Since its creation, the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety has been criticized by community members as excluding the very group it’s supposed to be focused on: youth. Now the city is gearing up to launch two programs that would bring local teens to the table.
Both programs, dubbed the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board and the Student Leadership Program, were developed late in 2018, and will be launched within the next few months. The goal of both programs is to include teens in the conversation, according to Dennis Smitherman, a management analyst for the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department.
“The teens will provide a different perspective from our adult point of view and will be able to point out areas of concerns and good points, as well,” Smitherman said. “We’re looking to find what they like about the city and what we can expand on.”
The Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board will work directly with Mayor Alice Patino on issues that teens face in the city. The board will be made up of about eight to 12 high school students, with representatives from each grade, who will be chosen by city and school staff based on a simple one-page application, Smitherman said.
Slated to begin at the end of February, the board will meet with Patino on a monthly basis.
Students on the board will have an opportunity to advocate for whatever changes and improvements their peers see as being necessary to improve the city, Smitherman said, and the program was well received at recent presentations to a few local high schools. Students liked the idea of being increasingly represented, he said, and several students seemed interested in applying.
The Student Leadership Program will launch in March, and will give another large group of students the opportunity to learn about the city’s departments and functions, while also gaining leadership and communication skills.
Kids involved in the Student Leadership Program, who Smitherman said will be referred to the city by school staff, will visit at least two city departments a month. Through a facilitator, they’ll also learn about resume building, job applications, and how to effectively communicate in a professional setting, among other much-needed skills.
“There’s not a lot of civic programing anymore,” Smitherman said, “and this is a great opportunity for kids to learn about the city and themselves.”
Both programs were developed as part of the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety, which was designed to address common issues impacting kids and their families in Santa Maria after a series of gang-related killings and an increase in violent crime shook the city in 2015.
Shortly after its start in 2017, the task force was scrutinized by a Santa Barbara County grand jury, which found various inefficiencies in the organization despite the city’s objections that it was still too early to be evaluated. Community members and advocacy organizations have also criticized the task force for not including teen input in its planning process and development.
At one meeting in October 2017, teen Vanessa Cantu said the two youth representatives originally assigned to the task force weren’t enough. Before helpful adults suggested the idea of youth representatives, Cantu said she had asked task force members if teens could be more involved.
“I came to ask for youth to have a seat at the table and they totally dismissed me,” Cantu said at the meeting. “They took it more like my opinions weren’t as valid as the adults’ were.”
Nearly 30 percent of all Santa Marians are teens, according to Smitherman, and the city needs those perspectives.
“So it’s a huge component of our population,” he said. “Sometimes we don’t hear them very well, so we want to give them this opportunity. This way we can reach out to them at their schools and really, hopefully, get honest feedback to concerns they may have.”
Mayor Patino did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash writes School Scene each week. Information can be sent to the Sun via mail, fax, or email at mail@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 7, 2019.