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164 TARGET AREA The target area for the prc~ject has not changed. It is bordered by Civic Center ' Drive/Pacific/Washington on the north; Bristol/ Sixth/Flower on the east; First/Bristol/Walnut on the south; and Raitt on the west. This boundary is the enrollment area for Carver ElementaD, School plus a narrow strip added to include the Flower Street Park and the Artesia/Pilar Neighborhood Associations in their entirety. The target area falls within the Santa Ana Enterprise Zone. According to the 1990 U.S. Census reports the population of the target area is 12,265 persons, just under 4% of the city as a whole. Hispanics comprise 78% of the residents; Anglo is 15.5%; the Black and Asian populations are each 3%; and "Other" make up .5% of the population. Consistent with Santa Ana's distinction as having the youngest median-aged population of the one hundred largest cities in the country, 25% of residents in the target area are under the age of 18. There are 2,185 housing units. They are a mix of older, single-family homes built 50 to 70 years ago and multi-unit dwellings built primarily in the 1970's; 65.6% of of which are renter-occupied. The neighborhood includes a dwindling number of long-time residents with deep roots in the community and an increasing number of transitory tenants. Once a solidly middle-class neighborhood, the economic status of the area has declined in the past few decades. To make ends meet, some residents have overcrowded properties, creating an environment of resentment as private property, the infrastructure and neighborly relations have all suffered. An assessment of risk indicators reveals that this is a neighborhood facing many challenges: 66.5 % of those 25 years or older never finished high school. 27 % of residents live below the poverty level -- double the national average. In a city that has a reported child abuse and neglect rate that is 58% higher than the national average; 15.7% of cases reported in 1994 were located in the target neighborhood. This is quadruple the ratio of the target neighborhood population to the city population. This fact has been confirmed by the problems observed by staff during the first year and the feedback from school personnel who must deal with this issue on a regular basis. Standard test scores at the target schools average in the bottom third of the state. However, scores continue to rise each year. The 1994 test scores were up 20% over the 1992 scores. The target neighborhood is home to the Sixth Street Gang, considered one of the most dangerous and violent in the county. Last year many of these gang members were incarcerated due to the efforts of "Operation Roundup", a multi-law enforcement agency collaboration aimed at ridding the area of gang violence and drag related crime. During the past several months, some of those gang members have returned to the community after having served their time for their crimes. They have begun to