Youth violence prevention
By Patty Ostberg
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Combating youth violence with a public health perspective is the focus of a bill approved April 1 by the House Health Care and Human Services Policy and Oversight Committee.
HF1328, sponsored by Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL-Mpls), would require the health commissioner to collaborate with other departments to identify five community-based violence prevention programs that work to: create connections between at-risk youth and trusted adults; intervene at the first signs a youth is at risk; and rehabilitate youth who have been involved in violence.
The programs would need to work with schools to keep students engaged and help prepare them for higher education and job training; teach self-respect and respect of others; provide mentorship and job placement; and parent and family intervention while teaching parenting skills.
The bill now goes to the House Finance Committee. A companion, SF1235, sponsored by Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville), awaits action by the Senate Health and Human Services Budget Division.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said the city has seen a decrease in youth violence by instituting a similar program. Eighty percent of the children picked up for curfew and truancy don’t return to their centers, he said.
The public health approach means, “if you’re involved in public health, you don’t just bandage the wound, you try and understand how it got there in the first place,” Rybak said.
“It is important that we have a coordinated system that addresses youth violence,” Rep. Jeff Hayden (DFL-Mpls). “It affects us all,” he added.
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