in
discussions with the Los Angeles Superior Court regarding improving the warrant system,
with the possibility of securing funding for a regional warrant officer. As a result, youth
resource referral efforts will be coordinated with the Superior Court.
o Long Beach Unified School District will secure office space at a school in the target area for
the Long Beach Project Coordinator to utilize on a weekly or monthly basis.
o School District staff will keep the Long Beach Project Coordinator appraised of school
programs for at-risk youth (i.e., Fostering Opportunities for Creating Unified Success–
FOCUS, Guidance Opportunity Classes, Specialized Educational and Learning
Environment for Collaborative Transitions–SELECT, Project TEAM–Teaching and
Encouraging Academic Minds, Extended Day Interventions for Middle School English
Learners, CAHSEE Interventions, Safe and Civil Schools Initiative, Second Step, Too Good
for Drugs and Violence, Truancy Counseling Center–TCC, District-wide Crisis Response
Team, Student Success Intervention Teams, the School Based Mental Health
Collaborative, and parent education classes).
o Designated School District staff will connect the Long Beach Project with the District’s
Truancy Center and the District’s School for Adults GED Program.
[Focus: Prevention]
7. Enhance the Department of Health and Human Services’ offering of substance abuse
services. The Department’s Community Health Worker will establish additional
drug/alcohol abuse prevention activities for youth. (S)he will develop a substance abuse
treatment referral guide for community distribution. In addition, (s)he will assist with the
development and distribution of treatment and aftercare services for substance addicts.
[Focus: Family and Community Services]
34

35. Addressing Unmet Needs
The Long Beach Project will establish a needed, formalized and coordinated anti-gang program
in the City of Long Beach in order to better address the community’s problems. It will reign in a
network of wrap-around resources and services necessary to de-glamorize youth and gang
violence, educate families about youth drug and alcohol abuse and treatment, provide
vocational/ work experience and job opportunities, create positive youth alternatives to gang
participation in a safe environment, and to respond to additional community needs resulting
from gang violence. Service areas of concern to target area residents will be addressed
through the support and promotion of after-school academic and recreation programs, tutoring,
job training and employment opportunities, and health care resources.
The Long Beach Project will enhance the City’s established Weed and Seed Grant efforts by
further enhancing local resources through identifying and organizing a partnership between
them and regional resources. The Project will help to double the resources and allow programs
to reach a larger target than they could individually. Local resources can be better distributed,
enhanced and coordinated through collaboration of services by community agencies and their
agreement not to duplicate services in the target area. The improved distribution can be
accomplished by establishing a specific schedule to make activities and services available to
the community by: the utilization of the Weed and Seed Grant youth Safe Havens for service
locations; establishment of a resource buddy system; notification of law enforcement when a
crime is witnessed; formation of neighborhood watch groups; and contact with a City
department when a problem is identified.
Youth Safe Havens
35

36. Youth will have expanded opportunity to take advantage of Weed and Seed Grant-established
youth Safe Havens for after school activities such as tutoring, mentoring, sports activities, and
craft classes. Two Safe Havens have recently been identified to offer services 3-5 days a week
to youth. Safe Havens have been identified as a community meeting location to plan
community events to improve the quality of life for the target area. The Long Beach Project will
direct youth and resources to the Safe Havens.
36

37. Project Objectives and Expected Success
The Long Beach Project will positively impact the focus areas of gang prevention, intervention,
education, job training and skills development, as well as family and community services in the
target area. Following is a description of objectives that address each focus, along with
identified measurements of success. The Project will:
1. Provide youth who are identified as already involved in criminal or gang activity or
are at-risk, with positive alternatives to gang participation in a safe environment,
including job training and skills development.
a. Prevention – A focus on prevention will be evidenced by the enhancement of
capabilities at City youth Safe Haven sites located in Police Beats 4 and 5, in order
to provide expanded services for the youth accessing the existing Weed and Seed
programs. Success indicators will include:
 Securing a part-time Community Health Worker in the Department of Health
and Human Services.
 Referral of 156 youth and their families to City youth Safe Havens by
community agencies and City departments (one youth per week).
 Three additional computers, including software, and three years of internet
connectivity at Safe Havens.
 100 hours of computer classes, tutoring, and after school activities provided
on an annual basis at Safe Havens.
 School supplies, books and activities for 12 youth participating in Safe Haven
programs.
37

38.  Additional Safe Haven established at the Mark Twain Library.
b. Job Training and Skills Development – A focus on job training and skills
development will be evidenced by the enrollment of target area youth in the City’s
Workforce Investment Network and Long Beach Unified School District programs
that provide access to a menu of programs and services designed to aid in the
acquisition of educational and training support in preparation for success in the
workforce of the 21st Century. These programs and services include workforce
preparation, work experience, job training, and exposure to postsecondary
education. Anticipated success indicators include:
o 79 percent of youth participants 14-18 years of age will demonstrate an
increase in their basic literacy skills and 67 percent will achieve a high school
diploma (or equivalent), as a result of participation in workforce preparation
activities.
o 69 percent of youth participants 19 years of age and older will attain
employment and 39 percent will attain both employment and a credential
(high school diploma, GED or certification).
o 36 juvenile offenders, camp returnees, consistent truants, and/or credit-
deficient disciplinary transfer students per year will receive their GED and be
placed in a job or internship.
 117 youth participants per year will complete a paid work experience and
structured workforce development program through the Community
Beautification/ Neighborhood Enhancement Project.
 30 percent of youth participants who successfully complete the workforce
component will attain employment and an additional 39 percent will attain a
38

39. credential (high school diploma, GED or certification) and/or enter advanced
training or postsecondary education.
 225 youth and adults per semester will be enrolled in job training over the
course of the three-year project. Success will be measured by the number of
youth and adults completing job training and participating in employment
placement activities and/or entering advanced training.
 300 students from Polytechnic High School, or students who live in the
surrounding neighborhoods (300 over three years) will participate in the
Exposure to Postsecondary Education program, cosponsored by the Long
Beach Unified School District and California State University, Long Beach.
The number of participants who enroll in college will also determine program
success. Students will be tracked through Cal-PASS (California Partnership
for Achieving Student Success). Additional measures will include increases
in GPA, attendance, standardized test scores (including the California
Standards Test) and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE), and
decreases in discipline. Project Team Counselors of Long Beach Unified
School District will perform this tracking.
c. Intervention – A focus on intervention will be evidenced by the coordination of truant
youth participation in education, job development and intervention as well as
violence prevention programs. Success indicators will include the referral of 36
young adults under the age of 25 to participate in the City’s Midnight Basketball
Program or other intervention programs. This will, in turn, lower the recidivism rate
among participants.
39

40. d. Education – A focus on education will be evidenced by the promotion and delivery
of the Long Beach City College Women and Men’s Resource Center’s annual “It’s
My Future” Youth Anti-Violence Conference. Success indicators will include annual
conference participation of 75 students from the target area who will develop an
understanding of a wide-range of alternatives that resolve conflict without violence.
At least half of the youth participants from the target area will develop conference
planning, leadership and facilitation skills. This will increase their influence among
peers regarding violence prevention messages. Increased conference attendance
will result each year. Further, five college students will interface with youth
participants each year (15 college students over the three-year period), who will
provide mentoring relationships to the youth.
In addition, 12 conflict resolution workshops will be provided for 180 youth and adult
participants in the target area and surrounding community over the three-year period
and will express positive attitudinal and behavioral change in regards to issues of
conflict.
2. Promote community awareness and education via anti-gang messages.
a. Prevention and Intervention – A dual focus on prevention and intervention will be
evidenced by the enhancement of the Long Beach Police Department
Intervention/Prevention Program. Success indicators will include:
o Securing one Intervention/Prevention Officer who will work 10 hours per
week (520 hours annually, and 1,560 hours over the three-year period).
40

