Gang Prevention

"That's going to make you tired, tired, tired," Ms. Rosa Parks once said to Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). Along with Ms. Parks' words, Johnnie Carr's rejoinder in that conversation, "That's why you've got to be brave, brave, brave," is a message to all National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention cities to continue an exhausting, challenging, and worthy struggle.

The National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention (the Forum) is an interagency effort for localities to share knowledge and experience in what works and what doesn't work in preventing youth and gang related violence.

Representatives from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Salinas, and San Jose gathered in Washington, DC on April 2 and 3, 2012 for the second Summit on Preventing Youth Violence.

Since the mid-20th century, gang violence in this country has become widespread—all 50 states and the District of Columbia report gang problems, and reports have increased for 5 of the past 7 years. Despite the steady growth in the number and size of gangs across the United States and the criminal behavior and violence they spawn, little is known about the dynamics that drive gangs and how to best combat their growth. For instance, no consensus exists on how gangs form, and few gang prevention programs have been rigorously evaluated.

Representatives from Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Salinas, and San Jose gathered in Washington, DC on October 31 and November 1, 2011 for the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention Working Session.

On December 10 and 11, representatives from the ten cities in the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention (Forum) met together in Washington, DC. This was the first time representatives from all ten cities in the Forum – Boston, Camden, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Salinas, and San Jose – had an opportunity to share their work and exchange ideas.