Teen Staff Attracts Youths to Centers
Program a Response To Gang Violence

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 29, 2006

At a Fairfax County youth center in Culmore, lots of boys passed the time one recent evening playing billiards. But the girls there seemed adrift, until staff member Ana Espinoza arrived with bags of tiny pompoms, hundreds of sparkly beads and boxes of pizza.

Soon, five girls were giggling as they made key chains and miniature pompom teddy bears. It was another small victory for a Fairfax initiative to increase the popularity of county youth programs. Espinoza and her colleagues know how to get the job done, because they are teenagers themselves.

"We're trying to bring the youth to the centers," Espinoza, 17, told the girls. "Since you guys are girls, what would you like to do here? Would you like more stuff like this?"

"Oh yes," said Lenny Mendez, 12, who was hard at work on a pink and gray pompom mouse.

Fairfax started the youth-worker program last summer, hiring five teenagers to find ways to get their peers in the door and away from gangs, violence and substance abuse. Officials were so impressed with the results that this year, the program expanded to include 10 young workers, split into two teams, who plan events and offer advice on what's working.

This fall, the teenagers -- who earn $10 an hour -- plan to meet with the county's director of community and recreation services, top police officials and Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) to present recommendations. And Espinoza's group already has ideas.

The youth centers, they say, need more activities specifically for girls, more soccer matches to draw Latino youth and more staff diversity. They would like to see more marketing to teenagers, especially for a trip to Paramount's Kings Dominion amusement park in Doswell, Va. Not to mention some snazzier photos and graphics on the county Web site -- the workers called it "kind of boring."

William Canas, 17, a senior at Annandale High School, was an original worker and returned this summer. Canas said he didn't know much about youth centers before taking the job, and he admits it would not have been easy to get him in the door.

"It just doesn't sound like it would be for me," Canas said. "I think if someone came to talk to me, if it was an adult, I wouldn't like it. But I think if it was someone like me, I would look into it."

That, county officials said, is the idea.

The team worked the crowd this month at National Night Out, a community crime- and drug-prevention event, and visited summer school classes to invite students to a back-to-school dance and fashion show Thursday.

"I say, 'What's up, man?' or 'How you doin'?' instead of approaching it like a serious matter," explained Julio Davila, 16, an Annandale high junior.

The program has its roots in a surge in gang violence in Northern Virginia in 2004. Among other incidents in Fairfax that year, one teenager's hands were mutilated in a machete attack and another teenager was fatally shot.

Public officials created an anti-gang "strike force." But for Kevin Sanchez, then an Annandale High student, that wasn't enough. He knew people who had been hurt by or put in jail because of gangs. He wanted to help. So Sanchez, 19, went to a community meeting and started talking.

In spring 2005, Canas, Sanchez and three other teenagers spoke to the supervisors at a budget hearing, with gang prevention workers helping them refine their message.

As a result, the county hired them.

In recent years, Fairfax has beefed up its programs for teenagers, which are run out of five centers, 10 gymnasiums and other facilities. About 53,000 youths took part in the programs in 2003. Attendance jumped to about 85,600 in 2005 after more programs and staff members were added. County officials do not have figures yet, but they said the youth workers brought in new faces this year.

The youth worker program costs about $59,500 -- that includes salaries, money for dance and movie nights and bus passes for workers who don't drive.

Robert A. Bermingham Jr., the county's gang prevention coordinator, collaborated with last year's youth workers on a gang prevention video. "They said, 'You better get our attention,' " he said. "They wanted more edgy, not scared straight, but more reality."

The recently completed five-minute video features a gang member in a prison jumpsuit talking about his life, Bermingham said. It will appear on local cable television channels and be distributed to some middle schools.

Canas said he's never been in a gang, but he has friends who are gang members, and he understands the allure. He hopes to steer more youths away from gangs and into youth centers. "We don't want to see our friends get into trouble," he said.

One recent afternoon, Canas and the other workers met with Evan Braff, the division supervisor of the county's Department of Community and Recreation Services, to finalize plans for the fashion show.

Jessica Benitez, 17, and Espinoza said a trendy clothing store had tentatively agreed to loan them some outfits. But the owners asked for a formal request on government letterhead.

"We just have to send a county letter so they believe it," said Espinoza, a senior at Mount Vernon High School. Referring to the store's management, she added: "We talked to corporate this morning."

A few months ago, the teenagers didn't even know what it meant to "call corporate." Now, they talk about marketing strategies and working within their budget -- about $1,000 for summer events.

Some teenagers ignore the outreach, but the workers said it's worth the effort. "Some of them we reach," Canas said.