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For Immediate Release
Friday, September 29, 2023 |
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Mayor Scott, MONSE Release Update on Summer Youth Engagement Strategy Results
BALTIMORE, MD (Friday, September 29, 2023) – Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) released data outlining the outcomes of the Administration’s B’More this Summer: Engage + Connect youth engagement strategy. The plan, authored by Deputy Mayor for Equity, Health, and Human Services Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, MOCFS Executive Director Dr. Debra Brooks, and then-MONSE Executive Director Shantay Jackson under the guidance of City Administrator Faith Leach, integrated curfew engagement and a comprehensive programming tailored to Baltimore’s young people to ensure their safety during the summer months. The strategy was informed by the input of over 300 young people involved in a series of discussions across eight schools and recreation centers about what they wanted to see from their city.
“This summer’s youth safety outcomes proved that a calculated, holistic engagement strategy can work when it is informed by and specially designed for young people,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “Our plan was about proving that young people should not have to choose between having fun and being safe. I want to thank all of our partners who contributed to our efforts to keep our young people out of harm’s way through a combination of programming and direct engagement. We look forward to carrying this momentum throughout the school year and through the summers to come.”
As directed by Mayor Scott, MONSE implemented a non-traditional curfew strategy with an emphasis on ground-level engagement with young people by social workers, school employees, non-profit partners, peer-ambassadors, and other city staff who volunteered as an alternative to law enforcement interaction. Over the course of the summer, volunteers directly engaged approximately 650 young people at designated static engagement locations and through mobile engagement teams to encourage young people to be safe and head home during curfew hours.
This included public awareness and messaging around curfew hours to dissuade young people from being out late at night and encourage parents and guardians to check in with their children.
Since the City implemented its curfew activation on May 26, 2023, youth-involved homicides (victims under the age of 18 years-old) were down 83 percent compared to last summer as of September 5, 2022, with curfew ending on September 4, 2023. While there were nine additional non-fatal shooting victims, this uptick is representative of victims from the July 2nd Brooklyn Day mass shooting.
Curfew efforts were just one part of the Administration’s larger summer youth engagement strategy. Overall, more than 7,900 young people engaged in the City’s YouthWorks program which celebrated 50 years of service to Baltimore’s young people this summer. Additionally, thousands of young people engaged in Rec and Parks and Mayor’s Office of Children & Family Success (MOCFS) programming.
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More than 2,300 people attending the teen pool party series
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Almost 200 basketball players playing in the Midnight Basketball and Bmore Night Hoops games, with many more people attending to cheer them on
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More than 2,000 young people participating in various BCRP Summer Camps over 72 locations
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An estimation of hundreds attending concerts and other ‘B’More Lit’ events.
Through these events and other engagement efforts, young people were also provided basic necessities, like meals and school supplies. At their events, MOCFS frequently included food, particularly hiring local food trucks, and estimate that thousands of meals were provided over the course of dozens of events.
These efforts were all in addition to the other types of routine engagement with young people that occur through the Mayor's Office of African-American Male Engagement (MOAAME), the Squeegee Collaborative, and MOCFS’s ongoing work.
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