AS STOCKTON SURPASSED three weeks since mass shooters killed four young people, city leaders greenlit a $8 million grant to prevent violence against youth and young adults.
Stockton City Council unanimously agreed Dec. 16 to a multi-million youth diversion program, known as Redirect, to reduce recidivism, said Office of Violence Prevention Director Lora Larson.
“You cannot just treat a disease by only treating the symptoms,” Larson told the council last week. “Effective prevention requires addressing the underlying conditions that affect this violence.”
Last week’s approved funds is Stockton’s latest effort in preventing youth violence since the attack at a 2-year-old’s birthday party over Thanksgiving weekend left the city in shock. Four people were killed in the shooting, including three school-aged children and a 21-year-old, and 13 others were injured.
“It’s timely,” said David Sengthay, a Stockton resident and member of Stockton Democrats Together, during public comment. “This is the sort of work that prevents further and future tragedies from taking place in our city.”
Community remains on edge
The tragedy has left Stockton and Central Valley residents reeling. And though it has been several weeks since the shooting, law enforcement have yet to announce arrests or provide many details on who committed the attack, other than at least five guns were fired by multiple gunmen who wore masks.
Several community leaders, including Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi and San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Frietas, have classified the attack as gang violence. Multiple “gang sets” were also present at the shooting location, according to court documents detailing police reports from that day. But the Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation, has said it cannot confirm whether gang violence played a role in the shooting.
The Office of Violence Prevention will first fund three new full-time positions. OVP also vows to use the money to address “trauma, not just behavior” through services like behavioral health and substance use treatment, mentorship, and pathways for attaining housing and employment, Larson said.
“You cannot just treat a disease by only treating the symptoms. Effective prevention requires addressing the underlying conditions that affect this violence.”
Lora Larson, Stockton Office of Violence Prevention director
The project, Larson said, comes at a time when San Joaquin County faces “urgent challenges” in services for mental health and substance use. Effective until the end of June 2029, the project will provide services to those ages 15 through 35. Funds will “invest upstream to prevent violence, Larson said.
“Why does this matter?” Larson asked those at last Tuesday’s council gathering. “All of these are a portion of the drivers of violence.”
According to a 2025 community health assessment, referenced by Larson throughout the meeting, county residents have 36% fewer mental health providers than the rest of California. Deaths from suicide, alcohol related conditions and drug overdose — known as deaths of despair in the study — are also 13% greater than the statewide average, with Black and African American communities seeing a higher opioid mortality rate.
The community initiative, headed by OVP and Stockton-based recidivism reduction nonprofit Friends Outside, received its funding from the state’s community corrections board through Proposition 47, a 2014 reform that lowered nonviolent drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.
Support for prop. county leaders once opposed
Larson said San Joaquin County will also support the public health initiative, despite county leaders’ previous public dislike of Prop. 47.
In 2024, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors backed a measure to do away with Prop. 47. District 5 Supervisor Robert Rickman had called the passed referendum “disastrous.” Steve Ding, supervisor for District 4, also described it as “stupid.”
Some residents present at Tuesday’s council meeting implored OVP to hire Stockton locals with experience in restorative justice.
“We need lived, experienced workers in this field,” said Patricia Barrett, a Stockton homelessness advocate.
Ralph White, a longtime former Stockton councilmember, referenced the ethnoracial breakdown of the city, where only 17.5% identify as white only, according to census data.
“How many Black people do you have working in your department?” asked White, pointing his question to Larson. “How many Hispanic people?”
Council could not directly answer White’s question. Instead, the mayor and Larson pointed to OVP’s diversity, including Black staff members, and that the grant’s partner organizations are run by Black women.
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.
