Initiatives

The Truancy Reduction Initiative: Getting Kids Back in School

Nearly 5,000 San Francisco students are habitually or chronically truant each year. Shockingly, over 40 percent are in elementary school. The links between truancy and crime are clear. Nationwide, 75 percent of all truant children will eventually drop out of school. Statewide, two-thirds of prison inmates are high school dropouts. Combating truancy is a smart approach to crime prevention. In 2006, our office partnered with the San Francisco Unified School District to reduce truancy. Every fall we send out letters to all parents informing them that truancy is against the law. During the school year, prosecutors hold mediations with parents to urge them to get help. In most cases, attendance improves. But when it does not, my office prosecutes parents in a specialized Truancy Court we created that combines court monitoring with family services. We have the School District and Children and Family Services on hand to resolve underlying issues such as unstable housing, substance abuse, or neglect. We are seeing positive results. In the last year alone, truancy among elementary school students declined on average by 20 percent.

Click here for more information about our initiative. (pdf)

Click here for a white paper by the District Attorney's office about the link between elementary truancy and public safety. (pdf)

Click here to read a recent UC Santa Barbara report about the links between crime, truancy, dropout rates, and the economy. (pdf)

Click here to read recent news coverage of our truancy reduction initiative.

Click here to read DA Kamala Harris's most recent op-ed on truancy.

• To find out more about our initiative, contact Katy Miller: katherine.miller@sfgov.org. For assistance keeping your kid(s) in school, call the school district's Truancy Hotline: (415) 701-STAY.

The Back on Track Reentry Initiative: Reducing Recidivism and Saving Money

Four years ago we pioneered a model reentry initiative called "Back on Track" to reduce recidivism among nonviolent offenders. Back on Track combines accountability with opportunity to ensure that first-time nonviolent drug offenders are held accountable and become self-sufficient. In Back on Track, offenders plead guilty and commit to strict court supervision as they complete an intensive personal responsibility program. They get trained for a job, go back to school, get current with child support, enroll in parenting classes, and become positive contributors in their communities. Less than 10 percent of Back on Track graduates have re-offended compared to a 54 percent recidivism rate statewide for the same population of offenders. Back on Track has achieved this success at a fraction of the cost of traditional corrections approaches. Back on Track costs about $5,000 annually per participant, compared to $35,000 to 50,000 for jail or prison. It has been selected as a national model by the National District Attorney's Association. Back on Track demonstrates that preventing recidivism is both viable and cost-effective.

Click here to read a United States Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance fact sheet on Back on Track. (pdf)

Click here to read DA Kamala Harris's most recent op-ed on Back on Track.

• To find out more about our initiative, please contact Ranon Ross: ranon.ross@sfgov.org.

The Community ADA Initiative: Putting Neighborhood Safety First

San Francisco is home to numerous diverse neighborhoods and each has their own experiences of crime and their own public safety priorities. To formally link each neighborhood with our office and ensure every community has a voice, we launched the Community ADA program. We assign two to three Assistant District Attorneys to each police district. The Community ADA's take responsibility for attending monthly police/community meetings, acting as a liaison for residents in the district, and providing information and expertise around specific public safety issues to the neighborhood. They connect residents with our office. We also hold Resource Fairs and Neighborhood Legal Fairs in each community to address the specific needs of various populations, educate the community about services available, and provide hands-on assistance on-site.

• To find out more about our initiative, please contact David Burke: david.burke@sfgov.org.

Changing the Odds: Helping Youth get out of the Cycle

Youth in trouble with the law are at high risk of becoming adult offenders unless effective interventions take place. The District Attorney's Office created Changing the Odds to give youth coming out of the juvenile justice system meaningful opportunities to stay out of the justice system permanently. Changing the Odds places youth exiting the juvenile justice system in a rigorous three-month paid internship and employment program during the summer months. Youth work in local San Francisco businesses and in participating City departments. They also get intensive skills training and mentorship to prepare them for successful re-entry into their communities. For the last two years, Changing the Odds participants have received specialized training in digital media production. The District Attorney's Office has developed thriving partnerships with local businesses, non-profits and workforce development agencies. In its fourth year, Changing the Odds has so far graduated 75 young adults.

• To find out more about our initiative, please contact Lauren Bell: lauren.bell@sfgov.org.

Community Courts: Residents Leading Neighborhood Improvement

Many San Francisco neighborhoods are impacted by a high volume of low-level quality of life offenses that deteriorate neighborhood conditions and frustrate residents. To empower residents and hold offenders accountable, the DA's Office orchestrates the Community Courts program in all 10 police districts. Community Courts is a collaboration between City departments, neighborhood residents and merchant associations to hold "court" in the community and compel adult offenders charged with misdemeanors to restore the impacted neighborhood. Residents comprise the panel of judges that hear the cases and come up with appropriate sentences for each offender, such as community service, graffiti removal, etc. Community Courts also orders offenders to pay restitution to victims who have suffered monetary losses or property damage.

• To find out more about our initiative, please call Jackson Gee: jackson.gee@sfgov.org.

The Hate Crimes Reduction Initiative: Protecting all of the City's Residents

San Francisco is home to people of all walks of life. Every ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, and ability make up our population. Every person deserves safe communities and the fullest protection of the law. To ensure that hate crimes against minorities are not tolerated, the District Attorney's Office created a specialized position in the office focused on hate crimes prosecution and collaboration with community organizations. One Assistant District Attorney is assigned to coordinate hate crimes enforcement and ensure effective prosecution. To combat the notorious underreporting of hate crimes, the District Attorney also launched a public education campaign designed to educate at risk communities about the steps they can take to report hate crimes.

Click here to read recent news coverage of SFDA hate crimes prosecution.

• To find out more about our initiative, please contact Victor Hwang: victor.hwang@sfgov.org.