Free at Last serves an ethnically mixed population of adults and youth who live in the target areas of East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park, and North Fair Oaks in Redwood City. Our client population is predominantly African American (51%) and Latino (35%),Pacific Islander/other (8%) and Caucasian (6%). Free at Last serves over 4,200 people each year, ranging in age from 12 to 60 years old.

Community Assessment

As both the County’s Alcohol and Drug Services Strategic Plan and the County’s Healthy San Mateo 2000 indicate a concentration of risk factors heightens stress and increases the chances of substance abuse, which, in turn, could lead to HIV, arrest, and incarceration. Even as the East Bayshore community receives positive publicity as redevelopment efforts move forward, the displacement of families and individuals through evictions and the jump in housing costs as well as the growing disparity in income increase the pressures. In this period of transition, Free at Last sees all the more need not to slack off in our efforts and to continue to make available services that can slow or prevent a slide down among those who are already vulnerable.

Adult Risk Factors

In the high-risk adult population that we serve:

• 90% are chronically unemployed and with incomes well below the federal poverty line.
• 30% were homeless or in temporary housing upon admission to treatment program
• 60% have a history of involvement in the criminal justice system

In our community, a number of risk factors are fairly pervasive. As everyone knows, in spite of the Silicon Valley economic boom, the income disparity has widened dramatically when compared with the median incomes of surrounding communities. The rate of unemployment or low-wage temporary employment is much higher in the populations we serve than in surrounding communities. While the unemployment rate in the nation is 4%, it is estimated that 31% in our community are unemployed or have temporary employment. According to the January 2000 report, Children in Our Community, "A two-income family working full-time at the minimum wage earns $23,920, which is far less than the annual self-sufficiency income level."

Poverty is fertile ground for illegal income-generating activities. In our community there is still an underground economy of drug sales that inevitably perpetuates the cycle arrest and incarceration and family breakdown.

Youth At-Risk in East Palo Alto

The underlying issues that ten or twelve years ago led to the rise of drug sales in our community haven’t disappeared. And young people from low-income minority families who have problems in school—whether because of a learning disability or friends who pressure them or lack of parental oversight—are still susceptible to the pull of "easy money."

According to a recent article in the Palo Alto Daily News, 65% of youth from our community drop out of high school or are expelled. Once out of the school system, there are few local community resources for the most at-risk young people. If you ask them what options they have, few of them see beyond their hometown, their circle of friends.

• An estimated 50% of young people in the multi-ethnic minority communities have dropped out of school or been reassigned to continuing education or community schools because of behavior problems, learning disabilities, or criminal justice involvement. The number is even higher among the at-risk young people who are referred to our U-Turn program or who come to our Youth Drop-in Center. Over 80% report that they dropped out of high school.
• Unfortunately there are few options for the most troubled young people once they drop out of school. With the exception of the Bell Street gym there is virtually no place but the streets or local parks for older adolescents to hang out. Many young people are left to their own devices until the police become involved.
• Approximately 60% of young men and 20% of young women between the ages of 15 to 30 have at one time been under the control of the criminal justice system.
• Many high-risk young people have a lack of positive adult role models; many have no contact with their father. At least 50% of our U-Turn clients report that their parent is actively using drugs or alcohol.
• Troubled family life, including overcrowding, absence of supervision, parental addiction or incarceration.

Housing Crisis for Low-Income Families

HUD’s Community Builder in East Palo Alto reported recently that "Black and Latino renters were more likely to have Extremely Low and Very Low incomes: 63% of Blacks and 58% of Latinos, compared to 29% of White, and 33% of Asian renters have incomes at or below 50% of the area median income." Local residents are most disadvantaged in the changing market since non-local residents often have higher incomes.

The countywide shortage of low-cost housing is compounded by the dramatic rise in property values in East Palo Alto as redevelopment moves ahead. Our clients are even more disadvantaged by their past history. Before coming into treatment, most of the clients were chronically unemployed or under-employed. They usually have a poor credit history and 60% have been involved with the criminal justice system. Obviously, they are the least likely to be selected by apartment managers when there are competing applicants.

Health Risks

In spite of the remarkable prosperity of Silicon Valley, the health outlook for low-income African Americans, Latinos, and Pacific Islanders in the communities we serve remains less promising than elsewhere in the County. In measuring key health indicators, lower socioeconomic ethnic minority groups are still at greater risk for poorer health outcomes. It is well documented that the incidence of communicable disease (HIV, STD, TB) and other health risks are significantly higher in communities of color.

Of serious concern is the finding in the 1999 Community Assessment—Health & Quality of Life in San Mateo County that "Death rates for most causes are much higher among African-Americans than other races." (Case in point. One of our key treatment staff, an African American male revealed that recent tests showed that he has diabetes, high blood pressure, and Hepatitis C. The latter was asymptomatic and only detected through blood work.)

Because of the higher number of immigrants in our target communities, we also see a higher incidence of TB. The County reports that 21.4% of new TB cases occur among Latinos. The East Palo Alto/East Menlo Park communities still have the highest incidence of STD and a significantly higher number of teen pregnancies and low-birth weight babies.

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