PERSPECTIVE ON HOPE IN YOUTH : A Call to Arms in the Street War : The gang-prevention program has had an impressive first year, so why is the county dawdling on its share of funding?

By E. LYNN BROWN, DAVIDA FOY CRABTREE and LENNARD R. THAL

Jan. 9, 1995 12 AM PT

<i> Bishop E. Lynn Brown represents the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The Rev. Davida Foy Crabtree is conference minister of the United Church of Christ. Rabbi Lennard R. Thal is regional director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations</i>

Inexplicable inaction by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has stalled a decision concerning second-year funding of the successful Hope in Youth project. The majority of the current board was instrumental in starting what is nationally recognized as one of the most innovative gang-prevention programs in the United States--making their inaction that much more perplexing.

Nothing on the scope of Hope in Youth had ever before been tried. The idea behind the program is to empower people to use their own knowledge and strength to heal their families and neighborhoods. Ensuring independence, not dependency, is Hope in Youth’s goal.

The supervisors should be proud that they were visionaries, able to see that Hope in Youth’s from-the-bottom-up management structure was innovative for a program of this nature. It took courage and insight to fund such a new concept, but the program’s success depends on a five-year life. It was not designed to succeed in one year, something the supervisors knew when they granted it one year of funding. To pull the plug now would be to undo all that has been accomplished.

The second-year funding, $1.9 million, would actually be a less risky investment. It protects and furthers the initial investment because Hope in Youth is no longer just a concept. It’s a proved success. In its first year, the project far exceeded its goals and complied with the County Department of Children and Family Services’ expectations.

The department’s director, Peter Digre, nationally recognized as an authority on children’s services, has given Hope in Youth an outstanding rating. The city of Los Angeles and the state have already jumped on board with second-year funding.

The enthusiastic endorsement Hope in Youth is receiving from top governmental and law-enforcement officials is reflected in the communities where it is at work.

We and our colleagues (the other seven denominational leaders who constitute the program’s coordinating council) are in touch with the Hope in Youth communities on a regular basis. Several of us visit program sites and have observed the success firsthand. The mayors of surrounding communities, school principals, parents and youngsters and other supporters have written more than 11,000 letters to the Board of Supervisors expressing support and confidence in this project.

In less than one year, Hope in Youth established:

* Parent-training classes at 42 locations, resulting in more than 2,000 graduates. From these parenting groups, 20 community-leadership training groups and 19 literacy programs were started.

* Summer jobs for more than 300 teens and job-readiness training for 800 more.

* Part-time landscaping jobs created by the city of Pomona for graduates of the Hope in Youth job-readiness program--a double taxpayer bonus, jobs for youths and a beautification program for the city.

Mann Theaters added four positions to the staff of a soon-to-open Granada Hills movie complex in order to hire all 16 youngsters interviewed from Hope in Youth.

Maybe the supervisors should talk with Mario, who attends the Reseda Hope in Youth classes. He was wrongfully convicted of murder at age 14, served 3 1/2 years in prison, half that time in solitary confinement, before being exonerated and released. He found his way to Hope in Youth and entered the job-readiness program. He is finishing high school, heading for college and has a job with the Mann Theater in Agoura Hills, where he is scheduled for a promotion. His paycheck helps support his family.

These local, incremental victories are easy to overlook. But it defies comprehension that the supervisors remain indifferent to their own success. It is inconceivable that, as politicians, they would want to lose this opportunity to show a nation looking for bipartisan leadership what such leadership can accomplish. As parents and family members themselves, it is unthinkable that they would want to endanger the vulnerable families who now have a sense of renewal and hope.