Baltimore City has enlisted community violence intervention partners to engage youth in high foot traffic areas where young people tend to hang out during warmer months, Mayor Brandon Scott announced Tuesday.
Following last year’s summer engagement efforts, youth shooting victims dropped 66% and aggravated assault victims declined 31%, according to a news release from city officials.
The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement began working with community violence intervention partners such as For My Kidz, Redesigning Minds, The Movement Team, The PEACE Team in preparation for schools’ spring break.
“It’s on all of us to ensure our young people are safe and avoid behaviors that put themselves and others in danger,” Scott said in a statement. “As we approach the warmer months, it is imperative that we put boots on the ground and support Baltimore’s young people in our collective effort to prioritize their safety.”
The past two weekends, the youth engagement teams were sent to these high traffic areas and will continue to be active Friday and Saturday nights — and Sunday nights on holiday weekends — until the end of summer. The teams emphasize relationship building with the youth by de-escalating conflicts, preventing potential violence, connecting youth with resources they need.
“We know we also have to provide Baltimore’s youth with opportunities to enjoy their time off of school in safe, engaging environments. This Spring Break, we also have a schedule full of programming designed specifically with this in mind, all leading up to Teen Fest this coming Saturday,” Scott said.
To provide activities for the youth, city leadership partnered with the non-profit B-360, which engages young people interested in dirt bikes to get them involved in science, technology, engineering and math. B-360 has a location at Harborplace that’s meant to be a center where youth and teens can learn transferable skills and tutoring services.
During weekends, the city will use the space as a Youth Connection Center to reconnect young people. Along with that, the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks with the mayor’s office have created 27 spring break camp opportunities with about 630 youth registered so far.
Scott will release the full 2025 summer youth engagement strategy in the coming weeks. Until then, the city will be holding a series of events to keep young people engaged, ending in a Spring Break Teen Fest on April 19 in Druid Park.
