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Model Program Gives Juvenile Offenders a Second Chance
Teens travel to Sacramento to meet with legislators

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

SACRAMENTO, CA, February 28 - Eight teenagers from Westminster toured the Capitol on Feb. 27 and met with legislative representatives from Orange County to discuss their success in the state-funded Youth and Family Resource Center (YFRC), which targets high-risk young offenders upon their first conviction.

Founded in 1994, the YFRC program provides high school classes so students can continue to earn credits, plus other services for youth on probation, including drug- and alcohol-abuse counseling, anger management classes, job training and enrichment programs. YFRC is a full-day program for youth who live at home.

"It's our opportunity to listen," Assemblywoman Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) told the eight students at the beginning of a special briefing for the Assembly Select Committee on Youth Violence Prevention, which she chairs. "It's our job to analyze what local communities are doing and see if we can work together to create opportunities for young people."

The eight youths who traveled to Sacramento had to compete among their peers for the opportunity to visit the Capitol. They wrote book reports and gave presentations about leaders they admire.

"Without this program, I'd be incarcerated or doing drugs," said one student when answering a committee member's question about the value of the program.

Bobby Simmons, who works with YFRC, said the enrichment activities he organizes for the students expose them to cultural opportunities they may otherwise never experience. Visiting local museums and going to ballgames are some of the examples of what he called "clean fun."

Another major component of the program is community service. All students are encouraged to select a way to give back to their community. Some read to elementary school children while others serve food to the needy. Those who like the beach work with a group that helps paraplegics learn to surf.

During their visit to the Capitol on Wednesday, the students toured the building, briefed Assemblymember Jose Solorio (D-Santa Ana) and met with staff from the offices of Senators Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) and Assemblymember Jim Silva (R-Huntington Beach). A member of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's policy team also took time to sit down with the students and learn more about the YFRC program.

In those meetings, students shared their goals for the future and even a few ideas for proposed legislation (including lowering the age for employment eligibility to 15). One student wanted his representatives to know that "sometimes kids make mistakes." This program gives them a second chance and the resources they need to turn their lives around. All of the students said they were grateful for that opportunity.

YFRC is part of the nationally-recognized "8% solution" or Repeat Offender Prevention Program, developed by the Orange County Probation Department. It is based on research which shows that 8 percent of all youthful offenders commit the majority (55%) of repeat juvenile crime. It was designed for youthful offenders who, at the point when first declared delinquent, exhibit at least three of four major risk factorsÑfamily problems, school behavior and performance problems, substance abuse problems, and high-risk behaviors (such as stealing, chronic running away, or delinquent peers). Rigorous research has shown that this program cut felony arrests by 30 percent in Orange County.

The state's Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) supports YFRC and other locally-designed crime-prevention programs in Orange County and across the state. As a result of cuts in state funding, the Orange County Probation Department operates only three (and previously six) Youth and Family Resource Center sites.

The proposed 2008-2009 state budget would cut JJCPA by 10 percent ($11.9 million).

FIGHT CRIME: INVEST IN KIDS California is a bipartisan, non-profit, anti-crime organization led by more than 350 sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys, and victims of violence. Its mission is to take a critical look at the research about what really works to keep kids from becoming criminals. Among the strategies proven to be effective are preschool, after-school programs, child abuse and neglect prevention programs and intensive interventions for juvenile offenders.

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