The man who refused to give up on the children of Harlem will hear plenty of stories today from city officials, educators, law enforcement officers and others concerned about Sacramento's ongoing problems with youth violence.

Geoffrey Canada, who turned 56 on Sunday, has spent nearly two decades leading one of the largest youth intervention programs in the country.

In Sacramento he will meet with officials and community leaders against a backdrop of recent high-profile crimes, allegedly committed by area youths. A 15-year-old is being held in connection with the shooting deaths of two men on Friday. And 16-year-old Jimmy Siackasorn is charged with the murder last month of sheriff's Detective Vu Nguyen.

In 1990 Canada took over the Harlem Children's Zone, formerly known as Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families, when the New York City neighborhood was mired in a crack cocaine epidemic and homelessness.

The program he developed there has been heralded by some as evidence that children from the toughest neighborhoods can succeed if they're given a real chance.

It provides each child – from birth through college – with some combination of educational, spiritual, medical and family support services. The goal is to ensure that no young person slips through the cracks.

Jim Keddy, the executive director of Sacramento Area Congregations Together, said his organization invited Canada to share the lessons he has gleaned during his years working on youth violence prevention.

Keddy said his own organization has launched a number of strategies to help youth in the past few years, including school attendance centers and employment programs.

"But they're insufficient," he said. "We have to keep learning. We have to get smarter."

At 4 p.m. today, Canada will speak with a small group including Mayor Heather Fargo and Lyn Corbett, the city's new director of the office of youth development, or "youth czar." Then, at 6 p.m., Canada will address a crowd of educators, youth service providers, faith leaders and young people at Antioch Progressive Church.

Corbett, who assumed his new role in early December, said he believes leaders in Sacramento are deeply committed to addressing the issue of youth violence.

But, he said, "the reality is, there's a good percentage of our kids that don't have hope."

Canada said he believes hope can be recovered. But first, communities need to commit to helping even the hardest-to-reach young people.

If 3,000 children in a neighborhood are desperately needy and only 500 get services, Canada asked, how can anyone expect to see real change?

In 2006, his organization documented the following successes:

• 100 percent of children in the preschool program had a school readiness classification of average or above.

• 88 percent of students in the high school program graduated.

• After participating in a "Baby College" program, almost all parents signed enrolled their children in health insurance programs, and almost all read with their children.

Canada says the ability to affect youth violence, and improve the lives of low-income, high-risk young people, hinges on: trying to reach every single young person residing in a particular geographical area, be it three blocks or 100 blocks; rebuilding communities by supporting parents, schools and tenant and neighborhood associations; and honestly evaluating what is working and what is not.

To achieve this, Canada believes individuals within organizations need to be held accountable and asked to leave if they are not performing.

Canada recommends starting with a manageable geographic area, then expanding outward.

That's essentially the story of the Harlem Children's Zone, which once focused on 24 blocks in Harlem and now covers 97. A decade ago, Canada said, the organization served 700 or 800 children at a cost of $10 million. This year, at a cost of $58 million, it is serving 10,000 children.

A third of that money comes from the government, he said. The rest comes from foundations, corporations and private individuals.

Although Canada believes local governments are important partners in the effort to address youth violence, he said youth intervention efforts need to be spearheaded by private individuals. Working with the same child for 21 years, he said, transcends time frames that might be altered by politics.

Capt. Daniel Hahn, who runs the youth services section of the Sacramento Police Department, said he intends to join today's conversations with Canada. He believes the city recently has gained momentum on the issue of youth violence, and said he is glad to see different services coordinating with one another after years of fingerpointing.

"I think it's evident that we cannot just keep locking everybody up and solving the problem," he said. "We've done that for years and it's getting worse."

Canada said he's planning to deliver an optimistic message in Sacramento.

"When I first began talking about doing this, Harlem was such a tough place to work that people simply believed 'it's not doable,' " he said. "Now, when people come, they're stunned by how beautiful Harlem is."

Too often, Canada says, he meets with officials, educators and others who have given up hope on changing the devastating odds faced by many children and teens.

His response is unequivocal:

"We absolutely can change this," he said. "We can save these kids. And we have to do it."