Boston Violence Prevention Model

by Sheila D'Amico

Almost 200 people filled Imani Church on Valentine's Eve to hear representatives from Boston present their youth violence prevention model. The event, organized by Oakland Community Organizations (OCO), opened with Imani Pastor Dr. George C.L. Cummings telling listeners that "our faith calls us to respond to the needs of the community around us."

Anthony Braga, of Harvard University, noted that Boston found the key to solving the problem of youth violence in partnership. "No one agency can go it alone. You can't arrest your way out of the problem. You can't hug your way out of the problem. You need to develop partnerships based on trust."

Braga also noted, "It is important to have a very good description of the problem. In most places, it is a small number of people kids who are caught up in the violence. You need a sense of fairness. Intervene only when kids are behaving violently. On the intervenor's side, you need transparency; you can't appear to be discriminatory."

The Boston model is based on partnerships between community activists, including street workers and faith communities, the police department, social services, health agencies, and people with access to jobs.

Tracy Lithcutt is the former director of the Boston Street Worker Program. "We had to leave our egos at the door. Without having a relationship with the Boston police department, we were not going to be effective. The Boston P.D. is crucial to our getting funding, for advocating for us to have more street workers, for help in job creation. Partnership is critical."

Deputy Superintendent of the Boston Police Department Gary French says, "We are good at responding to crimes, traffic accidents, etc. But interventions with city-based workers get a lot more out of working in partnerships to reduce youth violence." He said it is important to have role models out there for kids who won't go to school, to a clinic, or to and other source of help. French noted that by jailing the statistically small number of most violent youthful offenders, more resources will be available to salvage countless others.

The Rev. Jeff Brown, with the Boston Ten Point Coalition, said that it's important to see the community of faith as a volunteer resource for work that is so labor intensive. "You have to commit beyond what you have been doing. We can no longer live like this anymore; we have to own the problem."

Nnamdi Huntsman of Imani Church, who was facilitating the meeting, said that leaders of OCO are interested in moving forward with this conversation. He asked Josie Camacho, representing Mayor Dellums' office, if she was willing to report back to the mayor for his support. "He is a master of partnership and collaboration," Camacho said, "Yes, yes, yes, absolutely."

The Boston model was presented to Oakland before, on May 10, 2004. Christopher Byner, from Boston Centers for Youth and Families, reported on the model at a Special Concurrent Meeting of the Oakland Redevelopment Agency and City Council Violence Prevention and Reduction Workshop.