41. o Attitudinal shift and relationship-building between the targeted community
and Police Department as a result of participation in at least one annual
police/youth dialogue (three over the three-year period).
o The referral of 36 residents per year to existing Police
Department/Community Relations education forums and the Police
Department Citizens’ Academy.
b. Education – A focus on education will be evidenced by the launch of a Public
Educational Awareness Campaign to de-glorify and de-glamorize youth and gang
violence. Success indicators will include multimedia outreach to child, youth and
adult audiences which will result in 104 new visits to the Long Beach Project web site
(one each week for two years) and 52 calls for service (one every two weeks for two
years).
c. Family and Community Services – A focus on family and community services will
be evidenced by the expansion of the delivery of the Department of Health and
Human Services’ Parents/Grandparents of Youth support groups/educational
meetings. Success indicators will include the delivery of four support
groups/education meetings by the Community Health Worker.
3. Enhance the coordination of existing efforts and resources related to youth and gang
violence prevention and intervention as well as family and community services to
maximize the return on the investment of limited resources.
a. Prevention – A focus on prevention will be evidenced via multiple avenues.
41

42. First, by securing one Violence Prevention Coordinator in the Office of the City
Manager. Success indicators will include the following accomplishments:
o Supervision of at least two volunteers or interns per year (six over the three-
year period).
o Delivery of eight Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force meetings
and four Community Education Forums per year (24 and 12, respectively,
over the three-year period).
o Coordination of monthly Resource Team meetings (36 over the three-year
period).
o Coordination of quarterly Executive Committee meetings (12 over the three-
year period).
o The adoption of a citywide Violence Prevention Plan by the City Council, with
the support of the Long Beach Unified School District, and other community
entities.
o Monthly presentations to the City’s Human Relations Commission on the
City’s Violence Prevention Plan (36 over the three-year period).
o Secure additional violence prevention funding to sustain these efforts on a
long-term basis in Long Beach.
o The development and distribution of a calendar of safe youth activities to
1,000 target area youth and their families, at least on an annual basis.
o Coordinate four annual Youth Services Network meetings (12 over the three-
year period).
o Coordinate monthly updates of youth and community resource lists on City
web pages (including www.savinglives.longbeach.gov).
42

43. The prevention focus will also be indicated as the Long Beach Police Department
engages youth and families in programs that prevent crime. Success indicators
will include:
o Connecting 36 youth and families to departmental and/or other agency
prevention programs.
o The Police Department will take part in 36 drug and gang prevention and
education programs at Safe Havens, churches, schools and other
organizations.
A focus on prevention will further be revealed with the implementation of varied
approaches to network community resources. Success will be evidenced by:
o Merging or cross-referencing at least on a quarterly basis, community
resource information on the Long Beach Public Library web site
(www.lbpl.org) with the City’s Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task
Force Web Site (www.savinglives.longbeach.gov) and the Youth Services
Network web site (www.longbeachyouth.org).
o The creation and distribution of a Youth Services Guide Directory to 2,000
target area youth and families.
o Weekly maintenance of the City’s Youth Services Network web site.
o Quarterly meetings of the City’s Youth Services Network will be held by the
Long Beach Project Coordinator.
Further, prevention will be the focus as the Long Beach Project aims to de-
escalate racial tensions, stereotypes and bias. Success will be evidenced in the
43

44. delivery of an annual, specialized neighborhood dialogue program, resulting from
outreach by the Youth and Gang Violence Crisis Response Team.
In the vein of prevention, the Long Beach Project will build valuable alliances in
the community and region. Success will be evidenced by:
o The coordination of at least one ex-offender reentry program per year alongside
Long Beach City College and/or the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating
Committee.
o The Long Beach Project staff attendance at monthly Los Angeles County
Interagency Gang Task Force meetings.
o A final determination with the Los Angeles Superior Court about securing
funding for a regional warrant officer and improvement of the warrant system.
o Coordinating 18 youth resource referrals from the Superior Court (one every-
other-month).
o Weekly or monthly utilization of office space at a Long Beach Unified School
District school in the target area.
o Bi-annual updates on School District programs for at-risk youth, including face-
to-face meetings with key staff at the District’s Truancy Center and the School
for Adults GED Program.
b. Education – A focus on education will be evidenced by the launch of citywide
multimedia education and awareness campaigns to express anti-gang violence
messages. Success indicators will include:
o The creation and distribution of education and awareness campaign materials in
English, Spanish and Khmer languages to 2,250 target area residents.
44

