As promised when this was previewed yesterday, we’re sharing the info issued by the mayor’s office at his Garfield High School appearance this morning to announce a “youth-violence-prevention initiative.” Here’s a document with the overview – which includes “southwest Seattle” as an area of emphasis and lists West Seattle-based Southwest Youth and Family Services as one of the agencies that will help develop plans for this part of the program:

We will establish three youth-focused neighborhood networks in central, southeast and southwest Seattle to identify the children at-risk for violence, and surround them with services tailored to their specific needs.

Read on for the full text of the city news release with toplines:

Mayor Greg Nickels announced today his 2009-2010 proposed
biennial budget will include more than $9 million for a new initiative
to prevent youth violence. The initiative will focus on about 800
children a year who are at highest risk of perpetuating violence or
becoming victims.

This year, four teenagers have been shot to death in Seattle. “We
will not stand for this violence; this has to stop,” said Nickels.
“The time has come for the city and the community to fundamentally
change our overall strategy on preventing youth violence. I am asking
neighbors, families, schools, churches, service workers and community
members to come together and join our efforts.”

The Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative will set a new
direction by identifying and helping children who are at a vulnerable
point in their lives. Specifically, the initiative will:
● Assist youth with repeat offenses re-enter society from state
detention programs.
● Provide alternatives for youth who are arrested for crimes, but
released because they don’t meet the admission criteria for county
detention.
● Help middle-school truants and students at risk of suspension stay
in school and succeed.
● Prevent victims of violence and their friends and relatives from
continuing the cycle of violence through retaliation.

“We won’t wait for children to come to us for help; we will seek
them out. Whether it’s helping them stay in school, re-enter society
or manage their anger, the objective is to intervene at a crucial time
in their lives and offer them a better path,” Nickels said.

While Seattle’s overall crime rate has dropped to its lowest point
since 1968, the number of juvenile violent crime incidents has remained
constant at about 800 a year.

“Seattle’s crime rate is at its lowest point in 40 years, but that
is absolutely no solace to the families who have lost young people to
violence,” Nickels said. “Easy access to guns has clearly
introduced life-and-death consequences to confrontations between our
children.”

The initiative is based on a review of programs in Seattle and in other
cities, such as Baltimore, Chicago and San Jose. It proposes 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 youth centers with extended
hours, giving children a safe place to go, or be taken, to stay out of
trouble. The city will work closely with middle schools to add police
officers in schools, improve attendance and train children to deal with
conflict. The city will also support more community-based projects that
engage and mentor young people.

Initiative efforts will be coordinated through three neighborhood
networks in southeast, southwest and central Seattle, where indicators
of future violent behaviors, such as discipline rates in schools, are
the highest. These youth-focused networks will coordinate services
around each child, tailoring programs to each young person’s needs.

The initiative will include approximately $3.5 million in re-directed
programs and about
$5.5 million in new spending over the next two years. With a goal of
cutting in half the number of incidents of youth violence within its
first full year of operation, the initiative will include strict
measures of accountability at two levels – whether neighborhoods and
schools are safer, and whether individual lives are transformed as
measured by results, such as school performance and recidivism.

“The safety and well-being of our children are of paramount
importance to us all,” said Seattle Public Schools Superintendent
Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Ph.D. “It is our collective responsibility
to work with our children and our youth to address the challenges that
lead to violence in our community, and to focus on prevention. We see
the positive results of our recent investments in our middle schools,
and we applaud this collective partnership intent on creating a safer
community.”

The city will work with specific community partners to design
neighborhood networks. The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle will
help design the central area network; Southwest Youth and Family
Services will help design the southwest’s; and Atlantic Street Center
will help design the network in the southeast.

“We need a communitywide interruption of the path we are on. It will
require all of us moving in the same direction to stop kids from killing
kids,” said James Kelly, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan
Seattle. “We applaud the mayor for getting us all moving in that same
direction with a renewed commitment and the funds to interrupt kid
violence.”

This year, Seattle police stepped up emphasis patrols, working
especially closely with schools, and doubled the number of officers
working in the gang unit. Nickels emphasized that law enforcement can
be only part of the solution. He also acknowledged members of the faith
community for their efforts and contributions.

“Our churches have always been the heart of our community with a
tradition of service that goes beyond our front doors to the streets of
our neighborhoods,” said Pastor Reggie C. Witherspoon of Mount Calvary
Christian Center. “We are facing a crisis among our young people. We
must stop the violence and give our children positive opportunities and
establish programs to mentor our youth.”