Janette Flintoft Tackles Gang Prevention

Pacific Palisades resident Janette Flintoft spends her days at Horace Mann Middle School, inspiring and coaxing the students, who live in the surrounding gang-infested neighborhoods, to stay in school.   Since August, Flintoft has worked at Horace Mann in South L.A. through the Safe Schools Division of the L.A. Office of the City Attorney. Among her duties, she invites motivational speakers to campus, facilitates leadership workshops and organizes field trips.   ’I do whatever it takes to get students more engaged in school,’ said Flintoft, a 39-year-old city prosecutor who is married and has three children.   Encouraged by the success of a similar program at Markham Middle School in Watts, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo formed the Safe Schools Division last August in an effort to create a safer school environment in nine Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) middle schools.   The schools were chosen because of the high crime rates surrounding their campuses, coupled with low attendance rates and substandard Academic Performance Index (API) scores. API is a measurement system that the state uses to evaluate a school’s academic achievement.   The division focuses on middle schools because ‘that is the time we can have the most impact,’ Flintoft said. ‘The kids are starting to make decisions and developing their views’this is the population to catch.’   Flintoft, who has worked for the city attorney’s office since 1997, was chosen for the position because ‘Janette expressed an interest in working with students, and we thought her enthusiasm for the new assignment, combined with her experience as a prosecutor, would make her an ideal fit for our new division,’ said Max Follmer, spokesman for the city attorney. ‘Janette has done a tremendous job working to help improve the climate in and around Mann Middle School.’   Flintoft, who grew up in North Hollywood, received her bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA and attended law school at Southwestern University. In her first two years in the city attorney’s office, she prosecuted numerous criminal cases. In 2001, Flintoft began working for the Crime Prevention and Youth Protection Division, which led to her current position.   ’I see children’s upbringing as the root of all future problems,’ Flintoft said.   In January, she started a weekly speaker series for Horace Mann seventh and eighth graders in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, designed for socioeconomically disadvantaged students who want to be the first members in their families to attend college.   ’The goal is to give the students role models; I choose speakers who grew up or work in the area, or in a similar type of neighborhood,’ Flintoft said, adding that she has found speakers through her colleagues and Pacific Palisades friends.   Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Juan Barillas and UCLA assistant men’s basketball coach Donnie Daniels (who both grew up in the neighborhood) recently spoke to students about reaching their goals. Flintoft also tries to improve adolescents’ self-esteem and provide them with alternatives to gang life. She has taken the students to the Museum of Tolerance and the UCLA’s ropes and challenge course. On April 23, they will travel to Southwestern University for a mock trial. On such field trips, Flintoft has paid for lunch out of her own pocket. She has also sponsored a group of girls to attend the annual Young Women’s Conference: Change, Challenge and Choice ‘ A Recipe for Success at Pasadena City College in February. ‘I want to do what I can for them to succeed,’ said Flintoft, who has lived in the Highlands since 1997 with her husband, Gerry, a senior investment officer for L.A. County Employees Retirement Association. They have three children: Collin, 9, Caroline, 8 (students at Calvary Christian School) and Aiden, 4.   Flintoft’s efforts extend to parents whom she will even prosecute for not sending their children to school. She and Horace Mann’s attendance officer canvass the neighborhood for students at home during school hours. Some students are babysitting or running errands with their parents. Before taking legal action, Flintoft explains to parents California’s Compulsory Education Laws, which require children to be in school from age 6 to 18. ‘The goal is to get the kids in school,’ she said. ‘Gang members are truant first.’ To make the campus environment safer, Flintoft works closely with the LAPD’s 77th Street Community Police Station. She reviews police reports for crime patterns, rides along with the police looking for criminals and prosecutes cases on campus and in the surrounding neighborhood. Horace Mann is located at 7001 St. Andrews Place. Marijuana was recently found on campus, so Flintoft will prosecute any misdemeanor cases arising out of the police investigation. For prevention, she has arranged for speakers to talk to the students about substance abuse in May and September. In addition to all of her work at Horace Mann, Flintoft recently helped create an LAUSD training program to teach teachers and administrators how to recognize and report child abuse. She also works in the city attorney’s Gang Division dealing with gang injunctions, a court order that prohibits gang members from engaging in activities such as associating with other gang members. ‘I find it rewarding,’ Flintoft said of her busy schedule. ‘I love what I do’ I feel fortunate to be changing lives and impacting communities for the better.’