45. o Involvement in promotion of the citywide Season for Nonviolence campaign,
including garnering annual Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force
endorsement and monthly City promotional messages during the January-April
timeframe.
c. Family and Community Services – A focus on family and community services will
be evidenced by efforts in response to youth and gang violence. Success indicators
will include:
o Responding to 72 calls for service from families who seek resources to prevent
gang involvement with their children (one every-other-week).
o Hosting community forums on an as-needed basis to address individualized
community concerns regarding gang violence (up to four per year).
o Recruit and train 60 volunteers to make up the Youth and Gang Violence Crisis
Response Team (60 per year).
o Activate the Crisis Response Team on 36 calls for service in response to youth
violence and gang violence.
o Establishment of a City response procedure/protocol in partnership with the Long
Beach Police Department.
Lastly, a focus on family and community services will be evidenced by enhancing the
Department of Health and Human Services offering of substance abuse services.
Success indicators will include:
o The establishment of additional drug/alcohol abuse prevention activities for 12
unduplicated youth.
45

46. o The development of a substance abuse treatment referral guide for community
distribution to 1,500 people.
o The development and distribution of treatment and aftercare services for
substance addiction services affecting up to 36 target area residents.
Implementation and Lead Agency
The City of Long Beach Office of the City Manager will have lead responsibility for implementing
the Long Beach Project. The Human Dignity Officer will act as the Project Director and the
proposed Violence Prevention Coordinator will serve as the Project Coordinator. Both positions
are located in the Office of the City Manager. The Human Dignity Officer will supervise the
Violence Prevention Coordinator. Currently, the Human Dignity Officer heads youth and gang
violence prevention initiatives in the City by dedicating 50 percent of the position’s time. These
job responsibilities will shift to the Violence Prevention Coordinator to focus 100 percent of
his/her time on, once hired. This will allow maximum efforts in this arena.
The Office of the City Manager has the organizational ability to carry out the proposed Long
Beach Project plan, as the Human Dignity Program has already laid its foundation. The Human
Dignity Program was established in 2000 to support the City’s Human Dignity Policy that states:
“everyone should be treated with courtesy and respect, regardless of their racial background,
their nation of origin, the religion they practice, their sexual orientation, gender, or disability
status. It is the right of all residents to pursue their daily lives with the knowledge that they will
not be threatened with violence or physical harm.” This policy and the Human Dignity Program
evidence the City’s commitment to building safe, healthy, productive communities. The Human
Dignity Program has and continues to provide youth and gang violence prevention, diversity
education, hate crime response, and community harmony promotion programming and services
46

47. to the community. The City’s Community Assistance Team, a team of trained volunteers who
respond to hate crimes/bias incidents and mediate intergroup conflict, is led by the Human
Dignity Program.
A City Violence Prevention Connection
Since 2004, the Human Dignity Officer has served as the main staff support for the City’s Youth
and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force and other prevention initiatives. The Task Force
was created to focus on issues affecting Police Beats 4, 5 and 7. Its Vision is to help build: “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.” Unique to this endeavor is the cross-departmental support that has been offered
throughout Long Beach since the Task Force’s inception. This includes staff involvement from
the Department of Health and Human Services, Long Beach Police Department, Community
Development Department, the Department of Technology Services, Long Beach Public Library,
and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine.
The Violence Prevention Coordinator (Project Coordinator)
The Violence Prevention Coordinator will work closely with the involved City departments’ key
staff, including the proposed Long Beach Police Department Intervention/Prevention Officer, the
proposed Department of Health and Human Services Community Health Worker as well as the
established Weed and Seed Grant Coordinator, and the Community Development Department’s
Workforce Investment Network staff in order to implement elements of the Long Beach Project.
This Coordinator will have direct involvement in activities, coordinate community partnership
entities, respond to the needs and recommendations of the Long Beach Project Coordinating
and Advisory Council, as well as serve as its conduit between the various entities to recommend
resources and provide communication to accomplish tasks.
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48. 48

