The Toronto Youth Equity Strategy will be considered at the January 21, 2014 Community Development and Recreation Committee. The Strategy is focused on youth who are at highest risk of involvement in serious violence or crime. The Strategy takes this focus because these youth are being missed by our anti-violence programs and strategies.

Since June 2013, an interdivisional staff committee comprising staff from 9 divisions, agencies, and corporations have worked with an external advisory panel of youth and youth-serving community agency staff to develop the Strategy. Staff are building the Strategy upon the foundation of the Roots of Youth Violence report, incorporating promising practices identified in research and consultation with community groups and other orders of government. Finally, the Strategy is being developed to reflect youth’s experiences.

A modest investment of resources in the 2014 operating budget would ensure that the first phase of work can begin immediately upon Council’s approval of the Toronto Youth Equity Strategy. Resources to implement both prevention and intervention initiatives will help to reduce instances of youth violence.

The following initiatives have been identified as key opportunities to carry the work of the Strategy forward into 2014. These criminal justice and social development activities allow for cross-corporate engagement in priority areas of mental health, skills development & economic opportunity, justice & community safety, and accountability. In total, they can be achieved for a combined 2014 investment of $494,000.00.