Richmond Youth Corps: a Response to the Violence

By Gayle A. McLaughlin

Gayle's "Richmond Youth Corps" program would give part-time, year-round jobs to a thousand youngsters from neighborhoods with high rates of violent crime.

Youth Corps, a response to violence by Gayle McLaughlin

Just over one year ago I wrote in a guest commentary ("Roots of Richmond Violence Run Deep," 6/25/05) that the violent crime "crisis" in Richmond is truly a chronic problem, decades in the making and largely emerging from the drug trade and gang life. The roots of violent crime lie in our decimated educational system and in the lack of local jobs, factors that create a tragic surplus of desperate, hopeless, and angry young men. The relationship between unemployment and violence has been long established by those who have studied urban violence in America.

In 2005, we had a total of 40 homicides in Richmond, earning the city the ignoble reputation as the "most violent city in California." The numbers so far this year are equally dismal: 19 residents killed.

Who owns this problem? The state or federal government? Families? Law enforcement? The school districts? All systems play a role, but when it comes to real accountability, violence remains an orphan. I say, as a Richmond City Council member: This is my problem. I am responsible for fixing it. The buck stops at my council seat. I carry in my heart the name of every person who died a violent death in Richmond since I took office.

In the last year several violence prevention initiatives proposed by me, and others, were postponed until the hiring of an "anti-violence coordinator." We expected the new position to coordinate ongoing efforts and to also start immediately with direct intervention activities, such as outreach to gang members and parolees returning to the city. It is discouraging that the violence coordinator position has evolved into primarily a research function. With no direct interventions with young people at risk, it is quite likely that a year from now we will have another resource directory, no fewer homicides, and many opportunities for reform lost.

It is clear that the success of many of the ongoing or proposed initiatives depends upon the city having something to offer young people as an alternative to violence. Many, many of these young men would embrace better choices if only solid opportunities were offered to them. My "Richmond Youth Corps" program would give part-time, year-round jobs to a thousand youngsters from neighborhoods with high rates of violent crime. Funding the Youth Corps program would require several million dollars. For each dollar our city would invest in hiring young men at risk through the Richmond Youth Corps, the State of California should provide matching funds. Senator Perata, Assemblyperson Loni Hancock and others have a responsibility to help us with youth employment and educational programs. Consider how many millions could be diverted from our correctional system.

Decades of fiscal mismanagement in Richmond, culminating in the $35 million financial debacle of 2004, have made local funding of violence prevention measures impossible. This legacy of mismanagement has included sweetheart deals and gaping tax loopholes granted to Richmond's petro-chemical industries. A strong dose of "corporate welfare reform" is long overdue, especially for the oil industry, now reveling in record profits in the billions of dollars. Once the corporate giants are required to pay their fair share, as hardworking families have done all along, Richmond will have the resources needed to adequately fund violence and crime prevention programs.

My goal is to inspire my colleagues on the council to transcend the "business as usual" mentality, to demonstrate political courage, and to work closely with the community to offer a lifeline of education and employment to our at-risk youth. It is my fondest desire to write another commentary for this newspaper, in which I report the establishment of fully-funded violence prevention programs, rising youth employment, and falling crime rates.