Is Sacramento finally getting the message that simply adding more police and locking up more at-risk youth is not solving the crisis that is occurring?

The Sacramento City Council has approved the position of a youth czar. In Dallas, there is a non-profit run by a guy who has negotiated a truce between the city gangs. His actions are somewhat unorthodox, he is a challenge for the local business community to 'work' with using orthodox means, but he is just what was needed - a strong leader who is respected and revered by the local at-risk youth. Let's hope he has a twin in Sacramento.

Kudos to City Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, who spurred the council to agree to make the creation of after-school programs a top priority. Based on several months of talking directly to youth, the priorities will be:

. Create access to safe places.

• Create jobs and internships.

• Develop youth leadership skills.

• Support local schools.

• Develop strategic initiatives.

Another Sacramento Councilwoman, Bonnie Parnell, said, "The kids said there aren't enough jobs and aren't enough activities to get involved in."

In the meantime, Sacramento's Hiram Johnson High School, populated with students from poor families, many of them new immigrants, had a college application percentage way below the norm. It wasn't that the kids weren't smart enough to go to college, they just didn't know how to go about applying, how to get financial aid, or what classes they needed to take in high school to qualify for college. Sacramento City Concilman Kevin McCarty took it upon himself to find private funding for a full-time college counselor at the school to create 'a college-going climate". As the Sacramento Bee reports in a recent op-ed piece, in just a few months, the change has been remarkably positive. The final result, to-date, a 26% increase in college applications, 23 students have already been accepted at UC schools, and the beat goes on! What is so crazy about all of this? The cost of a high school counselor versus the cost of 20 kids spending the rest of their lives in dead-end, low-paying jobs, or worse - the expense of a life in jail.

Today I receive a press release that The Magic Johnson Foundation will hold a grand opening of the Magic Johnson Community Empowerment Center on March 21st at 1:30PM Phoenix Park Resident Activity Center, 4400 Shining Star Drive, Sacramento, 95823. The center is one of only three in the state of California. Community Empowerment Centers serve as comprehensive one stop facilities to provide youth and adults access to technology and educational resources that will improve academic performance as well as prepare them for the emerging job market. Yeah!

So, good things are starting to happen, but the full, wholehearted support of the Sacramento business community could ensure success, once and for all.

Much applause goes to Rhonda Erwin who has battled tirelessly to bring the story of the crisis to those who were in a position to listen and act. Hey Rhonda, maybe you can take a day off now, but I know you won't!

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive