SALINAS, Calif- Federal officials from the Departments of Justice, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor will be in Salinas on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 17-18, to meet with community leaders who have begun implementing a comprehensive anti-gang strategy.
Salinas is one of six cities participating in the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention launched by President Obama in 2010. All the cities are using multi-disciplinary partnerships, balanced approaches and data-driven strategies to engage youth and to reduce violence.
On Wednesday the delegation will tour the Hebbron neighborhood in East Salinas where a community-based, three-year strategy called For Our Future (Para Nuestro Futuro), will be starting in coming months. The tour is scheduled to begin at approximately 11 a.m. from the Hebbron Family Center, 683 Fremont St.
The building blocks of the anti-gang strategy are intervention, suppression and re-entry.
The strategy's goal is to provide a safer, more positive future for Salinas-area children, with the immediate objective of reducing injury and death from gang-related violence. Its core principle is unity − bringing together families, community groups, social services, faith communities and law enforcement – backed by strategies proven to work in other cities.
In addition to Salinas, the other participating cities include Boston; Chicago; Detroit; Memphis; and San Jose. Salinas is the smallest of the cities, which were selected based on need, geographic diversity, as well as willingness and capacity to undertake comprehensive efforts to combat youth violence and gang activity.
More details about the Forum and summaries of the city plans are available at: www.findyouthinfo.gov.
