The Santa Barbara County district attorney is holding a one-day conference on April 22 to help Santa Marians better understand and learn how to work with the community’s immigrant population.
While the forum is geared to assist law enforcement, social service, medical, and educational providers in working with crime victims of indigenous Mixtec immigrants, Terri Zuniga from the DA’s Victim-Witness Assistance Program said everyone is encouraged to attend.
“We’re hoping that people will leave this forum with hands-on knowledge of how to work with people in these communities,” Zuniga said. “We’re going to help them establish best practices.”
It’s estimated that between 15,000 and 25,000 indigenous Mixtec immigrants have migrated to work in Northern Santa Barbara County in recent years. The witness assistance program is in year three of a five-year grant from the United States Department of Justice Victims of Crime that allows for up to $125,000 a year in funding for programs that provide outreach to members of the indigenous migrant community.
Zuniga said the goal is to create a linkage and trust with that community so they feel comfortable reporting crimes to the DA’s office, which can then better provide services for victims.
The conference runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Santa Maria Veterans’ Memorial Community Center on April 22. An agenda and registration information is available at countyofsb.org/DA/ or by calling 346-7543.
This article appears in Apr 11-18, 2013.
