Grant to Fund Fight Against Youth Crime

Hoping to curb youth crime, Ventura County will use a $2.8-million state grant to open centers in Ventura, Oxnard and Simi Valley where juveniles on probation can be more tightly supervised and receive counseling and other services.

The money will also pay for a second county prosecutor who can haul parents of habitual truants into court and for additional probation officers to control gang-plagued neighborhoods in Oxnard and Santa Paula.

But with the stick comes a few carrots. The satellite centers will be staffed with specialists offering mental health services, job programs and drug and alcohol abuse counseling to help troubled youths even if they’ve never been in the county’s probation system.

“Early intervention programs like this are effective from a cost and human dynamics point of view,” Sheriff Bob Brooks said. “If they can reach a youth before they establish a life of crime, that’s the best money that can be spent.”

Don Krause, chief deputy in the county’s Probation Agency, said there is concern that a population “bubble” of young males is about to reach adolescence, when they are most likely to commit crimes.

“Our hope is to prevent new crime and to reduce the number of juveniles who re-offend,” Krause said. “These prevention programs should help keep a lid on it.”

The money comes from legislation signed by Gov. Gray Davis last year that provides $121.3 million statewide for programs that focus on youths prone to committing crime. Davis’ proposed budget includes another $121.3 million for the coming year, money a state official said will probably survive any cuts in the spending plan caused by the energy crisis.

“It’s pretty much anticipated that this is going to be a yearly allocation,” said Stephen Green, a spokesman for the governor’s office.

Ventura County’s Probation Agency oversees 1,500 juveniles on parole, 90% of them male. Some probation officers are responsible for 100 youths each.

To lighten their load, Ventura County will hire 20 probation officers, assessment specialists and other staff members needed to run the satellite centers. Placing centers in communities will make it easier for probation workers to keep an eye on wards, especially those who need intense supervision, Krause said.

“Instead of checking in at their probation officer’s office once a month, we can see them two or three times a week,” he said. “Some kids need a tighter rein.”

The county will also attack juvenile crime by adding a second truancy prosecutor to the district attorney’s office. A truancy program started last year has seen good results, said Gregory Totten, chief deputy district attorney.

By gradually escalating the consequences of truancy--including fines, and in serious cases, the filing of misdemeanor charges against parents--schools are seeing better attendance, he said.

Totten said his office anticipates adding a third truancy prosecutor later this year, tripling the effort of just a year ago.

“This is a proven method of preventing crime and a way to prevent kids from starting down a path of crime,” Totten said. “When kids are not in school they are out committing crimes. The amount of daytime residential burglaries goes up.”

A third prong is expanding the number of probation officers who supervise gang members on parole in Oxnard and Santa Paula. Oxnard’s program will expand existing law enforcement partnerships that target gang violence, Krause said. The city will also add a probation officer to its anti-gang task force.

In November, there were eight gang-related shootings in the Oxnard area, one of them fatal, within a 17-day period.

In Santa Paula, a probation officer, police officer and two community-based organizations will work together to provide surveillance, counseling, mentoring and vocational training.