March was a frightening month for young San Franciscans and their loved ones. Police responded to a fight at Denman Middle School, and a gun was found. One student stabbed another at Francisco Middle School. Large brawls broke out at the Stonestown mall. And a fight among “multiple juveniles” on a Muni bus ended up with one person stabbed and in critical condition.
At a hearing on youth violence and safety Thursday evening, the city’s public school superintendent Matt Wayne called it “one of the most difficult weeks I’ve had in my 25 years in education.”
According to the city’s Department of Children of Youth and Their Families, from March 2022 to April 2023 there were at least 100 violent incidents at schools and off-campus involving youth. The tally comes from reports by nonprofits that work with DCYF and the school district. DCYF executive director Maria Su said the incidents included 31 with guns. “These are alarming data,” Su said. “And these involve younger and younger people.”
A month ago, Wayne, Mayor London Breed, and other City Hall officials issued a joint statement, pledging to act.
For now, that means expanding programs already in place, with most of the attention on a violence interruption program still in its early days. It is coordinated by DCYF and involves multiple organizations. “We’re not talking about guns or metal detectors, but instead, the tools that schools and DCYF can use to reduce youth violence and help kids communicate with one another in a healthy, responsible way,” Sup. Myrna Melgar, whose District 7 includes Stonestown, told The Frisc before Thursday’s hearing, which she convened. “We have those resources in schools already and just need to expand them in focus.” The hearing included a supervisor committee and a youth commission committee.
The city will spend $60 million on youth safety in the next school year, Melgar said. She added that there are no plans to station SFPD officers in schools.
SF is also facing a potential $780M deficit over the next two years, and Breed has asked city departments, including DCYF, to propose 5 to 8 percent cuts. The $60 million will come from a mix of city, state, and federal funds. One new source is Prop. G, which three quarters of SF voters passed last November, adding a guaranteed cash flow from the city to the school district for a variety of uses, including mental health and social-emotional support.
Prop G could eventually provide up to $60 million a year, but in 2023–2024, the fund will top out at $11 million. It’s unclear how much of that could go to violence prevention and student safety, but DCYF, which will administer the funds, will take applications for “emergency” $25,000 grants starting July 31.
DCYF’s Su said during yesterday’s hearing that violence interruption funding “would definitely qualify” as an emergency grant from the Prop G fund, which is also known as the Student Success Fund.
(In subsequent years, schools will be able to apply for grants up to $1 million.)
SFUSD’s pilot violence interruption program, known as the School Crisis Support Coordination Project, began in 2021. It has grown to 17 schools and 20 full-time interrupters who serve as youth mentors and are trained in conflict mediation. They visit schools, hold one-on-one and group meetings, “have their ear to the ground, are deeply empathetic, and build relationships,” said Eric Guthertz at Thursday’s hearing. Guthertz was principal of Mission High for 18 years and is now director of principal leadership in the district’s central office. “I work with the violence interrupters every week,” he said.
The program also gathers members of the Public Defender’s office, SFUSD, and UCSF, who hold weekly meetings to assess incidents and risks, identify interventions, coordinate services for the students involved, and more.
It changes a lot for young people to know that their trusted ally is checking in on them and making sure they’re having a good day.
DCYF deputy director Jasmine Dawson, on the violence interruption program
Rebecca Marcus, a public defender in the juvenile division, frequently visits schools to meet with students, interrupters, and school staff. “It’s crucial to focus on each youth’s unique background when using case planning to address their needs,” said Marcus. “We take a holistic approach to each young person, including any family, education, or substance abuse needs, and aim to advocate for change in their lives and communities, while fighting against systems of oppression.”
“It can be decompressing after a violent incident for students to have an adult ally with them to talk through how they’re feeling at that moment,” Jasmine Dawson, a DCYF deputy director, told The Frisc earlier this week. “It changes a lot for young people to know that their trusted ally is checking in on them and making sure they’re having a good day.”
At the hearing, youth commissioner Ewan Barker Plummer asked how DCYF measured the effectiveness of the interrupter program. Su replied that she was “happy to share” current measures, but also cautioned that it’s “really hard” to evaluate a negative — that is, something that you’ve prevented. She said the department is “thinking about how to produce future performance measures.” (Su did not respond to a request from The Frisc to share current data.)
Su said DCYF plans to expand the interrupter program, but didn’t give specifics. However, DCYF officials told The Frisc before the meeting that a $1 million federal grant received last year will pay to hire more interrupters, support and training staff, and avoid the use of school district funds. They will also look to build an app to allow interrupters and other staff to communicate quickly, perhaps to let students report incidents, and allow the school district to “quickly draw down information without trying to do the game of phone tree to find out what just happened,” according to DCYF’s Dawson.
Su also said an “e-interrupter” plan is in the works — a social media task force to monitor student activity. In her opening remarks, Melgar highlighted the role of social media in the Stonestown youth brawls. She said adult should send a strong message about “consequences,” and also need to take responsibility. The security video showed some young bystanders had their phones out ready to stream even before the violence had begun, according to Melgar.
Youth commissioner Maureen Loftus acknowledged the need to prevent violence, but also questioned how students would react knowing that “the government is looking at your social media.”
Alex Lash contributed to this report.
