Another 10,000 gang associates roam the streets, vandalizing and terrorizing our neighborhoods. Countywide, those numbers are even larger.

The California Gang Reduction Intervention and Prevention Program (CalGRIP), an anti-gang initiative by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, targets more than $48 million in state and federal funding toward local anti-gang efforts, including job training, education, and intervention programs.

EOC's CalGRIP funding supports 88 released offenders and gang members, ages 18-24, with job training and education at the Local Conservation Corps. Participants engage in a 13-week paid job-training program where they learn skills in construction, landscaping, network cabling, and welding. An additional 20 youth, ages 14-18, incarcerated at the Elkhorn Correctional Facility, receive the same type of job training services.  The incarcerated training component is non-paid.

CalGRIP also offers an awareness component, the Another Way Program, to high school students at Teilman Community Day School.  The program gives students an opportunity to see first hand how their decisions affect their future.  Students tour the Valley State Prison for Women, Chowchilla, and Kern Valley State Prison, as well as educational institutions such as California State University, Fresno, and Fresno City College. 

Each participant receives support services including case management and counseling and mentoring by faith-based leaders.

Eligibility:

Participants must:

• be a validated gang member OR at risk of gang membership OR gang supporter
• be a Fresno County residence
• be between the ages of 14-24 years (14 to 18 must be incarcerated at the Elkhorn Correctional Facility; 18 to 24 must enroll at the Local Conservation Corps)
• be enrolled in school
• have the desire to leave the gang lifestyle