49. The Violence Prevention Coordinator will be responsible for coordinating the following entities:
• Youth Services Network (quarterly meetings)
• Youth and Gang Violence Crisis Response Team (multi-day skill development training
and monthly meetings)
• Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force (monthly meetings)
• Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force City-staffed Resource Team (monthly
meetings)
• Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force Executive Committee/Long Beach
Project Coordinating and Advisory Council (quarterly meetings)
The Violence Prevention Coordinator will be a key player in daily operations, and as such, will
commit 100 percent of his/her time to oversee the implementation of the Long Beach Project
strategy on a day-to-day basis.
Previous Experience
The City of Long Beach has lengthy experience in implementing grants. The City is currently
implementing the Department of Justice Weed and Seed Grant over a five-year period, through
the Department of Health and Human Services. Further, the Long Beach Police Department
seeks out and implements grants on a regular basis. These two departments’ undertakings are
of note, as they are each collaborating with staff from the Office of the City Manager to propose
and implement the Long Beach Project.
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50. Coordination and Collaboration
The current partnership between the City of Long Beach and residents residing in Police Beats
4 and 5 via the Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task Force to address quality
of life issues in and around the existing site led to the interest in the Governor’s Office of
Emergency Services Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Program for Cities (Cal
GRIP). Once appraised of the Cal GRIP Grant opportunity, City departments began meeting to
strategize the Long Beach Project, including the Office of the City Manager, the Long Beach
Police Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the City’s Workforce
Investment Network, the Community Development Department, the Department of Parks,
Recreation and Marine, the Long Beach Public Library, and Long Beach Television Channel 8.
Early on in the development strategy, other partners, such as Long Beach Unified School
District, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach City College, and the California
Conference for Equality and Justice committed to actively support the application and eventual
Project implementation.
Partnerships and Collaborations
The Long Beach Project’s mission is to create a collaboration of educational, prevention and
intervention based programs, as well as related support systems designed to provide essential
educational, career, social and life skills development training and services to at-risk youth and
adults in the Long Beach Police Beats 4 and 5. In addition, attention will be given to ex-
offenders in need of a second chance to reconstitute their lives and become viable, productive,
and contributing members of the community. This will be demonstrated by resource referrals
and program sponsorships. Moreover, this collaboration will incorporate a comprehensive
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51. resource network involving subject matter experts from local schools, community college and
university systems, local officials and agencies, as well as businesses, religious organizations
and other non-profit entities.
The City of Long Beach consistently builds new relationships with jurisdictions and agencies in
the target area, as well as regionally. The Office of the City Manager Human Dignity Officer
attends monthly meetings of the Los Angeles County Inter-Agency Gang Task Force alongside
the Long Beach Police Department. Through this collaboration, relationships have been built
with the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordination Committee (CCJCC). Most noteworthy, as a
result of this relationship, the City of Long Beach Human Dignity Program assisted the CCJCC
in hosting one of its four annual Ex-Offender Reentry Job and Resource Fairs at Long Beach
City College in the fall of 2007. CCJCC’s Executive Director has agreed to sit on the Cal GRIP/
Long Beach Project Coordinating and Advisory Council. This is advantageous to the Long
Beach Project, as the County’s Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council is a standing
subcommittee of the CCJCC. If funded, the proposed Violence Prevention Coordinator will
network with appropriate jurisdictions and agencies in order to maintain relationships and
establish new partnerships.
Coordination Strategies
The collaborative partnerships included herein are important assets that will lead toward the
preparation of individuals to become functioning, thriving, contributing members of our society.
It is necessary to expose at-risk youth, young adults, as well as ex-offenders to multiple
resources which provide avenues to contemplate his/her role and place in society and make
well informed decisions to improve his/her future.
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52. The City of Long Beach is noted for its many community and neighborhood outreach agencies,
associations and organizations that service youth and young adults. The members of this social
service community offer a variety of programs to area residents, students, and religious groups
