Trauma to Triumph Gang Intervention is Proving Its Worth

When the Board of Supervisors passed the new Santa Clara County budget last week, one of the most important new public safety items was the Trauma to Triumph program I supported at Valley Medical Center.  While the $289,480 one-time cost will cover only one year of this gang intervention program – on which we partner with the City of San Jose – the results we’ve seen since it began last fall are so encouraging that I hope we can make it a permanent program next year.

Trauma to Triumph swings into action any time a gang member is admitted to Valley Med as a result of gang violence. Medical staff, social workers and other key professionals are in contact with victims within 24 hours of admission – while they’re still hurting and the IVs are still plugged into their arms – to encourage them to enroll and actively participate in a six-month counseling program designed to persuade them to quit gangs.   As Esther Mota, a member of the Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force, told the Supervisors last week, “it’s about that 24-hour window when they start to think about ‘Am I going to meet my maker or am I not?’”

Nationally, 44 percent of young people hospitalized for gang violence return with another injury within five years and 20 per cent eventually die from violence. Not only are the rest of us endangered by this violence, but it’s often the public that’s stuck with the hospital bills that return these gang members to health and to the street.

That’s enough incentive to break this costly gang cycle, and the early figures from Trauma to Triumph bear out its effectiveness.  When the program began, we hoped that 30 percent of the victims contacted would enter and stick with the program through the six-month counseling period. So far, 47 percent have done so.

A wise choice for them and us.

Cindy Chavez represents District 2 on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.

Total Views: 680 ,


Do you have a news tip you would like to share? Would you like to contribute to The Left Hook? Email us at LeftHookBlog@gmail.com

No Comments

Leave a Comment

Follow

Get every new post on this blog delivered to your Inbox.

Join other followers: