Gang Intervention, by the Numbers

The September 9 presentation on Santa Barbara’s five-year plan to address gang violence problems also included a presentation on various nonprofits’ work this summer. With no additional funding, nonprofits have diverted about five of their own staff members to provide the sort of one-on-one case management that has been endorsed as crucial to the success of any long-term plan. Though confidentiality laws precluded caseworker Saul Serrano, of the Community Action Commission’s Los Compadres, from gaining access to the identities of the South Coast’s 101 core gang members, they worked with 82 teens referred to them by area parents, schools, and law enforcement instead. Of these, 24 had graduated from high school while sentenced to Los Prietos Boys Camp. Of those, eight lived on the South Coast and six are now attending Santa Barbara City College. Of the 82, 43 were on probation, 40 of whom managed to successfully complete the terms of their probation this summer. Of the 36 who were behind on their class credits and needed to attend summer school, 17 did so successfully. Twenty attended field trips; 23 attended mentoring sessions