ranging from academic skills development, job training and job placement services, to the
provision of basic human services. In providing this assistance, several issues continue to
hinder or keep these entities from maximizing their fullest outreach potential. It is the
overarching mission of the Long Beach Project to coalesce these services to function efficiently
and effectively. Detailed below are key points of integrating the services:
• Exposure – Most of these services do not have the resources to fully advertise or
promote their programs. Many individuals, organizations, agencies, schools and other
groups that could benefit from these outreach programs are not aware or do not have
access to them or their services. The Long Beach Project will support City youth Safe
Havens to serve as an overarching resource for information and access to the myriad of
services available to the targeted population.
• Resources – Many organizations are operating on very minimal budgets and do not
have the personnel or time to generate the ongoing support necessary to expand or
enhance their programs. Competition remains high for the meager resources from a
dwindling pot of funding resources. This creates much duplication of effort in relation to
fundraising and resource acquisition. The Long Beach Project will support City efforts
to encourage community organizations to co-submit grants to fulfill the social service
needs and gaps of the target community.
• Coordination – There is conflict in the scheduling of community outreach events and
very little coordination in the provisioning of services to overlapping constituencies.
Where there have been collaborative efforts with the sharing of responsibility for the
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53. rendering of service, they are very successful. The Long Beach Project will refer
interested parties to City Safe Havens, which will serve as a source of information about
a range of available programs and sources for assistance, as well as a means to provide
an assessment of the potential areas for improvement.
The Long Beach Project Coordinating and Advisory Council
The proposed Long Beach Project has a strong infrastructure, which has informed the Project’s
plan in the target area. The City of Long Beach Youth and Gang Violence Prevention Task
Force (Task Force) was established in 2004 as a result of the November 2003 report entitled
“Interim Report and Re-examination of the Problems of Youth and Gang Violence in the City of
Long Beach” which was submitted to the Mayor and City Council by the Human Relations
Commission. Since then, law enforcement, educational, faith-based, business, community,
neighborhood organizations and residents have been committed to the efforts of the Task
Force. Throughout the past four years, the Task Force has focused on the following issues:
youth and gang violence, delinquency prevention, workforce development, parent and family
services, media and public awareness, as well as community education and mobilization. The
Task Force is supported by a Resource Team composed of various City department staff who
assist with the volunteer Task Force members’ efforts.
The Task Force was also formed with the intention of convening an advisory Executive
Committee—high-level officials and key players in the community. The Cal GRIP Grant has
provided a valuable opportunity to convene the Executive Committee for the purposes of
oversight of the Long Beach Project, if funded. Therefore, the Long Beach Project Coordinating
and Advisory Council (Council) will be formed out of connections originally built by the Task
Force. The Council will serve as the supervision entity for the Cal GRIP Grant process and will
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54. also serve as the Executive Committee to oversee the City’s Youth and Gang Violence
Prevention Task Force.
Membership
Membership of the Long Beach Project Coordinating and Advisory Council (Council) will include
City officials, local law enforcement, the county sheriff’s office, probation, district attorney, local
educational agencies, school districts, the county office of education, and community-based
organizations. Council meetings will be held in the Police Department Community room next to
City Hall. The room has been reserved for the third Wednesday of each month, though Council
meetings may only be scheduled quarterly. Council membership request letters have been
distributed and we are anticipating, in early 2008, to receive a return response from 50 percent
of the invitees who will confirm their interest and acceptance of Council membership. Listed
below are those who have been invited to join the Council:
City Officials
1. Dee Andrews City of Long Beach 6th District Councilman
2. Bob Foster City of Long Beach Mayor
3. Reginald Harrison City of Long Beach Deputy City Manager
Vice Mayor, 1st District
4. Bonnie Lowenthal City of Long Beach Councilwoman
7th District
5. Tonia Reyes Uranga City of Long Beach Councilwoman
6. Patrick H. West City of Long Beach City Manager
Sheriff’s Department
Los Angeles Sheriff's
7. Ray Bercini Department Deputy, GREAT Team
Prevention Intervention
Los Angeles Sheriff's Specialist and Executive
8. Brian Center Department Director, A Better LA
Probation
Los Angeles County
9. Sam Banuelos Probation Department Supervisor
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