Fresno mentoring scheme run by ex-cons pays underage shooters $1,000 to stay ...

A mentorship program in Fresno, California, pairs former convicts and gang members with underage shooters who are paid $1,000 a month to stay out of trouble, in a bid to drive down the city's murder rate, even if the mentees are still on the streets committing crimes.

Advance Peace Fresno is one chapter of the program that is already running, or set to launch, in nine cities and began in Richmond, California, in 2016.

Those who run the program are called Neighborhood Change Agents who are provided a list of prospective shooters from police and recruit them into what they refer to as a fellowship that pays them to accomplish program goals like getting a job or taking a class.

In most cases, it's funded by a combination of local and state dollars and nonprofits. Fresno's city council approved $125,000 of Advance Peace's $1.8 million budget last year when the program launched in its city. In June, it agreed to continue providing such funding for another three years. It is unclear where the rest of the program's money comes from.

Supporters of the program say it actually saves money by driving down crime rates and helping mentees become productive members of society, but critics say that it is a 'misuse' of taxpayer funds that puts too much trust in criminals to do the right thing.

Earlier this year, Devrick Hill, 17, was in the process of joining the program when he was arrested for allegedly opening fire outside a car during a gang dispute, according to The Wall Street Journal.

DeVone Boggan, CEO of Advance Peace, told the news outlet that is a 'common occurrence' for fellows to continue committing crimes and getting into trouble in the early stages of their involvement, adding that it takes time for Advance Peace workers to become an influential force in the lives of its fellows.

Advance Peace chooses potential fellows by surveying a list from police that includes people with recent firearms arrests or those suspected in recent shootings, its local program manager, Aaron Foster, told the Wall Street Journal.

Foster said that the best approach for Devrick was to pair him with Roger Brown, a rapper in the program who goes by the name Syrup and has a dedicated online following. Devrick is an aspiring musician and, Foster said, he hoped introducing him to Brown would help him redirect his energy into a productive passion rather than gang violence.

Devrick, who goes by the nickname 'D Hill,' said he first joined a gang when he was in ninth grade and his cousin was killed. A star on his school's football team at the time, Devrick dropped out and left his goals behind for a life on the streets.

But since joining Advance Peace, Devrick has found a place to live, re-enrolled in school and join a job-training program.

He even recorded his own song in Syrup's recording studio last month, called 'Insecurities.' In it, he sings, 'You can't blame me for my sins because I'm a better man today.'

Devrick told the Wall Street Journal that he now wants to leave behind his life as a shooter, saying, 'When I was younger…I wanted to be called that. Now I'd rather be low-key.'

But not all believe that all fellows in the program would turn out like Devrick. Garry Bredefeld, a Republican city councilman, voted against funding the program and said, 'I don't know why we would give people stipends to do the right thing. That is complete insanity and a misuse of taxpayer funds.'

Boggan likened the stipend to an allowance parents would give to their children and said that some members don't have that relationship with their parents or the means of getting a job. He added that it's necessary to keep them involved in the program.

He said, 'I know a lot of people who got allowances growing up, I know a lot of people who got a little extra dough when they did well in school. These guys haven't had a childhood.'

When the program was launched in Richmond in 2016, Fox News spoke with victims' rights activist Lorrain Taylor, whose twin sons were gunned down in the nearby city of Oakland at 22.

Taylor vehemently opposed the idea and said, 'If I were to find out that the guy who murdered my twin sons was getting a thousand dollars for a promise? I mean, how can you trust? ... I mean, if they kill somebody, they will lie.'

But supporters say the goal is to intervene before someone's life could be changed forever by committing a fatal shooting.