As community watchdog groups like the New York-based Guardian Angels have been trying to combat crime in Boston, a city councilor is saying a stronger presence of youth and street workers will help alleviate a burgeoning crime problem.

The City Council’s Committee on Youth Affairs and other area youth experts discussed Councilor Charles Yancey’s (Dorchester, Mattapan) March 7 proposal to hire 300 additional youth and street workers at a City Hall meeting yesterday afternoon.

Yancey sharply criticized the city’s 2008 budget for providing Boston with funds to hire only four more workers. With a population of roughly 600,000, Boston’s 54 youth and street workers falls short of the city’s needs, Yancey said.

“The City of Boston has suffered through too many tragedies in the past two years,” Yancey said. “We need to do more than what we’re doing today.”

The hiring of 300 more youth and street workers would cost the city $10 million, Yancey said.

Youth workers run programs at community centers throughout the city for children and teens, while street workers intervene in violent situations and work to prevent future violence, said Robert Lewis Jr., executive director of the Boston Centers for Youth and Families.

“The street-worker program is one of the most effective programs we have,” Lewis said, adding that youth and street workers have served 50,000 at-risk youths each year since the program began in 1990.

“We have the money,” Yancey said. “What we lack is the will.”

Yancey said hiring 300 more workers would allow one worker for every five students who drop out of area schools each year.

Councilor Michael Ross (Back Bay, Fenway), vice chairman of the Youth Affairs Committee, said more youth and street workers would benefit at-risk youth, but he said 300 may be too many.

“They’re there before the bullets fly, providing prevention and intervention,” Ross said. “I don’t think we need 300, but we need more than four.”

Youth and Families Center Development Unit Manager Christopher Byner said Dorchester employs six street workers, the most of any Boston neighborhood.

“We seize the opportunity to try and change the person for the better,” Byner said, adding that with the right support and guidance, “[at-risk youths] can become what many of us are here.”

Anthony Meeks, a former youth worker from Franklin Field, said he encourages the increase of youth workers and said their programs allowed him to become a successful citizen.

“If it wasn’t for youth workers, I probably would have gone in a different direction,” he said. “Just place more youth and street workers on the street.”

Dorchester resident Mary Regan, a member of Dorchester People for Peace, said more youth and street workers are necessary to reduce crime.

“Every year, more of my neighbors are dying,” Regan said. “Every year, I go to more vigils.”