3 Helping Hands for Youth

Despite how often the slogan slides off the tongues of politicians, school administrators, police officials and even some parents, children rarely get treated as though they are our future. Schools are crowded. Textbooks are in short supply. Kids coming home to empty houses are hard pressed to find much to do after school. And a shocking number of children suffer abuse silently at the hands of the adults watching over them. Hungry for attention and acceptance, they turn to gangs or truancy and start down a dangerous path. Three projects underway in the San Fernando Valley seek to remedy at least part of the problem by helping young people stay in school, out of trouble and away from harm. By themselves, none of the programs can reverse the course much. But as part of a bundled approach, they are a good start toward building a better future.

First, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center last week formally opened a clinic aimed at detecting child abuse and helping to free children from violence. Modeled after a similar program at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Center shepherds children and adults through the often-traumatic process of doctor examinations and police questions. Children deal with the same set of physicians, social workers and investigators so they are more likely to open up. The need is tragically real. Since the center opened quietly in October, it has treated more than 100 children. Countywide, the Department of Children and Family Services received 200,000 reports of abuse and neglect between February 1996 and February 1997. Anything to reduce that number is a good step.

Second, the Los Angeles Unified School District last week unveiled a program to curb truancy at six Valley schools. Unlike other crackdowns, Project Target identifies 150 students who show signs of delinquency and are having problems in class. The program covers Monroe and Chatsworth high schools and Nobel, Lawrence, Holmes and Sepulveda middle schools. Over the next several months, the students will meet with probation officers, attend classes on conflict resolution and spend four weeks at a summer camp in San Luis Obispo. Parents can face charges if their children miss too much school.

Child abuse and truancy can be strong predictors for future trouble such as gangs. That’s why the third project--a tough gang crackdown--helps keep youth on the right track. Modeled on a similar program in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Northeast Division, a special task force will focus on reducing crime in the Valley’s Foothill Division. In Northeast, the program cut gang crime nearly 40%. The program has two benefits. First, it sends a message to prospective gang members that they’re headed either to jail or the morgue. Second, it clears parks and playgrounds of thugs, giving kids a chance to play and learn without fear.

Taken together, these three programs send an encouraging message: That the very real problems facing young people in the Valley are being taken seriously. Sadly, though, they aim to keep kids free of dangers and problems they should never face in the first place. Much remains to be done to make childhood as safe and carefree as many Baby Boomers remember, but programs like these are a step in the right direction.