Youth Violence Summit Planned

In an effort to keep kids safe, the Criminal Justice Council of Santa Cruz County will hold a half-day Strategic Planning Summit for community members, agencies, programs, schools, law enforcement and other stakeholder groups committed to preventing youth gang and school violence in Santa Cruz County. 

“There is clear evidence that a balanced and inclusive approach to planning and implementation of common goals and the utilization of best practices that fit those goals can be highly effective in helping communities address youth violence,” Assistant Chief of Probation Fernando Giraldo said.

The summit comes after a 13-year-old boy in Santa Cruz was gunned down a gang-related attack in the summer and during a court hearing for the gang-motivated slaying of a 14-year-old Watsonville boy last winter.

The summit will serve to help the community define what success looks like in terms of youth violence prevention and how to best support youth to manifest their greatest potential. It will help Santa Cruz County identify common values and goals, identify available data and a set of common indicators our community can measure to track change, and review and coordinate current programs and services while also identifying gaps. 

“We will use the input gathered at this summit as a blueprint to guide us in our efforts to reduce youth violence,” said Watsonville Police Chief Manny Solano, chairman of the Santa Cruz Criminal Justice Council.  

The event is a project of the CJC’s Youth Gang and School Violence Task Force. Community Vision in Action: A Youth Violence Prevention Planning Summit will be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, October 24 at Simpkins Swim Center, 979 17th Ave., Live Oak.