After Santa Maria experienced a series of violent incidents a few years ago, Mayor Alice Patino called parents and businesses together to brainstorm a way to combat the youth-on-youth violence and alarming rates of teen murders.
Santa Maria saw 21 homicides in 14 months in 2016, a rate 80 percent higher than the national average, according to the Mayor’s Task Force executive summary. The first aggravated assault case of 2017 was between two minors, ages 15 and 16, who each had stab wounds and other serious injuries, according to previous Sun reporting.
These meetings resulted in forming the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety, a program that provides free, safe after school and weekend pop-up activities across the city, Task Force Coordinator David Rodriguez said.
“A lot of the focus was to deter students [from] turning to gang involvement and drug use. We wanted to provide opportunities for professional development; there’s a programming specialist and a coordinator with boots on the ground outreach to get them involved in healthy activities that could prevent them from participating in misconduct or criminal activity,” Rodriguez said.
For a long time, Youth Task Force programming was based out of the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center—until Rodriguez and his team realized students didn’t have transportation to get there. The task force began planning pop-up events where they took recreation equipment and coordinated at two different locations per month.
The recent surge in COVID-19 caused staff to make sure that all February pop-ups—including a cornhole competition, a water bottle rocket experiment, and planter pot painting—included a focus on student safety, he added.
“A lot of the ideas come from the mayor’s teen council with groups at Pioneer and Santa Maria High School where we meet monthly to [discuss]. They act as ambassadors for their peers to Mayor Patino,” Rodriguez said.
The teen council’s ideas helped expand the program to provide three regional and overnight experiences for their peers, including local hikes to Montaña de Oro, kayaking excursions, a Monterey Bay Aquarium visit, and overnight university tours to UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Irvine, he said.
“We have a liaison with the school district; we want our school officials to know so they can help us promote our regional programming as well. It’s good to connect with them because they need to know our policies,” Rodriguez continued.
The task force covers activity fees and food costs for those who participate in local and regional excursions. Funding comes from the Youth General Fund and Measure U funds—a general tax that can be used for any municipal purposes. Students involved in the program also receive free Santa Maria Regional Transit passes and professional development opportunities, he said.
“We provide job training and provide students the opportunity to obtain employment that requires previous experience,” Rodriguez said.
Through the McClelland Street Market, which opened in August, the task force offers a 12-week training where students can get their food handler certification, learn about inventory and merchandising, and receive a mentor for the application and interview process, he said.
In addition to job training, the task force focuses on collaboration with other agencies, nonprofits, and businesses for teen resources.
“We act as a bridge to connect students to resources they might need—whether they are teen parents or have basic needs, we can connect them to the right agency for the things they might need,” Rodriguez said.
Any youth in crisis can go to the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center—which is part of the National Safe Place Network—for further resources and help in what they might be going through, he added.
“We want a space where teens can be teens, where they can’t be coerced into engaging in misconduct. Not only do we provide a one- to two-hour distraction, we hope they eventually engage with our task force, engage in the program, and make new friends,” Rodriguez said.
February pop-up activities will be located at the Newlove Community Center—1619 South Thornburg St.—every Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, call the Recreation and Parks Department at (805) 925-0951, Ext. 2260.
Highlight
• The Santa Maria Public Library announced the return of the Zip Book Program to the main library and all branch locations. The Zip Book Program allows patrons to request a book, large print book, or an audiobook that’s not available through the Santa Maria Public Library and have it delivered to their home, free of charge. Patrons return the book to any branch when they’re finished, and they may select another Zip Book. To order a book from the Zip Book Program, visit cityofsantamaria.org/library or call the library’s information desk at (805) 925-0994, Ext. 8562.
Taylor O’Connor wrote this week’s Spotlight. You can reach her at toconnor@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 3-10, 2022.