After years of pouring millions of dollars into anti-gang programs whose success is largely unmeasurable, city officials are expected to approve, perhaps as early as this week, a new approach that experts hope will be more effective than anything tried in the past.
The proposal, called L.A. Bridges, would cost $9.1 million annually and will be considered by the City Council on Wednesday.
If approved, it would for the first time require competitive bidding for groups seeking city money to attack gang problems, hold all such groups to the same general standards, coordinate their efforts and require them to show results to gain continued financing. The program would more than double the amount the city spends on gang programs and would be in place for four years.
Ultimately, all the city-funded gang programs would fall under L.A. Bridges, which would be overseen by a new administrator and seven staff members.
Community oversight panels would design anti-gang strategies tailored to the needs of specific areas of the city.
Some cite what they say are shortcomings in the plan, such as insufficient funding and failure to address joblessness in areas where gang activity is pervasive.
Still, even those who raise concerns applaud its innovations.
"I haven't seen a program like this ever," said Michael Genelin, longtime head of the Los Angeles County district attorney office's hard-core gang unit.
"We have had programs that have been repeatedly funded, and there has never been any assessment of their effectiveness," Genelin said. "Those programs have goals and objectives but we have no idea if they have been met."
Genelin praised the "community-based" approach, noting that it recognizes the different character--and different problems--of Los Angeles' diverse neighborhoods.
L.A. Bridges has tentatively targeted 18 of the city's 52 middle schools, those with the highest levels of violent crime in surrounding neighborhoods. Middle schools were chosen because youths ages 10 to 14 were deemed to be those most at risk for gang involvement. The schools currently on the list could change during council deliberations.
In addition to nonprofit, grass-roots anti-gang groups, the program also will draw on the resources of the schools, parents, businesses and libraries in the neighborhoods, police and other government agencies.
If the program is successful and more money is available at the end of the funding period, other schools would be included.
