Why Sacramento dropped a youth violence program that worked. Here’s what to know

Advance Peace, a nonprofit credited with driving youth homicides in target areas to zero was dropped by Sacramento in 2021. Family members of young victims and former officials are now questioning that decision as violence prevention funding faces renewed scrutiny.

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Here’s our full story: “Advance Peace has success in preventing youth violence. Why did Sacramento leave it?”

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Here are key takeaways:

• Advance Peace expanded to Sacramento in 2017, and a 2020 UC Berkeley study found youth homicides in its target areas dropped from six over two years to zero over an 18-month period, with firearms assault rates falling 25%.
• The nonprofit hired 12 mentors, all ex-felons, to work with individuals considered at high risk of becoming shooters. In Fresno, the same UC Berkeley study estimated the program prevented 66 murders or shootings with injuries and saved the city $57 million to $158 million.
• Then-Sacramento City Manager Howard Chan ended the city’s relationship with Advance Peace in 2021 and placed the Office of Violence Prevention under the police department. Former City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela said Chan privately suggested the group was “skimming money” but never provided evidence when asked.
• David Muhammad, co-founder of the National Offices of Violence Prevention Network, said Sacramento’s setup is unusual because tying violence prevention to law enforcement creates credibility problems with the people the program is trying to reach.
• BillieDee Scott, whose 18-year-old brother Bill was shot and killed near Grant High School in 2023 days after giving a graduation speech about avoiding conflict, said she was troubled to learn the city had funded replacement programs it did not watch closely.