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The Syracuse City Common Council’s Public Safety Committee met Monday afternoon to discuss updates to the Syracuse Safer Streets Community Violence Intervention initiative, a program dedicated to identifying and supporting high-risk youth. The meeting comes around a year and a half after the city first piloted the plan.

During the meeting, committee members highlighted the progress of 24 participants admitted to the program. The program is led by the Mayor’s Office to Reduce Gun Violence and aims to provide mentorship, therapy and job training to people identified as the primary drivers of gun violence in Syracuse, its website states.

Lateef Johnson-Kinsey, the office’s director, joined members of affiliated social programs in Syracuse City Hall’s Common Council Chambers to present updates to the council regarding the intervention program’s progress, including participants’ statuses with employment, housing and therapy.

“We don’t have a high number of people who are working, but we’re building them up so when they do go to work, they can sustain a job,” Johnson-Kinsey said.

Project Helping Everyone Accept Love, a local nonprofit organization providing therapeutic services to those impacted by the criminal justice system, chose not to renew its contract with the program, Ednita Wright, a local clinical social worker and former associate professor at Syracuse University, said. All five Project H.E.A.L. therapists would still like to continue working with participants, though, she said.

The program started as a pilot project in 2023 when program staff and law enforcement first identified 50 high-risk individuals, its website states. The Common Council voted 8-1 to authorize the program in Aug. 2023 after it had been in development for over a year. The program received $1 million in funding from the city.

Hasan Stephens, founder and CEO of the Good Life Youth Foundation, a youth violence prevention nonprofit, presented data about the program’s effectiveness to the committee.

Stephens said 12 out of 24 people referred to the foundation signed contracts to work with professionals and are directly engaging with the program’s resources, including therapy, housing and job search assistance. He said while the other half have not yet signed the contract, the foundation will continue to work with them to build trust.

All of the program’s participants have completed therapy assessments with Wright and nine have begun therapy, Stephens said. He also said two have secured permanent housing through the program.

Johnson-Kinsey emphasized the importance of developing participants’ skills — including communication, teamwork and problem-solving — to maximize success in the job search process.

Patrona Jones-Rowser, councilor for the city’s 4th district, said she also wants to improve participants’ reading and writing abilities, citing rising illiteracy rates across the nation. Though, all 24 program participants expressed more interest in finding a job over pursuing further education, Stephens said.

“Many of them are facing financial issues, and so their immediate concern is how do they survive and how do they live,” Stephens said.

Ortez Madison, a life coach at the foundation, said providing housing is its first priority. The program wants to help participants get a roof over their heads and find jobs to sustain their rent and afford groceries, Madison said. Once participants secure a stable job, the foundation hopes to work with them to pursue their passions.

The program hopes to find outside grant funding to continue to pay Project H.E.A.L. therapists, Johnson-Kinsey said. The council said it plans to address the logistics of the payment in a future meeting.

“Intervention is not jumping in to break up a fight. To me, when it gets to that point, you’re already late,” Johnson-Kinsey said. “Intervention is a text in the morning, picking them up, taking them to work — that’s intervening.”

Published on September 23, 2024 at 11:28 pm

Contact Delia: dsrangel@syr.edu