We all know that our young people cannot learn and grow unless they feel safe and are protected from violence in their schools and neighborhoods. Cities can combat youth violence effectively by treating it as a public health problem and ensuring a focus on four key steps: connecting every young person with a trusted and caring adult; intervening at the first sign that youth are at risk of violence; restoring young people who have gone down the wrong path; and involving youth and community leaders in public education campaigns to unlearn the culture of violence. 

Comprehensive approaches within cities that combine prevention, intervention, and enforcement strategies can dramatically reduce youth violence and offer positive alternatives to crime or gang affiliation. For example, municipal leaders can work with school and community partners to establish truancy and curfew centers that engage parents and link young people to services they need to stay in school. Intensive, community-based services can help youth already caught up in the juvenile justice system. Mayors and law enforcement officials can work together to restrict access to guns, and city leaders can also involve young people as partners in helping to reduce youth violence and improve their communities.

Key areas for action include:  

• Mentoring and other initiatives that connect young people to trusted and caring adults
• Early intervention at the first sign that youth are at risk of violence
• Juvenile reentry and rehabilitation efforts that restore young people who have gone down the wrong path
• Public education campaigns that involve a broad range of youth and community leaders to unlearn the culture of violence. 

Examples of local targets to consider:

• Number of children and youth with adult mentors
• Number of successful truancy interventions
• Youth homicide rates
• Juvenile and neighborhood crime rates
• Number of youth leadership opportunities and community service projects
• Number of juvenile offenders participating in rehabilitation or reentry programs.

For Further Information and Resources

Mentoring:

» Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

» Public/Private Ventures

Youth and Gang Violence Prevention and Intervention:

» NLC Institute for Youth, Education, and Families

» California Cities Gang Prevention Network

» National Council on Crime and Delinquency

» National Crime Prevention Council

» International Centre for the Prevention of Crime

» U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

» A Blueprint for Action: Preventing Youth Violence in Minneapolis

» International Association of Chiefs of Police

» Police Executive Research Forum

» California Youth Outreach

» Violence Prevention Institute

» National Center for Children Exposed to Violence

» Youth Alive

Juvenile Reentry and Rehabilitation:

» U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

» National Employment Law Project 

» YouthBuild

Youth Leadership and Community Service:

» NLC Institute for Youth, Education, and Families

» Search Institute

» Academy for Educational Development Center for Youth Development and Policy Research

» Forum for Youth Investment

» Youth Service America

» American Youth Policy Forum

» 4H USA

» National Youth Leadership Council

» Youth on Board

» The Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development