Probation presents NSU annual report showing reductions in referrals and improved community engagement
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Summary
Probation's Neighborhood Safety Unit reported declines in juvenile referrals and chronic absenteeism in targeted communities and highlighted community-based programs serving thousands of families; residents and partners testified to NSU's localized impact.
The Probation Department presented its Neighborhood Safety Unit (NSU) FY24'25 annual report to the committee on Jan. 22, highlighting place-based prevention work in East San Jose (ZIP 95122) and East Gilroy (ZIP 95020).
Program managers reported numerical outcomes tied to sustained community programming: in East San Jose NSU cited 7 community-wide events with more than 200 residents typically attending, "3,589 families served through food distribution efforts," and "603 unduplicated students engaged in extracurricular and after-school programs." In East Gilroy the presentation reported "4,920 families" served through food distribution and more than 1,000 students participating in after-school activities.
Probation's evaluation slides pointed to downstream improvements the NSU aims to influence: reductions in vehicle-pedestrian incidents, falls in juvenile referrals (the presenter said referrals have "decreased almost by half" in some target regions), and drops in chronic absenteeism at targeted schools (for some NSU schools the rate dropped from a peak of 46% to 24% after interventions).
Community partners and program participants spoke in support. Rita Ramirez of Catholic Charities read letters from youth who described learning about drugs, healthy relationships and life skills; one youth wrote that the program helped them learn "what is good for us and what is bad for us and what we could do to help ourselves." A Bossy (Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative) representative described sports programs that bring girls together across campuses and build confidence.
Probation and community presenters emphasized that NSU's approach is long-term, resident-centered prevention that strengthens social cohesion and builds local leadership. Supervisors received the report and praised measurable local impacts while flagging the challenge of sustaining funding amid county budget pressures.
Next steps: Probation will continue to track scorecard metrics, evaluate pilots and provide future reports on outcomes and funding sustainability.