Op-Ed calls for prevention spending
Political columnist George Skelton had written a strong call for California Democrats to spend more tax revenue on community violence prevention programs like Youth ALIVE!’s Caught in the Crossfire hospital-based violence intervention program, and our team of Violence Interrupters, who work the streets to mediate conflicts and save lives. YA!’s Executive Director Anne Marks has this to say in Skelton’s piece –
In Oakland, a CalVIP group is tipped by police or a hospital when a gunshot victim is admitted to an emergency room. Trained staffers go talk to the wounded victim, family and friends — often gang members.
“We try to talk them down and head off retaliation,” says Anne Marks, executive director of Youth Alive in Oakland. “We keep working with them in the community. We have one team that tries to mediate conflict between groups.”
Read California is Sitting on a Massive Surplus. It’s Time for Newsom to Spend on Gun Control