The cities of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and Lompoc each received $500,000 in state grant funding — from the California Board of Corrections and Rehabilitation — for anti-gang efforts and services. In Santa Barbara, administrators said, the money will be funneled through the Community Action Commission and serve 120 young men and women ages 14-18 who have run afoul of the law or have been deemed at-risk. Eighteen juveniles will also be offered paid internships working with the with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department Apprenticeship Program. “Social service agencies assisted 120 youth in Santa Barbara in 2012,” said Mayor Helene Schneider in a prepared statement. “We saw 93 percent increase their school attendance, 79 percent report a reduction in drug and alcohol use, and 83 percent of eligible seniors graduated from high school. The grant funds will build on these successes.”
