Foundation Gives $24 Million to Curb Youth Violence

Responding to the Los Angeles riots and violence elsewhere in California, a Woodland Hills-based foundation announced Wednesday that it will donate a record-setting $24 million to programs aimed at curbing unrest.

The pledge of funds by the California Wellness Foundation marks the largest private contribution ever made in the state toward preventing the spread of violence, health experts said.

The money will be used in the next five years to create a center for violence prevention and to fund existing efforts, such as anti-gang programs and other services intended primarily for youths, foundation President Howard Kahn said.

“This is very, very welcome,” said Dr. Alex Kelter, an epidemiologist in charge of the injury prevention program for the state Department of Health Services and a member of the foundation’s advisory committee. “Lots of money has gone into violence-related programs over the years, but it’s all been spent on things like jails and police before.”

The foundation conceived the program before the Los Angeles riots but the civil unrest “brought the issue home as needing immediate attention,” Kahn said.

“After studying the problem in some depth, we are convinced that violence has become a real threat to public health and that a major preventive effort must be initiated,” he said.

Foundation officials cited FBI statistics showing that violent crime in the western United States was up 9% in the first six months of 1992 over the same period last year. That was the greatest increase of any region in the country, according to an FBI report.

In drawing up the program, the foundation convened an advisory committee last summer of about 45 people, ranging from federal and state health officials to gang members, Kahn said.

“They agreed with the board that it should be largely youth-oriented, since byand large it’s the youth that commit the violence and are the victims of violence,” Kahn said.

In addition to funding existing programs, the foundation will also donate money for studies to monitor the nature and extent of violence in the state, and for potential solutions. The foundation’s announcement drew praise Wednesday from community leaders in Los Angeles who said they plan to submit grant applications by the end of the year.

“What a great idea,” said Lou Negrete, a Chicano studies professor at Cal State L.A. and spokesman for Hope in Youth, a gang prevention program that unsuccessfully sought $2.5 million from the city of Los Angeles.

“I’ll be darned, that’s really significant,” said Steve Valdivia, executive director of Community Youth Gang Services/Youth 2000, a private nonprofit, gang prevention and intervention program.

The foundation has been trying to carve out a niche for itself since it was established in 1992 when the Health Net health maintenance organization converted from being a nonprofit to a commercial company, Kahn said.

Under an agreement with the state Department of Corporations, the company was obligated to establish the foundation and endow it. The foundation owns the majority of stock in the HMO, which set up an endowment of $75 million and pledged another $225 million over the next 15 years.