Mayor Greg Nickels has announced he will convene a youth violence prevention summit on July 7 with keynote speaker Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund and a nationally recognized advocate for disadvantaged Americans.

Last fall, Nickels proposed the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative with the goal of reducing incidents of youth violence by 50 percent. In his State of the City speech last February, Nickels promised to hold a summit to explore best practices and call our entire community to action.

“This gathering will bring together parents, young people and community members to motivate and support each other in our efforts,” said Nickels. “We are fundamentally changing the way we prevent youth violence. It will take everyone working together to engage our young people and offer them a better path.”

With the theme “Inspiring Hope and Making Change,” the summit begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club/Rainier Valley Teen Center, located at 4520 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Other speakers include Nickels and Mariko Lockhart, director of the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative.

The summit will also include young people performing and reading poetry. Community groups will staff a resource fair to sign up volunteers and provide help for families in need.

“The summit will continue our community-wide conversation about youth violence and demonstrate the city's strong desire to protect our children, to listen to them, and to provide them with options for the future," said Seattle City Council member Tim Burgess who chairs the council's Public Safety, Human Services, and Education Committee.

"It will also be an opportunity to support those in the community who are saying loud and clear that violence is not acceptable and must stop," he said.

Nickels proposed the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative as part of his 2009-2010 budget, and the city council approved $8 million for the effort. The initiative focuses on about 800 youth who are at highest risk of perpetuating violence or becoming victims.

The goal is to reduce youth violence in half during the initiative’s first year of operation.

The initiative seeks to help young people at difficult points in their lives:

● Re-entering society from state or county detention programs.

● Arrested for crimes but released because they don’t meet the admission criteria for county detention.

● Middle school truants and students at risk of suspension.

● Victims of violence and their friends and relatives who may seek to retaliate.

Seattle’s initiative includes a new approach to street outreach with the use of violence interrupters who are privy to information on the
street and may actually prevent violent acts and retaliation before they occur.

The initiative also calls for establishing extended hours at some youth centers, giving children a safe place to go, or be taken, to stay out of trouble.

In addition to case management, anger management and recreation programming, the city will support more community-based projects that engage and mentor young people.

In April, four Seattle police officers were assigned to four middle schools to focus on crisis intervention, guidance, and mentoring.

Click here for more information about the initiative.